Canadian heart and soul wasn't enough: Russia's talent, skill wins the day

TERRY JONES, QMI Agency, Jan 4 2012


CALGARY - It was a team which, in many ways, won the hearts of a nation in battling back to stage a near miracle.

But coming back from 6-1 to create a frantic finish, in the end, was still a loss. A 6-5 loss was still a defeat at home in a world junior semifinal.

When it was over, the eyes of the Canadian teenagers were wet and there were lumps in their throats.

"It is so disappointing," said Brandon Gormley, one of the heroes of the comeback that almost was.

"We came here to get that gold medal and it's not going to happen. That's what we tried to do. But we didn't do it. This is not what we came here for."

They were all beating themselves up to some extent, but nobody more than goalie Scott Wedgewood.

"The job of the goaltender is to stop the puck," he said.

"Unfortunately, I didn't get the job done."

For four players on this team, including Brett Connolly who returned from the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL to try make up for what happened last year, it was in some ways worse.

"It's a terrible feeling," he said. "It was Canada-Russia. It was a game you dream to play. And it's tough to swallow. It sucks. We made mistakes you just can't make. I don't know how to explain it. It just sucks. And then to come back and get that close to winning it. It sucks."

However you view what happened this night, the bottom line is for the first time since the world junior went to the medal-round format, Canada won't be in a gold medal game at home.

After 10 consecutive years of being involved in the gold medal game, Canada will play for bronze here Thursday afternoon.

Calgarians bought tickets for 21 of the 31 games of the tournament in anticipation of getting the big prize -- Team Canada in gold medal game.

All that's left for the country that cares only for gold, is an afternoon game against Finland for bronze before the Russians and Swedes go for gold in prime time.

In 2000 in Sweden and 2001 in Russia, Canada ended up in the same situation and bounced back to win the bronze. It was in 1998, in Finland, after winning five consecutive gold, that Canada last failed to win a medal at all.

The only thing worse than playing for bronze is not winning it.

"I think every game you play is worth playing for," said coach Don Hay. "Our guys respect the fans and each other and I expect them to play hard for each other."

It had been a sensational scene to start the evening, with the sea-of-red Saddledome crowd beginning the first "Go Canada Go" chant 10 minutes before the opening faceoff, the seats already already full and the anticipation for a Canada-Russia classic in the air. Almost all jerseys in the crowd featured the maple leaf, not the not flaming C.

There was so much pressure and coach Hay perhaps hinted it was a factor in the front end of the game.

"We didn't get off to the start we usually get off to. Maybe we were a little nervous to start with," he said.

"We had good starts all tournament. After it was 2-0, we made it 2-1 but then we gave up two easy goals. I'm really happy with the way we battled back. The fans got into it. We played better. We played like we have all the tournament. But we couldn't find a way. When you get down 6-1, it's a long road."

It wasn't like the Canadians didn't show up for the game, though. They were winning most of the little races to the puck early and had a large edge in five-on-five territorial play in the first period. But for the first time in the entire tournament, Canada found itself not scoring the first goal and not being either even or ahead in a game.

When Canada was down 2-0 there were thoughts of revenge in reverse from last year's gold medal game.

In the end, despite final shots on goal of 56-24 for Canada, the heart and emotion which usually means so much to Canadian teams in these games, was too little, too late. Talent and skill won the day as flashy Evgeni Kuznetsov and Nail Yakupov put their names on the game, and Canadians were left to wonder what this game would have looked like with the six pack of world junior eligible players who are in the NHL.

Yakupov forecast the events of the evening the night before.

"We have everything. We are the best team in the world junior. We don't need fans," he said.

He Nailed it.

A long, excellent night for TSN’s hockey crew

BRUCE DOWBIGGIN, Globe and Mail, Jan. 04, 2012


Perhaps it didn’t end the way Canadians wanted, but Tuesday’s TV marathon of world junior hockey was seven hours of tension-filled chutes and ladders. First, Sweden mounted another improbably comeback in the WJC, finally overcoming Finland 3-2 in a shootout that left even the zamboni drained. Then Canada almost came all the way back from 6-1 down before losing to Russia by a single goal.

TSN created this television monster and so milked every moment of the turbulence, with Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro riding the pressure drops with only a one-hour rest between games. The hardest thing in announcing sports such as hockey is leaving yourself somewhere to go when the drama is ratcheted up. Too often play-by-play announcers and analysts are shrieking halfway through the first power play, giving themselves no range to take the drama higher.

