Forwards USA Brown 09 - 36 Morin 09 - 45 D'Amigo 09- 158 Nelson 10- 30 Coyle 10 - 28 Shore 09 - 44 Zucker 10 - 59 Bourque 09 - 80 Krieder 09 - 19 Palmieri 09 - 26 Callahan 09 - 180 Etem 10- 29 Bjugstad 10- 19 6 first rounders ADP : 58 Canada Couturier (Projected top 3 pick in 2011) Schwartz 10- 14 Kassian 09 - 13 Schenn 09 - 5 Cizikas 09 -92 Howden 10 - 25 Hamilton 10- 48 Foligno 09 - 104 Johansen 10- 4 Leblanc 09 - 18 Eakin 09 - 85 Aston 09 - 29 Connolly 10 - 6 ADP: 36 8 first round picks and 9 if you count Couturier who is almost guaranteed to be one. There is a full round of draft picks difference between the two teams and the US has no players in the top 10 on their team, while Canada has 5.
Interesting comment in passing by the TSN crew. (Thankfully being outside the US right now I can get TSN online. ) Apparently the Swedish game against Russian drew one million viewers in Sweden, which is roughly like getting 3 million in Canada or 30 million in the United States in terms of proportion. Additionally, the TV rights for the tournament are being bid on by four separate broadcasters. In addition to that, according to wikipedia, the 2013 tournament will be held in Russia, for the first time outside of North America since 2008. Some mis guided Canadians think the tournament should never be held outside of Canada, much less North America, but the fact remains that the tournament can only get better by getting more countries interested in it. Surely Canadian fans would agree that the win over the US this year probably felt better than in previous years because at least a decent segment of the American hockey fan population was watching.
With the amount of returning Americans plus the still strong Swedes and a tough group, 3rd seemed like a realistic bet
Except if you look at the roster as I broke it down, Canada has a clear advantage. Plus, it's not like the US steamrolled through the tournament last year and it was simply a case of NHL teams completely misreading the talent level of American players and drafting them too late.
I heard that as well from Gord Millen during the broadcast. I am sure it isn't fluke that this peek interest from the Sweden for the WJC due to the fact they are putting in competitive teams which medal the last couple of year. Wish all nations took it more serious but I doubt there will be too much interest as Junior hockey it's self isn't nearly as popular as it is in Canada (with the CHL)
Certainly Canada is in love with all levels of hockey, so comparing interest in Canada to anybody is also going to end up in one conclusion. Certainly it would be nice if the Czechs and Slovaks could get their development systems together. Both countries, but especially the Czechs seem to making political decisions in their player development. Whereas teams like Switzerland are getting better by sending their players to North America, the Czechs seem to be trying to resist that with nearly (relegation) disastrous consequences.
The US beats Sweden 4-2 in the bronze medal game. Sweden, despite their coaches pronouncement that they were the best team in the tournament, leaves without a medal. The US wins their fourth bronze medal in their history. The others were in 1986, 1992 and 2007. It is their 7th total medal. This is the first medal for the Americans on home soil in their fifth time hosting the event. While it's obviously not the one they wanted, the one upshot of winning the bronze is that you go out on a win.
Wow, I don't even know what to say about that. Canada goes up 3-0 after forty minutes, and pretty much everyone and their mother think the game is over. Then Russia scores and you think, well maybe they have a cha... and they have scored again. At that point I started to get a feeling, I mean Russia seemed to make this their strategy, spot the other team a big lead and then somehow win. As TSN put it, the biggest collapse in tournament history and that certainly seems to be the case. Shocking
Holy F*** Canada with a collapse of EPIC proportions, leading 3-0 after 2 and Russia storms back with 5 unanswered in the 3rd. Amazing finish, congrats Russia. Nice gesture by the Russian player who gave his hockey stick to those 3 Canadian female fans in the stands after the game....maybe he was hoping to get even more vengeance later in the hotel hahahah Although I'm Canadian, I'm happy for the Russians, the kids went mental, it was nice to see. Ellis and Schenn were inconsolable though. This will fuel Canada for next year, 2 years now the gold medal game has finished like a dagger to the heart for us.
Never seen a collapse like that, 2 period we looked strong and playing well but boy did we ever fall apart. Hard to say what would of happen but it was a mistake not taking the timeout after the 2nd goal, when you give up 2 goals in 11 seconds it rattles you and they needed to get their head straight but they decided to wait til it was tied but it was too late. Congrats to the Russians, resilient effort all tournament long!
Buffalo finishes as the second highest attended world junior tournament in history, behind Ottawa. This mainly a factor of playing in NHL stadiums (you still have to fill them however) and being close to the population heart of Canada, the real driver of interest in the tournament.
Watched the first two periods and it looked to be a cakewalk. I agree with those that said the timeout should've happened after the 2nd goal, but ultimately the team changed the way it played and tried to sit on the lead instead of trying to get a couple more and put them away. If nothing else this shows that this tournament isn't just for Canadian bragging rights - more that there are 3-4 countries that can win it and you need to bring your best effort for the full tournament to win. Hopefully some of the TV numbers from Sweden are a sign of better interest for this tournament in Europe, I guess we'll see how that goes in a couple of years.