Canada Wins Gold At 2015 World Juniors

Canada hung on to defeat Russia 5-4 to win the 2015 World Junior Hockey Championship. Russia fought back valiantly from being down 2-0 early and down 5-1 in the second period to make the game very nerve-wracking.

Anthony Duclair opened the scoring just 23 seconds into the game thanks to beautiful feed from the tournament's top forward, Max Domi.

Just a little over two minutes later, Nick Paul would strike to give Canada a 2-0 lead and chase Russian goaltender Igor Shestyorkin from the game.

The Russians were threatening to spiral out of control, playing undisciplined hockey and using their sticks to hit things other than the puck. But they calmed down midway through the first period and really made this a memorable game.

Defenseman Dmitri Yudin struck from the point midway through the first, then celebrated ecstatically to give Russia life.

The second period saw Canada presumably take full control of the game, taking a commanding 5-1 lead. Connor McDavid, taking dagger-like pass from Josh Morrissey, scored on a breakaway, and then Domi and Sam Reinhart added singles.

But give the Russians credit as they never quit. Ivan Barbashev, Sergei Tolchinski and Nikolay Goldobin provided a three-goal surge to end the 2nd period.

Canada regained their composure in the intermission and shut down the Russians in the third period. The blue line was particularly impressive, especially Darnell Nurse who dominated. Fredrick Gauthier excelled as the shutdown center, taking making of the key faceoffs.

Russia takes home the silver medal. It is the fifth consecutive year they have medalled at the World Junior Hockey Championships.

Slovakia Beats Sweden For Bronze At 2015 WJC

In the bronze medal game of the 2015 World Junior Hockey Championships resilient Slovakia upset Sweden to take third place.

The Slovaks were paced by another strong performance by crowd favorite/goaltender Denis Godla and three assists from Martin Reway, giving the Slovaks a 4-2 win. It was Slovakia's second medal in the World Junior Hockey Championship history.

Sweden looked disinterested early as Slovkia jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first period. David Soltes and Mislav Rosandic scored just 39 seconds apart.

Sweden knotted the score before the end of the first frame thanks to William Nylander and Jens Looke.

The second was a scoreless stalemate, but the table was set for the third when Julius Bergmann was assessed a five-minute major penalty at the end of the 2nd.

Slovakia looked anything but dangerous for the first three minutes but Pavol Stalicky struck for what proved to be the winning goal.

Patrik Koys added an empty netter.

Godla was named Slovakia's player of the game to the delight of the crowd, who chanted his name following his semifinal performance versus Canada.

Murray Williamson And The Origins of The World Junior Hockey Championships

A fantastic article by Mike Brophy in The Hockey News about the origins of the World Junior Hockey Championships:

For avid hockey fans, the annual World Junior Championship is a highlight of the hockey season.

Featuring many of the best prospects on the planet, the WJC has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1973. The brainchild of Murray Williamson, a Winnipeg native who moved to the United States to play for the University of Minnesota, his initial motivation was to promote junior hockey in the United States.

“I had no idea it would grow this big,” Williamson said. “I knew it would get something going in the United States because the concept of high-level junior hockey had not taken hold here.”

Williamson helped form the six-team (Minnesota, Thunder Bay, St. Paul, Fargo-Moorhead, St. Cloud and Chicago) Midwest Junior League in 1973. To promote the loop, he created an all-star team to play an exhibition game against Peterborough of the Ontario Association.

“As an incentive to attract players, I thought we should get a world junior tournament going,” Williamson said. “I found out the Russians were holding a tournament in Leningrad. They added teams from Canada and the United States.”

The article goes on to explore the WJC's growth into, at least in Canada, the most important annual hockey tournament outside of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Here's the full article.

Finland Wins 2014 World Juniors Championship

From IIHF.com:

Rasmus Ristolainen scored at 9:42 of overtime to lift Finland to an unforgettable 3-2 win over host Sweden in the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship on Sunday.

Captain Teuvo Teräväinen put the puck around the boards to Ristolainen, who powered down the right side, beating Swedish defenceman Robert Hägg as he cut to the net and put a backhand deke underneath sprawling netminder Oscar Dansk.