Miller and Ferraro did about as well you could with so many plot changes. They were supportive of Canada without descending to Jack Edwards jingoism. They drew out plot lines - such as the echo of Russia’s tragedy when the Yaroslavl team (including two former WJC champions from 2010) was wiped out in a plane crash last September. Best of all, they were helped by having a sense of self-deprecating humour in the face of huge mood swings. That allowed them to switch gears when the Swedes mounted their eventual comeback victory or Canada attempted its unsuccessful rally. And they did have The Cooler, Bob McKenzie, just to settle down the crazies.

A long, excellent night for TSN’s hockey crew. Now comes an even tougher assignment. Putting life into Thursday’s anticlimactic Canada/Finland bronze medal game. That might take even greater skill.

Press Gang: Looking for the longest current winning streak in hockey? Is it the Boston Bruins? The Vancouver Canucks? The New York Rangers? Don’t be silly. The longest streak of supremacy belongs to the Montreal Canadiens media corps. More, specifically, to the politically inclined membres de la presse who inhabit the Bell Centre.

When it comes to issues of the tongue, the Montreal media mob is undefeated in well over a decade. There was Saku “Speak French” Koivu, the Habs’ captain who donated millions to charity but didn’t have enough French to placate the media. There was Phoenix captain Shane Doan who was pilloried for an anti-French comment muttered by a European teammate. There was the splendiferous Don Cherry, who was briefly sentenced to a seven-second delay for comments about French players wearing visors.

But the piece de resistance had to be the grovelling performance of Montreal general manager Pierre Gauthier on Monday as he fell on his sword in abject apology for foisting a unilingual head coach upon the hockey fans of Les Glorieux. Gauthier was backing up so fast, we were expecting to hear “beep-beep-beep” as he tried to cover his derriere.

“We're sorry if we offended anybody by hiring someone who is not bilingual right now,” Gauthier said. “But when you're in the middle of a season and you're trying to effect change and you're having the difficulties we were having, you evaluate all your options. We felt the best option at this time was to work from within the organization. Those things can be taken care of in due time, but having a bilingual head coach of the Montreal Canadiens is very important and it's something that will be part of our decision going forward.”

This from the man who feigned indifference on the language trap when he first named Randy “no habla” Cunneyworth as head coach. And who let Cunneyworth appear unprepared before the press corps. A wiser man with a sense of history would have seen that it doesn’t pay to go high-hat with Montreal’s media, who are considered equal players in the Habs’ roman a clef.

Experience would have shown the hapless Gauthier that, while l’affaire Cunneyworth was nominally about language, the real bottom line was the unvarnished power of the nationalists in the media corps to play the language card. Journalists in other Canadian NHL cities are ultimately dismissed by a Brian Burke or Mike Gillis when they get above their station. Around the Habs, however, the media knows that invoking nationalist orthodoxy trumps any GM or owner.

Seeing as how they don’t have a 25th Stanley Cup any time on the horizon to occupy the zealots, we’ll likely see this gambit a few times more before it loses its sting. Which is why Sports Illustrated’s Michael Farber, a Montreal resident for decades, says, “The Montreal Canadiens used to stand for excellence. Now they stand for something else.”

Preaching Sedition: Didn't anyone tell John Tortorella that HBO’s 24/7 was over as of Monday? That there are no HBO cams to save him from Gary Bettman’s wrath after the Rangers coach used a media conference to muse about a conspiracy between referees and NBC to prolong Monday’s Winter Classic? Jesting or not, Tortorella went way beyond his leash in raising a Tim Donaghy-like spectre between zebras and networks.

The question now is what will the NHL do about Torts? We know the NBA's commissioner David Stern would give the Rangers coach 10 games/$100,000 minimum for suggesting such a fix. Gary?

Winter Classic Future: No sooner had Usual Suspects suggested that Canadian teams need not apply for an NHL Winter Classic Game (and HBO 24/7 treatment) than rumours cropped up that the Detroit Red Wings will host the Toronto Maple Leafs next January at either Comerica Park in Detroit or the University of Michigan’s 109,000-seat football stadium. Which could mean a Winter Classic & 24/7 team that did not make the playoffs the year before. We won’t suggest which team, but do point out that Detroit is currently in a playoff spot.

