Canada, we’re still No. 1. And while not as dominant as squads from recent years, this Canadian World Junior team certainly deserves to be mentioned in the same breath. Perhaps they should be admired even more.
This team faced adversity. There was a goaltending controversy and even a — gasp — loss thrown into the mix. When Sweden’s Tobias Forsberg scored with seven seconds left to beat Canada 4-3 it was this country’s first loss in 20 games at the world junior tournament. And from that moment, the team, and the country, knew this wasn’t going to be easy.
Team Canada captain Karl Alzner, who also won a gold medal in Sweden a year ago, said this championship was a little more special.
“We maybe went into the tournament with the mindset we were going to be the best team without a doubt and have our way with things,” Alzner said.
“We went through some real highs and lows. But it was an unbelievable group of kids in here. And I thought, the way we came together with all the adversity we faced, it was real special.”
That little setback to the Swedes in the round-robin might have been enough to panic the Canadian public.
“Some of the guys get on the [web] forums after the game and I remember one that fired us up said ‘it’s clear Canada has no chance of winning this tournament.’
“Hearing something like that really brought our group together.” And they also got some extra motivation from an unlikely source.
The Russians beat Team WHL during the ADT Super Series in December and flaunted their rare victory by taunting the Canadian crowd.
The Russians’ display enraged Alzner, who said he couldn’t sleep before the next game, and the rest of the team. The Canadians answered with a big win the following night in Medicine Hat. Heading over to Europe, the Canadians eagerly awaited a rematch with the cocky Russians. But the Russians fell short in the semifinal round, losing to Sweden in overtime.
Team Canada was already motivated to beat the Swedes, who provided the only blemish on this country’s record in recent memory. But then, like a gift from above, Swedish captain Patrick Berglund poured a little gasoline on the Canadian fire by saying he was hoping to play Canada, just so they could beat the Maple Leaf squad again. “That definitely circulated in our dressing room before the game,” Alzner said. “Coach Hartsburg came in and said ‘their captain wants to play us again. And he’s got it [now].’ “We wanted to show them they didn’t want us another time. “And they didn’t.” No, they didn’t. And when will opposing countries figure out it’s a bad idea to poke at a sleeping giant? Team Canada will refuse to turn the other cheek every single time. And the drive for five is alive.