"I saw that they played man-on-man defence in their own end," said Ristolainen. "It was empty in front of the net. I just skated there. I tried just to put the puck somewhere hard and it went in."

Here's the full story

2014 World Juniors: Sweden vs Finland For Gold Medal

The final day of the 2014 World Junior Hockey Championships will feature the eternal rivals Canada and Russia vie for a medal. But much to the disappointment of the 1000 Canadian hockey fans who crossed the Atlantic to Malmo, Sweden, the teams will be battling for the bronze medal.

The hosts, and tournament favorite, Sweden will play their eternal rival Finland in the gold medal game. It should be heck of a showdown as these two teams truly deserve to be in that game. Finland convincingly defeated Canada 5-1 on Saturday, while Sweden downed the Russians 2-1.

While I have not written about about the 2014 WJC tournament I have been watching all teams with curiosity. It really is my only chance to watch the future of hockey. After all, as the Hockey History Blogger I tend to be busy looking back more than forward. It is a very small sample size but here's a few thoughts:

• Zach Fucale has been nothing short of fantastic.
• A lot of eyes are on Canada's underaged players - 17 year olds Aaron Ekblad and Sam Reinhart and the 16 year old Connor McDavid. Ekblad looks like a stud who will be a NHL defenseman for many years to come. I'm a huge fan of the Reinhart family going back to their dad Paul. Most eyes are on McDavid, who many are saying will be the next Sidney Crosby, if not better. I don't know about that, but don't be surprised that he's not dominating. This is a 19 year old's tournament. There has only been one 16 year old to really do well in this tournament. His name was Wayne Gretzky?
• Bo Horvat underwhelmed me. He showed a good head for the game and good positioning and no doubt will be a NHL player. But he's going to have to keep his feet moving a lot faster at the next level.
• Teuvo Teravainen may be the tournament's best forward. Remember Finland is playing without Aleksandr Barkov and Olli Maatta, both already in the NHL, and the injured Kasperi Kapanen. Kapanen is the son of former NHL standout Sami Kapanen.
• Sweden's goalie Oscar Dansk was brilliant against the Russians. 
• This year's tournament has been particularly exciting with strong showings from Germany, Switzerland and Czech Republic and Slovakia. The latter two are strong hockey nations but were not expected to do much in this tournament. It is great to see the entire hockey world getting stronger and stronger.

Enjoy the medal games!

Top Ten All Time Leading Scorers at the World Juniors

Here’s THN.com’s Top 10 WJC all-time scorers:

10. Eric Lindros, Canada, 31 points. ‘The Big E’ was a man amongst boys as a junior, and it showed on the scoresheet. During three tournaments from 1990-92, Lindros tallied 12 goals and 19 assists in 21 games, helping Canada to two gold medals. Perhaps surprisingly, he is the only Canadian in the Top Ten all time leading scorers in tournament history.

9. Esa Keskinen, Finland, 32 points. Mr. Keskinen never left Europe to play pro, so seeing his name on this list will surprise many. He played 14 games during two WJC tournaments – 1984 and ’85 – piling up 10 goals and 22 assists, winning silver in '84. He went on to be a top player in both the Finnish and Swedish leagues.

8. Niklas Sundstrom, Sweden, 33 points Better known in the NHL as a defensive forward, Sweden's Niklas Sundstrom played in the 1993, ’94 and ’95 tournaments. He scored an impressed 18 goals in just 21 games while assisting on 15 others. Sundstrom won two silvers and a bronze.

7. Markus Naslund, Sweden, 34 points The Canucks great Naslund was a great junior, racking up 21 goals and 13 assists in just 14 WJC games in 1992 and ’93, winning silver twice. In ’93, he scored 13 times to set the record for goals scored during a single tournament.

6. Vladimir Ruzicka, Czechoslovakia, 34 points. From 1981 to ’83 "Rosie" was one of the greatest junior players hockey had ever seen. 25 goals in 19 career WJC games!

5. Esa Tikkanen, Finland, 35 points. A great two-way pest in the NHL, Esa Tikkanen was a great junior player. He played three tournaments from 1983 to ’85, he teamed with the other Esa, Esa Keskinen, to form one of the more dynamic duos in WJC history. Tikkanen scored 17 goals and 18 assists in 21 games and helped the Finns to a silver in ’84.