But when it comes to the Maple Leafs, the exceptions are the rules (Owners with two NHL teams at the same time?). And why not? You could hold a bottle drive with the Leafs and still get a million people watching on TV. So it’s always going to pay off in attendance and ratings. To say nothing of four weeks of Brian Burke as Citizen Kane (“You're right, I did lose a million dollars last year. I expect to lose a million dollars this year. I expect to lose a million dollars *next* year. You know, Mr. Thatcher, at the rate of a million dollars a year, I'll have to close this place in... 60 years.”)

Despite the big-market tilt of NBC/HBO selections so far, NHL folk bridle if you suggest the league only cares about a half-dozen markets. Fine. If they mean it why not have the two Cup finalists the next year in the 24/7 media glare? C’mon, Bud Selig can do it, so can Gary Bettman. We dare ya’.

Ratings Drop: Maybe a little shine came off the Winter Classic in the U.S.? Despite the presence of New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers, the game on NBC drew fewer viewers than three of the previous classics. At 3.74 million viewers, it trailed the 2011, 2009 and 2008 WC games (2011’s 4.5 million tops the list as the most-watched regular-season hockey contest ever.)

Mitigating that number is the fact the game was bumped a day to Jan. 2 and two hours later in the day against the heart of the Bowl games. As well, the 3.74 million is more than any other regular season NHL game on U.S, networks, save one ( Jan. 27, 1996 on FOX). No Canadian numbers yet.

Despite the fact that the USA had been eliminated already at the World Junior Championships, TSN garnered 2.8 million on New Year’s Eve for the Canada/USA round-robin contest. It was the most-watched program on Canadian TV that night.

Say What?: We’re dizzy from so many NCAA Bowl games this Holiday season. And from hearing so many malaprops. A few favourites: From ESPN’s Todd Blacklege, “That pass goes off the defender... to the offender... and back to another defender.” Then there was ESPN’s Matt Millen, “It's strength versus weakness on both sides, but it's the weakness who is stronger.. is the team that will prevail” More Millen: “When he gets inside of a guy and bends his hips, he's pretty good”.

ESPN’s Brad Nessler essayed, “Clemson takes on another team from the state of Virginia, West Virginia”. And finally, there was Wendy Nix of ESPN saying fans were “flooding into” New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. Ick.

But they all took a back seat to a jet-lagged Mike Milbury at the Winter Classic trying to say Blue Shirts. Except losing the r in Shirts.

World Junior Hockey 2012/ Cole: Battle-hardened Russians shatter Team Canada's illusions

Cam Cole, Vancouver Sun January 3, 2012


CALGARY - First they self-destructed. Then, they almost put the pieces back together.

But there is no consolation in it for Team Canada’s teenagers.

From down by five goals to Russia in the third period, to one goalpost shy of a miracle comeback in the final minute, their consolation - a shot at the bronze medal Thursday afternoon against Finland - won’t put much of a smile on their faces, even if they can find the gumption to give it their best shot.

Tuesday night’s 6-5 loss to their bitter historical rivals leaves Canada out of the gold medal game for the first time in 11 years, and the spoils will now go to the winner between Russia, going for back-to-back titles, and Sweden, which hasn’t won the championship in 20 years.

“It’s not what we came for,” said Brett Connolly, whose goal early in the second period gave the illusion of a modest bounce by the Canadians, who’d given up two first period goals.

The illusion didn’t last.

The Russians reeled off three goals of their own in answer, two of them completing a hat trick for captain Yevgeni Kuznetsov, and added another in the third to go ahead 6-1.

And though something magical almost happened in the final 15 minutes, the Canadian kids themselves must have been the only ones in the building who really believed they could dig themselves all the way out.

“It’s a tough feeling. Obviously going through it last year [when the Russians scored five unanswered on Mark Visentin to win gold], we wanted to do the same thing. We battled right to the end, and had a good third period, but we’ve got to get ready at the start,” said Connolly. “We can’t give up five goals [on the first 15 shots] and expect to win.

‘We just made costly mistakes that turn around and bit us. I’m proud of the way we battled back. We didn’t quit. But it sucks.”

Five goals on their first 15 shots.

Either the Russian juniors are the world’s most deadly snipers, or all the thousands of words that were spent trying to guess at the identity of Canada’s No. 1 goaltender for 10 days turned out to be a giant waste of time.

