Tuesday, January 04, 2005

 

CANADA R00lZ, D00D!!! RUSSIA IS TEH SUCK!!

IT IS OVER!! ...and it wasn’t even close!!

Canada punished Russia for their sins against the USA with a 6-1 pounding tonight! It wasn’t really close, as Canada dominated Russia from the opening whistle. The barrage started just 51 seconds in as Ryan Getzlaf blasted a shot by the flustered Russian goalie, Anton Khudobin, and Canada broke the game open with a 4-goal 2nd period. There were no goals in the 3rd period, as Canada cruised to the easy victory.

It was expected that the Russkis would give Canada it’s toughest competition, but the Canadians outshot the Russians 32-19 and dominated play from start to finish.

Thoughts on the game:

Now, It has to be asked...is this the best Canadian junior team ever? I can’t recall Canada ever steamrolling through EVERY SINGLE TEAM the way Canada has dominated the entire tournament this year. Pierre McGuire gives an absolute yes, and I’ll have to agree with him. The 1996 team had a 25-7 goals for/goals against...but this year's squad finished with a 41-7 goals for/goals against.

Looking at the tournament scores…
7-3 over Slovakia
8-1 over Sweden
9-0 over Germany
8-1 over Finland
3-1 over Czechia
6-1 over Russia

Only the Czechs gave Canada some nervous moments, but Canada outshot them by almost a 4-to-1 margin. Apart from a late-game lapse against Slovakia, and a rough 3rd period against Czechia, Canada pretty much had it’s way with the competition. It’s kind of strange to see that the (7th place) Slovaks were the only team to score more than 1 goal against the Canucks.

Final note: Patrice Bergeron was named Tournament MVP while Dion Phaneuf and Jeff Carter were named to the tournament All-Star team. Carter and Phaneuf become the first Canadians to win this honour in back-to-back seasons.

Congratulations to the Canadians for victory in the 2005 World Junior Championships, their first in 8 years. Let’s hope the victory parade continues when Vancouver hosts the 2006 WJC’s.

…and…Congrats to the Czechs for their bronze medal victory of the host USA squad. The Czechs beat the Americans, 3-2, in an overtime thriller.

The disappointing and ineffective duo of Lukas Kaspar and Jakub Petruzalek was basically demoted to the 4th line for this game. Michael Frolik, the 2006 draft-eligible wizard, and his linemates were promoted and given more ice time in this game. Frolik responded with a goal and assist in regulation time. Amazingly, Rostislav Olesz was held pointless. Thankfully, his linemate Petr Vrana buried the golden nugget in overtime to give the Czechs are well-deserved bronze.

I’m sure to have one more post of comments on the tournament tomorrow or the day after. As I watch Canadian players sing the national anthem (*sniff*, it’s so beautiful), here are the real results versus my predictions:



Wow, pretty damn good. I flipped the result of the Bronze Medal game and had a little difference with Germany and Switzerland…Not that it means anything, but since I usually suck at predictions, I’ll gloat when I can :)


Comments:
I stayed up late only to see this game. I must say this Canadian team was amazing. The totally dominated the whole tournament. I was amazed at their offensive defensiveness. I mean even in 4 they were forcheking with 4 players. Their opponents never had time to even start movement forward. Total domination! I think this team could even do mess if they played on the senior tournament. What the hell, they might have won that one too. I'm sure we'll hear about the players of this team pretty soon in the big hockey.
Anyway, I am proud that Slovakia managed to score 3 goals against Canada. :)) We're the best! Hah, after Canada. :) 7th place was just bad luck. I mean we were 1 goal away from medal fight :) ....
Anyway, congrats to Canada, amazing team.
 
Wow, you stayed up late just to watch Canada/Russia? You must be a hardcore hockey fan :)

Quite a few of these kids could be in the NHL next season...if we have a season, especially

Cam Barker
Dion Phaneuf
Jeff Carter
Patrice Bergeron (of course)
and...Sidney Crosby

This was definitely the most stacked team Canada has ever had, but I think they also benefitted from apparently weaker competition
 
well I don't think the competition was any weak compared to the other years..
it's just that canada was extra strong...

and yes, I went to bed at like 4am just coz I watched the game... and then I overslept my university lesson :) hah.. whatever.! hockey rulez!! :))
 
Nice job on the predictions — you handily outclassed me there. Although I seem to remember saying to you that the Swiss wouldn't drop to 9th.
 
1. I miss the days where I could stay up late and skip classes the next morning...too bad you can't do the same at work :)

2. My psychic services are for entertainment purposes only. I am not liable for the use of my predicitions nor do I vouch for the accuracy of them...standard Psychic Association of Canada charter stuff :)
 
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