Canada golden again at world junior men's hockey championship
LEKSAND, Sweden (CP) - Canada is constructing another golden era at the world junior hockey championship.
A 4-2 win over Russia on Friday was good for Canada's third straight gold medal in the under-20 world showcase. The championship run is second only to 1992 to 1997, when the Canadian men won five straight. "I hope, looking back as I get older, that this was the start of another great era," said forward Ryan O'Marra.
O'Marra was one of 11 returnees from the team that won the title last year in Vancouver. The others were defencemen Marc Staal, Ryan Parent, Kris Letang, Kris Russell and Luc Bourdon and forwards Andrew Cogliano, Jonathan Toews, Steve Downie, Tom Pyatt and Daniel Bertram.
After victories in Grand Forks, N.D., in 2005 and Vancouver, the challenge for this Canadian team was to win the crown outside of North America, which hadn't been done since 1997 in Geneva.
Travel, different time zones, the
larger international ice surface and a fraction of the home fans
supporting them are the challenges that Canada faces when the
tournament is in Europe.
That combination can sap a player's will and energy by the end.
"People back home might not understand how hard it is to win over here," head coach Craig Hartsburg said. "At the same time, it's been very rewarding.
"You'd have to win a Stanley Cup to feel like this."
This Canadian team won here on the strength of stellar goaltending by Carey Price, a defence that didn't let the Russians or any other country skate with the puck, and excellent special teams.
Price was named tournament MVP in media voting and also chosen top goaltender by the International Ice Hockey Federation.
"It's not just me. I had a lot of help," Price said. "We're 22 brothers and we stuck together the whole tournament."
With Canada leading by two goals, he stoned Anton Krysanov breaking in alone on a short-handed chance early in the third period.
"If they score there, oh my goodness, we're not on our heels, we're in a hole momentum-wise," Hartsburg said.
The question mark about Canada heading into the final was offence. Could they score more goals than the Russians, who had more goals than Canada heading into the final?
The Canadian offence was cold in the semifinal against the U.S. and Canada needed Price's heroics to barely escape with a 2-1 shootout win.
But the forwards answered the bell early Friday as the University of Michigan's Cogliano, Bryan Little of the Barrie Colts and North Dakota's Toews scored three goals in less than three minutes starting at 15:35 of the first period.
Brad Marchand of the Val-d'Or Foreurs added another early in the second before Russians Pavel Valentenko and Gennadi Churilov replied with power-play goals before the period's end.
Canada's grip on the game was slipping when the Russians pulled within two goals and almost scored on that short-handed chance to start the third period.
But Canada tightened up defensively again. When Staal went to the penalty box for tripping and the Russians pulled goaltender Sergei Varlamov for two extra attackers with less than two minutes to go, the penalty killers rose to the challenge and finished off the game.
"It was our best game as a team," said Hartburg. "We kind of let off the pedal in the second period, but I can't say enough about those kids. They buckled down and did some good things in the third period."
Hartsburg was an assistant coach to Brent Sutter last year. The former NHL player and coach showed the same self-assurance and faith in his players as did Sutter.
Hartsubrg made the gutsy decision before the final to move Cogliano off the line he'd been centring since selection camp and put him between O'Marra and Pyatt on the second line, while moving Toews up between Downie and Marchand.
The move paid off as Cogliano, who had been held without a goal in regulation time, scored Canada's first of the game.
Canada allowed only seven goals in six games at this tournament.
Sutter and Hartsburg seem to have built a template for Canada to win this tournament: focus on defence and let the natural talent of the players take over on offence, while stressing team play and work ethic above all else.
Captain and defenceman Kristopher Letang, who had six assists in six games, was named to the tournament all-star team. He'll be in a Pittsburgh Penguins uniform next season.
Toews was another all-star. The Chicago Blackhawks draft pick has had the eye of the tiger ever since the first day of selection camp in Calgary on Dec. 10.
He's had a tough season at North Dakota, but bounced back in a major way. The penalty shot he scored against the U.S. in the preliminary round foreshadowed his performance in the semifinal shootout in which he scored three times, including the winner.
Price is a Montreal Canadiens draft pick and has yet to be signed by the Habs. With his performance here, Montreal will probably want to do that soon.
But Canada doesn't win this tournament with stars. Russia and U.S. arguably had more individual talent, but it is Canada's team game that pulls it through in tough times.
"People underestimate our talent and our hockey sense and all those things, but in this tournament we have success because our kids care the most," Hartsburg said.
While the Canadians didn't have half of southern Manitoba cheering them on as they did in Grand Forks or a full GM Place in Vancouver screaming for them, about 300 Canadians made the trek to Sweden, painted themselves red and gave their team as much support as their vocal chords would stand.
A large group of them in the standing section of Ejendals Arena began chanting "We want gold" 10 minutes before the puck dropped Friday and "You've got nothing" when Canada took a 4-0 lead. They were joined by several Swedes, including a drummer, because the Canadians had cheered for their country in a 2-1 loss to the U.S. in the earlier game for bronze.
"They came so far to watch us and not a lot of people would do that, especially not in any other country," Toews said.
The Canadian players had little time to celebrate, although they were doing a good job of it, as the first group of players was headed to the Stockholm airport at 1:30 a.m. followed by the next group at 4 a.m.
Other standout players in this tournament included U.S. forward Patrick Kane of the London Knights and Russian forward Alexei Cherepanov. Both are 17 and have raised their stock the NHL entry draft in June.
Notes - American Erik Johnson was
chosen best defenceman of the tournament and Cherepanov was selected
top forward . . . The 2008 world junior hockey championship will be
held in Pardubice and Liberec, Czech Republic . . . Canada will have
five players eligible to return for the 2008 tournament: defenceman
Karl Alzner, goaltender Leland Irving and forwards Sam Gagner, Marchand
and Toews . . . Belarus and Germany were relegated back down to the B
world championship, while Denmark and Kazakhstan earned promotion to
the A tournament.