The Canadians were, for two periods, utterly outclassed. In goal, yes, but at every other position, too.

Team Canada’s backstops - first Scott Wedgewood, then Visentin after Wedgewood had been steamrolled in a collision following Kuznetsov’s third goal - were only the last line of defence in a total team meltdown.

They have no one else to blame for it. Not even, said Canadian head coach Don Hay, the perception that they had too soft a route to the semifinal.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “Maybe we were a little nervous to start with, but we didn’t do things we normally do, driving pucks down the wall and getting pucks and traffic to the net. Once we started doing that, we had more success. But it was just too big a hole.”

It wasn’t only that Hay’s team came out nervy, or that the Canadians were outskated, outsmarted, out-acted, and even out-hit. What really rankles is that they made every one of the Russians’ pre-game observations come true.

They weren’t as battle-hardened, after a cakewalk in Pool B, as the Russians, who had overtime tests against Sweden and then, in the quarter-final, the Czech Republic.

The Russians were, as their stars Kuznetsov and Nail Yakupov had matter-of-factly stated following the Czech game, the better team. Faster, more clever, more skilled.

“He is our captain,” said coach Valeri Bragin, of Kuznetsov, the Washington Capitals’ next great Russian. “This is how he should play in games like this. He is our most experienced player, he is playing professional league already, I am happy with the way he played.”

The usual Canadian plan, in these situations, is to come out of the gate pounding the body - think Steve Downie, wallpapering the first Russian he saw in 2006 - but Tuesday, the visitors weren’t co-operating by putting themselves in position to be hit. By the time the Canadians arrived, they were elsewhere.

Further complicating matters was the Russians’ ability to con the referees, American Ian Croft and Finn Jyri Petteri Ronn, into calling a series of penalties, especially in the first period, few of which seemed to bear much relation to actual events on the ice.

But coping with diving and soccer-like histrionics - we lost count of how many Russians lay on the ice, then staggered to the bench, bent over, covering their faces - is a part of playing the European teams, and Canadians are supposed to know better than to play into their game.

In the second period, in addition to everything else, they lost their discipline and took penalties they did deserve.

“It’s a rivalry, it’s Canada-Russia,” Connolly said. “They don’t like us, we don’t like them. You could see that at the end, they were right up in our face. It’s hard to swallow.”

Even the between-periods introduction of several dozen members of Teams Canada over the past three decades didn’t go off without a hitch, when the host in the audience buttonholed Pat Quinn for an interview and introduced him as Pat Burns, who died last year.

For the Russians, though, the night was extra sweet. They had boasted, and backed it up. Kuznetsov’s hat trick, and singles by Nikita Nesterov, Alexander Khoklachev and Nikita Kucherov -- the last two on Visentin -- were just enough to hold off Canada’s improbable third-period blitz of goals by Dougie Hamilton, Jaden Schwartz, Brendan Gallagher and Brandon Gormley.

Gormley’s goal, to make it 6-5, chased Vasilevski and Russian coach Valeri Bragin replaced him with backup Andrei Makarov, who kept the door shut, barely. In the frenetic final minute, Ryan Strome rang a shot off the right post and Connolly just failed to swipe the rebound home.

“I think everybody’s taking the loss hard. We wanted to have the opportunity to move on, and that’s no longer there,” said Hay, whose job now will be to get his players back up somehow to play for the bronze.

“Every game you play is worth playing for,” he said. “It’s an honour to win a medal in this competition, and our guys respect the fans, and respect each other, and I expect them to play hard.”

2012 world junior hockey/ Johnson: Friberg ‘one in a million’
Swedish star’s confidence grows exponentially as the tournament goes on

George Johnson, Calgary Herald January 3, 2012


CALGARY - And now the artistic mark from the Swedish judge ...

“Well, at least they didn’t boo him,’’ reasoned Max Friberg, the trace of a grin on his lips. “So he must have done it better. So I give him a 10.

“I laughed a little bit at him.

“I told him ‘Great celebration’ or something during the handshakes. And he said, laughing.’’

Finland’s Joel Armia may have aped Friberg’s controversial Swiss shootout stick-ride in Tuesday’s semifinal, but Mini-Max has hitched the ride to the world junior hockey championship gold-medal game.

