FanHouse 09worldjuniors

FanHouse is keeping hockey fans updated on the happenings at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa.

When it was all said and done, the best team won the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Again.

Canada claimed their fifth straight gold medal Monday night with a 5-1 win over Sweden at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa. The hosts were never seriously threatened during four of their six games in the tournament. When they did face adversity, they stepped up their game and won in spite of it.

Monday night, the Canadians were outshot by Sweden, but goaltender Dustin Tokarski (NHL rights: Tampa Bay) was at his very best. Looking like he did in the second and third periods against Team USA last week, Tokarski stopped 39 of 40 shots on the night. P.K. Subban (Montreal) gave Canada the lead just 38 seconds into the game, and Tokarski took it from there.

FanHouse is keeping hockey fans updated on the happenings at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa.

In what was easily the best game of the tournament so far, Canada and Russia hooked up for a classic in the semifinals of the IIHF World Junior Championships.

The Russians took a late lead on a garbage goal, but Canada dramatically tied the score as Jordan Eberle (NHL rights: Edmonton) got to a loose puck near the Russian net and scored with just over five seconds left in regulation.

A 10-minute, four-on-four overtime solved nothing, meaning that the game was decided in a shootout.

Just like the NHL, this shootout was scheduled to go three rounds, but Eberle and John Tavares (2009 draft-eligible) each scored, Canadian goalie Dustin Tokarski made two saves, and there was no need for a third round. The Canadians won, and they move into the gold-medal game Monday night against Sweden.

FanHouse is keeping hockey fans updated on the happenings at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa.

One of the more controversial moments of this years IIHF World Junior Championships happened during the United States-Canada game Wednesday.

John Tavares (2009 draft-eligible) scored his second goal in like five seconds (OK, it was close to a minute) to close Canada to within 3-2. As the hyped-up Canadians were celebrating Tavares' awesome goal, they skated right by the United States bench.

Taunting the Americans all the way by, Canadian forward Chris DiDomenico (NHL rights: Toronto) didn't see the stick of Team USA forward Eric Tangradi (Anaheim) hanging off the bench. DiDomenico ate a chunk of Tangradi's stick blade, and the rest of the celebrating Canadian players took exception to what they thought was a dirty play.

At the same time, United States forward James vanRiemsdyk (Philadelphia) was skating toward the bench. He had his head down, and ended up in the middle of the celebration line. After some shoves were exchanged, Stefan Della Rovere (Washington) of Canada suckerpunched vanRiemsdyk from behind.

As you watch the video, note that there is a linesman right in the middle of the fray, and yet Della Rovere was not penalized for his "hit". Video after the jump.

FanHouse is keeping hockey fans updated on the happenings at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa.

No matter the angle I want to take with this update, it keeps coming back to one thing.

When you have a win-or-go-home situation in hockey, the result so often comes down to goaltending that you have to curse a team that doesn't have an adequate presence between the pipes.

So, in light of that thought, I offer curses to Team USA.

This isn't about ripping Thomas McCollum (NHL rights: Detroit). He's a freaking teenager, and I am pretty sure he'd be the first one to tell you that he didn't play very well.

(This is more true if you're referring to Friday's loss to the Slovaks than Wednesday's loss to Canada. That game was more about some horrific defensive failures leaving McCollum hung out to dry.)

So if you're looking for someone to rail on McCollum, you're looking in the wrong place.

FanHouse is keeping hockey fans updated on the happenings at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa.

Will blowing a 3-0 lead against their neighbors to the north affect Team USA?

We're bound to find out soon enough, as the medal round of the World Junior Championships begins with Friday's quarterfinals.

Obviously, it's too difficult to predict how the Americans will bounce back. This is, after all, a team of teenagers. Expecting them to always respond well to adversity is not exactly a fair thing to do.

However, the way they handled themselves Wednesday night would indicate that they'll be fine. They didn't get suckered into Canada's game of "hit and run" hockey, though it was clear the players were somewhat rattled by Canada's dirty physical hockey and quick comeback from that 3-0 hole.

Now is their chance to shake it off.

FanHouse is keeping hockey fans updated on the happenings at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa.

They may have fallen short of the 20-goal margin they needed to overtake Canada in goal differential, but Team USA did get the job done Tuesday against Kazakhstan.

The Americans rolled to a 12-0 win over the horribly overmatched Kazaks, and moved their record to 3-0-0 during pool play at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championships. The win sets up a showdown against Team Canada at Scotiabank Place for the top spot in Group A, which carries with it a bye through the quarterfinals.

While it wouldn't guarantee either team the gold, or a medal of any color, the winner will have a three-in-four chance at a medal, and they wouldn't have to worry about playing a quarterfinal game Friday.

FanHouse is keeping hockey fans updated on the happenings at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa.

Stay out of the box.

It's a pretty common mantra among hockey coaches. They like to tell you that the goalie is the best penalty killer, but they always forget about "discipline." That's a pretty good one, too.

Anyway, there are some teams that aren't very good at making you pay for taking a lot of penalties.

At the IIHF World Junior Championships, Team Canada is proving to be a team you need to avoid penalties against.

The host team is now 14-for-24 with the man advantage through three games. They struck on the power play four times Monday night in a 5-1 triumph over Germany. The win puts Canada -- at least temporarily -- alone atop Group A with a 3-0-0 record. The United States can join them "if" they beat Kazakhstan Tuesday night at Scotiabank Place.

FanHouse is keeping hockey fans updated on the happenings at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa.

Goal differential counts in this tournament.

That's good news for Team Canada and bad news for Team USA after Sunday's play at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championships.

While the United States needed to hold on for dear life to beat the Czech Republic 4-3, Canada was scoring at will against poor Kazakhstan, winning 15-0. It was a result that matched the Canadian record for margin of victory in a shutout during this competition.

Jordan Schroeder (2009 draft eligible) scored twice for the Americans, who took a 4-1 lead early in the third period before the Czechs rallied. Thomas McCollum (Detroit) weathered two major storms from the Czech offense, one in the first half of the first period, and another late in the game. The first of the major flurries was stopped by a Schroeder power-play goal, while the second wasn't stopped until the horn blew to end the game.

Canada had no such problems.

FanHouse is keeping hockey fans updated on the happenings at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa.

Friday's opening day of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships left no surprises. The top four teams in the field all won, and two of them won in very impressive fashion.

In the afternoon game at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Team USA blew past Germany 8-2. Drayson Bowman (NHL: undrafted) and James vanRiemsdyk (Philadelphia) each scored twice for the Americans, who blew a close game wide-open with three second-period goals. Jordan Schroeder (draft-eligible 2009), vanRiemsdyk, and Tyler Johnson (undrafted) scored in the second.

The Team USA penalty kill was tested early and often, holding the Germans off the board on 11 power-play chances. They also had to overcome a hostile crowd, as a large throng of Canadian fans were either cheering for the upset or cheering against the United States, depending on how gullible you are.

(I'd give anything to see Team USA beat Canada for the gold, but let's not put the cart ahead of the horse.)