The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

After winning five straight gold medals, it was inevitable that the streak was coming to an end. It’s amazing how many times Canada has managed to come back from a deficit and go on to win the last few years of the World Juniors: one of the most memorable was Canada’s victory over Russia in last year’s semi-final, tying up the game in the final seconds and finally winning it in a shootout.

So when Canada managed to rally from being down 5-3 in the third, watching them tie it up to force overtime was sports drama at its best. When they got down by two goals, I thought to myself there was no way they can come back yet again, playing from behind like that would eventually catch up with them. But they still managed to score those two goals to tie it up and force overtime. Even though I hardly watched the games in the tournament this time around, I was still caught up in the excitement of that third period. A hot crowd, back and forth action, near misses, great chances, big hits, heroic defensive plays…it had all the ingredients of a memorable championship game.

The Yanks managed to pot the overtime goal to deflate the Saskatchewan crowd but it just as easily could have gone the other way. I was annoyed reading up on comments by “fans” stating Canada deserved to lose, the coaching was horrible, the goaltending was bad, etc: all I remember was that it was a fun game, and a good way to shake up the hockey world seeing as the NHL is at lull @ game number 42 in the season while we wait for the Olympics to take place next month. Like any sport, hockey is truly a game of inches, timing is everything, and a little luck helps, too, and the States had that on their side this time around.

My only wish for the tournament to grow is to have more competition for Canada. You have the Americans, Swedes and Russians, and after that there’s not much to write home about. That’s one reason why perhaps I’m not as captivated by the tournament as I should be: there simply isn’t enough strong opposition to deal with. Maybe in a way it’s good for another country to win gold this time around: if other countries can be a threat, it’s good for the overall growth of the game. In any case, next year's tournament with the USA as defending champion playing on their home soil should make for a dramatic confrontation.