It’s a pity people in this town have cast him in the role of villain. He’s a go-to guy. For goals, for quotes. Easy to take a shine to.

“I don’t know if they do,’’ joked Friberg, when asked about Calgary’s burgeoning love affair with him. “If they meet me in person, I hope they will like me better.’’

His legend at this tournament only continues to grow. Tuesday, the game-tying strike with Swedish arms leaden from shooting, at 18:16 of the third period, and then another successful shootout try.

Another winner, as it turned out. Naturally.

This guy seems to be at the epi-centre of everything good for the Swedes.

“He’s one in a million,’’ repeated Swedish coach Roger Ronnberg. “What more can you say. You don’t find character like that in many players.’’

Eight goals in aggregate now. Two shootout winners. A couple of at-the-death snipes that ended in crucial overtime and shootout triumphs.

It’s hard to choose a more deserving tournament MVP as we head into the final.

His game-equalizing strike couldn’t have been more dramatic. A fatal clearing attempt by Finnish goaltender Sami Aittokallio, gloved down by an alert Johan Sundstrom, who spotted Friberg heading for the front of the net.

A guy as hot as Mini-Max is at the moment isn’t missing a chance of that relative simplicity.

“It was wobbling a little bit. I had the time to think, ‘Don’t miss this. Don’t miss this.’ But it ended up well.’’

The shootout goal had a good deal of theatricality. As the din began to rise, move out and around the Scotiabank Saddledome as he skated in tight circles for his turn, Sweden’s second, Friberg gave his stick a dramatic, exaggerated little waggle of defiance. Impossible to miss.

“I was just doing it to pump myself up, I guess,’’ he said none too convincingly.

Then after zipping the puck past goaltender Johan Gustafsson, he raised his arms, basking in the escalating booing.

Gotta love a kid like that.

Back home he’s only scored one goal for Timra IK. But this tournament is his coming-out party.

“Here? Confidence. I guess. I have much more ice time, play on power play. I feel that they trust me here and they know what I can do.’’

Once again, the Swedes — who overcame a three-goal deficit to edge the Russians in OT, win the group and earn the bye to the semis — were forced to regroup and show great perseverance. They pounded 57 shots at Aittokallio through the regulation 60 minutes and the additional 10 in overtime.

But it wasn’t until William Karlsson finally cashed on the power play 3:11 into the third period before they breached the Finnish goaltender’s stronghold.

“It’s what we have to do, when we give them leads,’’ sighed Friberg. “It was the same against the Russians. They will get tired, as well, after a while. I think we had more energy than them, both in the third period and in the overtime. I think it matters in the shootout, as well.

“We’re strong mentally. We never give up. We never stop until we are the winners.’’

The Swedes had only themselves to blame for the uphill climb. Both Finnish goals were highly preventable.

Miro Aaltonen, sweeping wide around defenceman Mattias Backman, created the first. In the danger zone, four Swedes were spotted standing around, gawking, as Alexander Ruuttu crept silently into the slot to convert the centring pass.

On the second, a dozing Ludvig Nordstrom was expertly pickpocketed by Joel Armia who turned smartly and snapped the puck behind Johan Gustafsson.

Once more, though, the Swedes pulled themselves back from the abyss.

“The guys got frustrated not scoring on all the chances,’’ admitted Ronnberg. “It was a hard game to coach, a hard game to play for the players.

“It’s tough when you’re under one goal, and tough when you’re under two, to stick to the game plan. I’m really impressed with the character of the guys to turn this game around.’’

No deficit seems to be too great.

For Friberg and his resolute mates, the end of the exhilarating ride ends Wednesday. One way or the other.

“I’m really excited, obviously. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to win a gold medal at world juniors,” he said.

“Maybe it helps that the crowd has been against us since the first game. We just play. We do exactly the same.

“One more game to win,’’ mused the most popular man in Calgary at the moment. “For a gold medal.

“So they can hate me as much as they want.’’

Russian talent too much for Team Canada

Globe and Mail Podcast, Jan. 04, 2012

Globe and Mail writers Eric Duhatschek and Allan Maki call in from Calgary to discuss the world junior hockey tournament.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/russian-talent-too-much-for-team-canada/article2291234/

Download (.mp3)

http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/01359/Junior_1359178a.mp3

Easy round robin backfires on Canada at world juniors

Roy MacGregor, Globe and Mail, Jan. 04, 2012


In some ways, the world junior hockey championship has become a victim of its own success.

