Friday, January 5, 2007

For the third time in a row, Team Canada has won the gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship. This year’s tournament took place in Leksand, Sweden. Canada clinched gold in a 4-2 victory over Russia. The Canadian team held a perfect 6-0-0 record for the third straight year.

Canada’s first three goals were all scored in the first period in a span of just under two and a half minutes. Scoring the goals for Canada were Andrew Cogliano, Bryan Little, Jonathan Toews, and Brad Marchand. Scoring for the Russians were Pavel Valtenko and Gennady Churilov. This is the third year in a row that Canada and the Russians have met in the gold medal game.

Canadian coach Craig Hartsburg was quoted as saying after the game that “It’s hard to describe. It’s unbelievable”, and that “I’m so proud of these kids. It’s tough to come over here and win this thing.”

Earlier in the day, the United States beat the hosts Sweden 2-1 in the bronze medal game. The Most Valuable Player Award for the tournament, along with the top goalkeeper award were given to Carey Price, Canada’s goalkeeper. Erik Johnson of the US received the top defenceman award, and Russia’s Alexei Cherepanov got the top forward award.