Good. The World Junior Championship is over: the United States won the gold medal last night, thanks to an overtime victory against Finland.
The Americans completely dominated the overtime period and it was Teddy Stiga (a Predators pick) who played the breakaway hero.
Zeev Buium’s pass on the goal also deserves attention:
Cole Hutson finished the tournament at the top of the competition in points (11) and he was really solid for his club.
He was one of the best players in the United States from start to finish and at this level, it is the managers of the Capitals who must be happy this morning.
On the other hand, it’s flat because Canada had the tools to at least make it to the final.
And what’s even more unfortunate… It’s been difficult to watch Canada this year for several reasons.
This tweet from my colleague Maxime Truman says it all:
In the end, it was really indiscipline that sank Canada during the tournament.
The Canadians were BY FAR the most punished in the competition: 113 penalty minutes in just five games… This is simply unacceptable.
It’s not even close when you compare these numbers to those of other nations:
113 penalty minutes in five games seems like it’s hard to believe.
That said, how do you want to win and make it to the final if you are in the dungeon so often? It doesn’t work…
Dave Cameron made the excuse of fatigue after the elimination of his club in the quarter-final and that too is a bit ridiculous.
It’s true that there are guys within the team who had to change time zones… But that’s also the case for other countries.
European teams have had to adapt too and that’s why Cameron’s comments are insane.
And even though Canada was “tired”… They had the resources to beat Latvia and the Czech Republic.
We have to give credit to these two countries because they played well against Canada, but still.
The Canadian team was full of talent: it was simply poorly coached. And the kids all wanted to play hero, instead of fighting together.
It made a difference.
Note also that no player from Canada was able to finish among the top 30 scorers of the tournament. It’s rare that we see this, we hear…
All this to say that the edition of the World Junior Championship this year really turned out to be a failure for Canada, especially since the tournament was presented to the country in Ottawa.
Maybe this will teach leaders to be less cute and to select the best players, which has not been the case for two years.
Because we must not forget one thing: last year, Canada was also eliminated in the quarter-final against the Czech Republic…
In burst
– A first game at the Bell Center in 2025.
– It’s up to you to answer!
– Reminder: Georges Laraque and Rocky Balboa look exactly the same. Or almost. ????
– Great news.
– Oh yes?