At least as far as Team Canada 2012 is concerned, knocked silly for two periods in the first true test it faced and then, once it finally found itself, not quite able to mount the comeback that would have taken it for the 11th consecutive year into the gold-medal game.

“It’s not the end of the world,” Canada head coach Don Hay said Wednesday morning at the Hockey Canada practice complex here.

And it most assuredly isn’t. Far from it, considering this young and healthy team of future millionaires still has a chance to make it 14 years in a row on the podium – including five consecutive gold medals – Thursday afternoon when it meets Finland to decide the bronze medal.

“Not many teams,” Hay added unnecessarily, “that can say they came away from this tournament with a medal.”

Just three of the 10 – and that may be where some discussion might take place.

There is simply no denying the success of the world junior tournament, especially when it is played in hockey-mad Canada. The 2012 organizers believe they will set new tournament records in attendance (600,000 tickets), in revenues ($80-million plus), in 50/50 draws (a win equals the price of a new home in most other parts of the country) and perhaps even in television viewership.

To no surprise, the tournament has grown. There are more teams, now 10 where there were once eight, and it goes on for a long two weeks. The teams get divided into two groups – one in Edmonton this year, one in Calgary – and while the divisions are dictated by the results of the year before, it can prove sadly out of balance, as was the case in 2012.

“You play the games you are scheduled to play,” Hay said Wednesday without saying anything more.

So let us expand for him. Canada played Finland, Czech Republic, Denmark and the United States. The hockey in Edmonton was dismal, for the most part. The Canadians ended the round with an aggregate score of 26-5. They were never challenged, never tested, though they pretended to have met “adversity” briefly New Year’s Eve when the Americans came within a goal in a 3-2 Canadian win.

They saw no adversity whatsoever. The Americans came back because the game had already been rendered utterly meaningless. The Canadians had a 3-0 lead and lost focus just as a little U.S. pride kicked in.

In never losing in Edmonton, the Canadians arrived in Calgary with a bye straight into the semi-final, straight up against the speedy, skilled, determined Russians. The Russians scored first – the first time the Canadians were ever behind in the tournament – and were up 6-1 early in the third period. The Canadians had been stunned by the first true challenge they faced.

“We kind of didn’t know how to deal with it,” said goaltender Scott Wedgewood, who was pulled before the game was half over.

They figured it out, though – as so often happens to Canadian players – and they became a true team in the third period and very nearly pulled off perhaps the greatest upset in tournament history. But it was too late.

What, however, if they had only been truly challenged before the semi-final? Ten teams is too many, especially considering the weakness of the likes of Latvia and Denmark. There has even been a proposal – heaven forbid – to go to 12 teams and a longer tournament.

Canada might have been far better off not to have had that bye. It might have benefited from having to play in the quarter-finals on Monday, as Russia had. One more chance to find that elusive team.

If the Olympics can be used as a fair guide, history suggests that a little early adversity, true adversity, is exactly what Canadian hockey players thrive on. At the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, Canada lost in the early going 5-2 to Sweden and had to play Finland in the quarter-final. It squeaked through with a 2-1 victory, then whipped Belarus 7-1 in the semi-final and won the gold medal with a convincing 5-2 victory over the United States.

Similarly at the Vancouver Games in 2010, Canada lost early to a strong U.S. team, 5-3, beat Russia in the quarter-finals 7-3 and barely survived a late-surge by spunky Slovakia to win the semi-final match 3-2. The NHL stars won their second Olympic gold by beating the Americans 3-2 on Sidney Crosby’s overtime goal.

In both instances, the Canadians were tested early and also had that extra game in which to find their team personality.

Something that took until the third period of a must-win game in Calgary.

And by then it was too late.

Sweden has chance to correct its world junior history

Eric Duhatschek, Globe and Mail, Jan. 04, 2012


Sweden is in the unique position of being a traditional hockey power that usually does badly in the world junior tournament – just one championship in its history, compared to 15 for Canada and 13 for the combined Soviet Union and Russia.

How does one explain that unlikely phenomenon?

“It’s because the world juniors is a real hard tournament to win,” Sweden coach Roger Ronnberg answered Wednesday, as his charges prepared for the gold-medal game against Russia on Thursday. “If you go to the Stanley Cup, it’s best-of-seven. It’s totally different. Here, it’s a short tournament and it’s all down to one or two games. Here, we have to win the right game.”