4. Alex Mogilny, USSR, 35 points. Alexander Mogilny was a dazzling and dominant junior player from 1987 to ’89. Mogilny scored 19 goals and added 16 helpers in 20 games. He was part of silver and gold medal-winning teams. He was also part of the infamous "Punch Up In Piestany" brawl in 1987 whic saw both Canada and the USSR expelled from the tournament.

3. Pavel Bure, USSR, 39 points. The Russian Rocket scored a WJC record 27 goals in 21 games from 1989 to ’91 and added 12 assists to boot. In ’89, Bure was the youngster on what many consider the best line in WJC history with Alexander Mogilny and Sergei Fedorov. Bure won a gold and two silvers.

2. Robert Reichel, Czechoslovakia, 40 points. A solid NHL pro, many fans forget how dominant he was as a junior player. In 21 games from 1988 to ’90, Reichel tallied 18 goals and 22 helpers, leading Czechoslovakia to two bronze medals.

1. Peter Forsberg, Sweden, 42 points. The most prolific scorer in WJC history is Peter Forsberg with 42 career points. And he did it all in just 14 games played from 1992 to ’93. Playing on a line with snipers Naslund and Sundstrom, ‘Foppa’ set records for most points in a single tournament with 31 and assists in one WJC with 24. Forsberg’s 32 career WJC assists are also a record. 10 of his points were scored in one game against Japan in 1993! That's another tournament record!

Remembering the 1982 World Juniors

1978 World Juniors - Interview With 16 Year Old Wayne Gretzky

Here is a real treat: It's from the 1978 World Junior Hockey Championships held in Quebec. It is a rare interview with a very composed 16 year old Wayne Gretzky.


Gretzky's composure never ceases to amaze me. But he did have a slip up in this tournament. He talked openly about his frustration about not being able to move to higher levels of hockey sooner. Back then, the NHL did not draft players until they were 20 years of age. Gretzky, who of course was tearing up the juniors as a 16 year old, knew he needed to play at a higher level of competition. Since the NHL was not an option, and the WHA, at that moment in time, did not appear to an option, Gretzky suggested he might move to Sweden to play professionally against men.

Not surprisingly the comment raised more than a few eyebrows. Gretzky later said he was misquoted, but clearly he never intended to play a second season of junior hockey. Later in 1978 he signed with the WHA's Indianapolis Racers as a 17 year old.

Getting back to the 1978 World Juniors: Of course it is pretty unusual to see a 16 year old play in this esteemed tournament. Few players dominated like #9 (he didn't wear #99 in this tournament). Gretzky led the tournament in scoring with 8 goals and 17 points. He helped Canada win the bronze medal.

Team Canada 1978 featured no shortage of future NHLers - Wayne Babych and Tony McKegney (Gretzky's linemates in the tournament), Ryan Walter, Mike Gartner, Rob Ramage, Bobby Smith, Craig Hartsburg, Steve Tambellini, Brad Marsh, Rick Vaive, Brad McCrimmon and Stan Smyl. Punch MacLean was the coach.

Here's some live footage from 1978 - specifically Wayne Gretzky's most famous goal from that tournament:



Other notable players in this tournament include Anton Stastny, Mats Naslund, Sergei Makarov and Viacheslav Fetisov.

World Junior Hockey At It's Best

Sometimes you get miracles, sometimes you hit the post.

- @tsnjamesduthie

Unbelievable!

Canada vs Russia. Hockey's eternal rivals. In the 2011 World Juniors the Russians, led by Evgeny Kuznetsov, inexplicably come from behind in the third period of the gold medal game. They erase a 3-0 lead with 5 unanswered goals to win the gold and hand Canada one of the most devastating losses in international hockey history.

Fast forward to 2012. Russia, led by the same Evgeny Kuznetsov, is in the process of blowing out Canada in the semi-final showdown, leading 6-1 in the third period. Canada, after playing quite poorly over the first 40 minutes, just as inexplicably mounts their own comeback. The teenagers restored the country's pride in the team, storming back to make it 6-5. If not for a goal post they almost tied the game in the dying seconds.

