World Juniors, Go Canada Go

[JCarson 723]

After a small hiccup in getting things organized the World Juniors Championship tournament has occurred for season 84. It was a very tight round robin tournament with no clear favorite emerging.  

 

With a 5 team bracket a play in game was required, which saw team Asia play against Team Europe. Team Europe eventually took the game 4-2. This was possible as Team Europe capitalized on 3 of the 8 powerplay attempts they had. Team Asia needed to play a much more disciplined game if they expected to beat the Europeans. 

 

With Team Europe moving on, the Semi-finals saw Team Europe play Team USA and Team Canada play Team World. Team Europe put in a strong game boosted by the momentum they got from beating Team Asia but unfortunately Team USA proved to be the stronger team. It was a tough checking match with no goals scored in the first 2 periods. Team Europe capitalized twice in the first 10 minutes of the third period, but Team USA pushed back to tie it by the end of the third period. Team USA struck at 7:20 of the first overtime to move on to the finals. 

 

In the other semifinal game Team Canada started strong and did not give up allowing them to take the match 3-1. A power play goal at 2:18 into the first period set the pace and team Canada did not let up. Goaltender DJ Fire Dragon had a wonderful game and shut down 25 of 26.  

 

 The medal games which finished earlier today saw Team Canada play Team USA for the gold and team Europe play Team World for the bronze. The Bronze medal game was a tight affair that took overtime to settle. In the end Team Europe was able to take the bronze medal in a high scoring 5-4 game. 

 

In the Gold medal game Team Canada again showed their hockey dominance anchored by a fantastic game by goaltender DJ Fire Dragon. Team Canada took the game 3-1. Doug Matchett stepped up and contributed on all three team Canada goals with 1 goal and 2 assists on the night.