On Tuesday, Sweden advanced to the final by capitalizing on a miscue from Finnish goalie Sami Aittokallio to tie the game late and then prevailing in the shootout. The victory sets up a rematch with the Russians, a team Sweden defeated 4-3 in overtime to end the round robin.

Sweden came from three goals down to beat the Russians, in what was the best game of the tournament thus far, thanks in part to Russia’s propensity for taking undisciplined penalties that permitted the Swedes to score a bunch of power-play goals. Sweden’s power play has been dynamic in this tournament, especially early on, and for all the attention paid to sparkling draft-eligible players Filip Forsberg and Sebastian Collberg, the country’s most effective forward is the 143rd pick in the 2011 entry draft, Max Friberg.

Anaheim Ducks, take a bow. Mad Max could be the steal of the draft. Sometimes, 5-foot-11 guys that don’t naturally demonstrate a scoring touch have something special that permits them to play well in the big games.

“I hope Sweden has one big game left,” said Friberg, who has been a quote machine in this tournament, but stayed on message Wednesday, “and I will do everything I can, too, to be a part of it. We won [the world juniors] one time I think and it’s been 31 years, so we really have nothing to lose.”

For Friberg and the Swedes, winning a gold medal after so many years of futility would be a fitting end to a thus-far successful event. They are the only undefeated team left standing.

Friberg has been booed in Calgary since he rode his stick like Tiger Williams to celebrate a shootout goal over Switzerland in the round robin, but in the aftermath of Canada’s loss to Russia on Tuesday, fans at the Scotiabank Saddledome immediately started to cheer: “Go Sweden Go.” So even if the Swedes weren’t the people’s choice before, they may be now.

“They did?” Friberg said. “It would be great to have the fans on our side.”

As for how the tournament has unfolded, in front of full houses throughout, Ronnberg spoke for all the visiting teams when he described it as “the experience of a lifetime – for those kids to play in this environment, to play in the full buildings, in front of people who know hockey – because the culture of hockey, here in Canada, is so strong. Everybody’s talking hockey, and everybody understands hockey. They are thrilled.”

Russia confident in captain Kuznetsov

WES GILBERTSON, QMI Agency, Jan 4 2012



Nobody has collected as many points.

Nobody has made as many enemies.

And, heading into Thursday's gold-medal matchup with Sweden at the Saddledome, nobody seems to be having as much fun at the world junior tournament as Team Russia captain Evgeni Kuznetsov.

If this guy is feeling any pressure, he's certainly not showing it.

"Well, he won a gold medal last year," reasoned Russian legend Igor Larionov, a three-time Stanley Cup champion and Hockey Hall-of-Famer who's attending the world juniors as a player agent.

"So what do you have to lose? You've already been a champion. You have a chance to lead the way to the young guys. That's what he's been doing."

Kuznetsov didn't talk to the media after Wednesday's practice at WinSport Canada Athletic & Ice Complex, but that didn't stop everybody else from talking about him.

The Washington Capitals prospect has only hit the scoresheet in two games so far -- a near-record nine points against Latvia in the round-robin and a four-point effort against Team Canada in Tuesday's semifinal showdown -- but still owns the tournament scoring lead.

He also seems to relish his status as a villain at the Saddledome, fuelled by his on-ice celebrations and inflammatory comments about the patriotic crowd.

"He is funny guy. He is funny in life. He is funny in the rink and on the ice," said Kuznetsov's linemate, Nail Yakupov. "He's not funny 24 hours in the day, but sometimes in the dressing room, in the rink. When we have a game, he just stays focused and talks to the guys, like, 'C'mon guys, we want to win something.'

"He is a good captain. He is a good guy and he helps the team."

Kuznetsov is the only returnee from Russia's golden group in Buffalo and will try to lead his country to a second consecutive celebration in Thursday's tournament finale.

The Swedes, who finished fourth last winter after a three-year medal spree at the world juniors, haven't won gold at this event since 1981.

Despite having to field questions about losing two potential teammates in the September plane crash that killed the players and staff of the Kontinental Hockey League's Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, the Russians have undoubtedly been the most relaxed squad at this tournament.

Maybe, too relaxed.