The Canadians did not quite pull it off. But it was truly an amazing game, World Junior hockey at it's absolute best. There were plenty of mistakes and blunders, but no NHL regular season game could match the emotion and entertainment of that game. We can say the same thing every year - classic games, fierce rivalries, new heroes and villains. It is the best hockey played on the calendar outside of the Stanley Cup playoffs, at least in non-Olympic years. Many will tell you it is the best hockey played on the calendar, period.

Canada now plays for bronze on Thursday. In Canadian hockey there is an unhealthy attitude that it is gold or bust.Anything else is failure. That attitude needs to change, and hopefully this group of Canadian kids sets the example by winning bronze with a smile on their face, and with the same desire that they showed in the third period against the Russians.

The almost-comeback against the Russians will be something these kids will never forget. Hopefully they end this tournament with a memento to look back upon this moment - the bronze medal. It will make their memories of the game against Russia that much sweeter 20 or 30 years from now.

Let's also hope Canadians tune in to the gold medal game, which features Sweden and Russia. These two played in a thriller in the round robin, with Sweden coming from behind to win 4-3 in overtime. The gold medal game promises to be another game for the ages - a game all true hockey fans will want to watch.

How TSN Killed The WJCs

I used to love the World Junior championships. But in recent years my interest has waned significantly

Why? That is a question I have been asking myself a lot this week, and I am no closer to a definitive answer.

Maybe it's that we always win. Or at least we are always in the gold medal game. Is there enough competition to make this tournament truly worthy of all the hype Canadians heap upon it?

The one country that will always compete - and I predict will soon dominate the world juniors - is the United States. The era of the United States dominating hockey is soon upon us. Maybe there's some part of me that does not want to get all caught up in this Canadian celebration because I know all good things come to an end.

Maybe it's that we always host it now. I always enjoyed those ancient locations in the Czech Republic or Switzerland or Russia. Hosting it in Canada or in United States border towns ensures huge dollars, and I get that, but I long for the days of early morning games in Prague or Moscow or Stockholm.

In all honesty, I really think it's the over-the-top nationalism that TSN forces upon us. I love Canada and Canadian hockey more than anybody, but it's just a little too uncomfortable for me. It's a little better now that the excessive Pierre McGuire has departed, but Gord Miller is not a whole lot better.

For me, the descent all started after the 2005 championship. With the NHL lockout in full swing, Canada dominated with a full roster that included Sidney Crosby. You would think in a year with no NHL hockey I would have been ecstatic (you know, like the rest of the country) for such high quality hockey, but somehow I was turned off. I really think it was how overly excited Pierre McGuire was with the whole "Double Dion" thing. I was so turned off that I have never really made the World Juniors a priority in my life ever since. Prior to 2005 that was an unthinkable.

Okay so I can't really blame Pierre McGuire. But for some reason my World Juniors interest has waned and I don't know why. Make no mistake. I will be watching Saturday's much anticipated New Year's Eve showdown with the United States. But will I follow the Canadian kids beyond that? There's no guarantee of that. I missed Jordan Eberle's amazing heroics in 2009. I missed Jonathan Toews' shootout hat trick in 2007. I bought the commemorative DVD featuring those games and other classics, but I haven't watched that either.

Will I see the 2012 gold medal game? Maybe. Or maybe I'll go for a snowshoe instead.

Mrazek: Memories Of Pauli Jaks

The World Junior Hockey Championships have quickly become one of the favourite non-NHL hockey tournaments on the hockey schedule. In fact some fans will tell you that it is the most exciting hockey you'll see all season long prior to the start of the Stanley Cup finals.

We watch these kids playing their hearts out and we become instant fans of theirs. They don't get paid, they are there for their country and because they are chasing a dream - a dream that many of us have dreamt for as well, but came nowhere close to fulfilling.

As we watch the excitement on television, often staying up (or getting up!) at the wee hours of the morning if the tournament is held in Europe, we develop instant favourites, and we follow them throughout the rest of their career. Many never become much of a professional player once they reach that stage, but some do.

We don't just become fans of our home countries' players either. Often we are drawn to a great player on another team. Though he is the enemy for this short tournament, we become fans of his too.

At the 2012 World Juniors in Alberta that player turns out to be Czech goaltender Petr Mrazek. His 50 save performance upsetting the might United States is one thing. Heck, he even attempted to score a goal! But it his enthusiastic celebrations mid-game that are entertaining, refreshing and stealing the show. How excited must this kid be to be getting a standing ovation from 17,000 Canadian fans.

Of course, being an oldtimer like myself, I tweeted how Mrazek's spectacular play reminded me of another great World Juniors goaltender named Pauli Jaks. It fell flat, as no one knows who that is any more. Which goes to serve as a reminder: You can earn temporary legendary status at the World Juniors, but it is no guarantee of NHL success.

For a trip down memory lane, here's a look back at Pauli Jaks and the 1991 World Junior Hockey Championships.

World Junior Success No Guarantee

Every year I await the World Junior Hockey Championships with great anticipation. I’ve been watching religiously since 1989, and over the years I have become enamored with the next generation of Canadian superstars.

I remember Rob Cimetta’s 7 goals in 7 games back in 1989. Dan Ratushny captained the 1990 team to a gold medal, thanks to the scoring exploits of Dave Chyzowski, Mike Needham and Dwayne Norris. Who can forget John Slaney’s gold medal winning goal on Saskatoon ice. From 1993 through 1997, Canada won five consecutive gold medals, thanks to the heroics of players like Brent Tully (all star in 1993), Martin Gendron, Yanick Dube, Rick Girard (scoring leaders in 1994), Marty Murray, (scoring leader, Best Forward directorate award in 1995), Jason Botterill (3 gold medals – 1995, 1996, and 1997), Christian Dube and Cameron Mann (scoring leaders 1997).

Did you notice anything odd about that list of excellence?

That’s right, you very possibly never heard of any of those guys. They were all NHL busts, and, with the benefit of hindsight, the World Junior Championships rosters are loaded with them.

Canada produces dozens, even hundreds of junior players to the professional ranks every year. You would think that when the top 20 players are named to the Canadian junior national team that those players are all destined for NHL success, barring injuries of course.

But apparently not.

Let’s take a closer look, and examine only the best of the best. Between 1980 and 2000, the following Canadian players were named as All Stars at the World Junior Championships:

1982 – Mike Moffat, Gord Kluzak, Mike Moller
1985 – Bob Dollas
1986 – Sylvain Cote, Shayne Corson
1988 – Jimmy Waite, Theoren Fleury, Greg Hawgood
1989 – Dave Chyzowski, Stephane Fiset
1991 – Eric Lindros, Mike Craig
1992 – Scott Niedermayer
1993 – Manny Legace, Brent Tully, Paul Kariya
1995 – Bryan McCabe, Marty Murray, Jason Allison, Eric Daze
1996 – Jose Theodore, Jarome Iginla, Nolan Baumgartner
1997 – Chris Phillips, Christian Dube
1999 – Roberto Luongo, Daniel Tkaczuk, Brian Campbell

This list can be sorted into three categories:

NHL players – I think there’d be little debate if I included Cote, Corson, Fleury, Lindros, Niedermayer, Legace, Kariya, McCabe, Allison, Daze, Iginla, Theodore, Phillips, Luongo and Campbell on this list of legitimate NHL players. I’ll include Kluzak, whose promising career was derailed by injuries. That’s 16 NHL calibre players.

Fringe NHL players - Hawgood and Baumgartner have nearly identical careers but neither could quite carve out a career in the NHL.

NHL busts – When was the last time you heard about Moffat, Moller, Dollas, Waite, Chyzowski, Fiset, Craig, Tully, Murray, Dube or Tkaczuk.

By my admittedly unscientific count, that’s 16 NHL players, and 11 busts. A 59% success rate by Canada’s WJC all stars. A much more in depth analysis would be necessary to determine a success rate for entire rosters over the years, but I’m going to hazard a guess the success rate would be lower than 59% at the all star level.

The World Juniors have captivated Canadians unlike any annual international event. It is a Christmas tradition, and considered by many to be the best hockey tournament outside of the Stanley Cup playoffs. A few years from now we will look back at recent rosters, and wonder why so many players never panned out in the NHL.

It is something to think about as we cheer on Sean Couturier, Erik Gudbranson, and Mark Visentin. It may our last chance to do so.