In their roundrobin finale against Team Sweden on New Year's Eve, the Russians watched a three-goal lead evaporate in the third period and eventually suffered a 4-3 overtime setback.

After surviving another extra-time scare from the Czechs in a 2-1 quarterfinal thriller, they skated to a 6-1 lead against Canada in Tuesday's semifinal but had to hang on for a 6-5 victory.

Russian head coach Valeri Bragin, whose been on the bench for three previous gold-medal games at the world junior tourney, admitted the third-period collapse against Sweden in the preliminary round was reason for concern.

"The game in the group stage, we have to win because it was 3-0 after two periods. Even when we were leading 3-2, we have to win that game," Bragin said through a translator. "I think we'll take a lesson from that game, but I think the Swedes -- like us -- have really a great motivation because they don't win the world juniors for something like 30 years.

"But before the finals, the chance is always 50-50. They have desire. We have desire. The game will show who is stronger. Right now, it's difficult to predict."

Finland pumped for third meeting with Canucks

STEVE MACFARLANE, QMI Agency, Jan 4 2012


Disappointment is the predominant feeling in Canada with the world junior hockey championship hosts having to settle for a shot at the bronze.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, there's a sense of pride.

"It's a big thing. We worked really hard," said Finnish goaltender Chris Gibson, whose team takes on Canada for third place Thursday at the Saddledome (1:30 p.m., TSN). "Everyone in Finland are really proud of us.

"The team, we knew we could go far but we never really thought we could go THIS far. Now it's up to us to put everything we have (into it)."

The underdog Finns nearly found themselves in the gold-medal contest but gave up a two-goal lead in the third period and lost to Sweden in a shootout.

But unlike their Canadian counterparts, who fell 6-5 to Russia in the other semifinal after trailing 6-1 in the final frame, there's no sense of failure.

"It's not a disappointment at all. We'll take any medal we can take," Gibson said. "It's a great thing to have your country in the top four, but if you leave with a medal, it's even better."

If they do beat the hosts, it will be Finland's first world junior hardware since they claimed the bronze in 2006.

Meanwhile, it's the first time in 10 years the Canadians have missed out on at least a shot at the gold.

Thursday's battle will be the third between the Finns and Canadians since exhibition games began in December.

Canada claimed both previous contests, beating Finland 3-1 in a pre-tournament warmup Dec. 19 in Calgary and then kicking off the roundrobin on Boxing Day with an 8-1 thrashing in Edmonton.

But that embarrassing loss seemed to somehow inspire the Finns, who went on to beat the U.S., Denmark and Czech Republic in the preliminary round before falling just short against the Swedes.

"They're not a team to be overlooked," Team Canada's Ryan Strome said Wednesday after practice at WinSport Canada Athletic Ice Complex. "They've got arguably one of the best players in the world outside the NHL, some people say, in (Mikael) Granlund. They're a good team."

Canada's captain, Jaden Schwartz, is also cautious.

"They've obviously improved a lot," Schwartz said. "Ever since the Boxing Day game, they've played really solid games -- they beat good teams.

"We've got to make sure we're ready and prepared."

For their part, the Finns are excited about Round 3 against Canada in hostile territory.

"We get another chance to beat Canada," said Gibson, one of just a handful of Finns who practised during an optional skate Wednesday. "We've done a lot of good things during this tournament. That first game of the tournament was a wakeup call for what we really have to do. Now I think everyone's ready for the game tomorrow."

Don't expect them to quit this time.

Gibson, who took a beating in that 8-1 loss and was replaced as the starter, admitted that Boxing Day contest was mentally tough for his team to stay engaged in after they got down 2-0 in the first five minutes and faced a 5-1 deficit after two periods.

"It was a hard game to play in -- Canada's home-opener -- and they score a couple of fast goals," said Gibson. "It was a hard game to finish, but we finished it. After that, we moved on. We watched some videos the next day and we moved on.

"After that, everything started going up. We responded very well after that and we've been playing some good hockey during this tournament.

"We really want to work hard (Thursday) and get the medal and go out of the tournament with a smile on our face."

FRASER: ABOUT PLAYERS AND THE REMARKS THEY MAKE

KERRY FRASER, TSN.CA, Jan 4 2012


Hi Kerry,

First of all, Happy New Year and I wish you all the best for 2012. I hope you will have an awesome year.

It's been reported that Krys Barch of the Florida Panthers got a game misconduct because a linesman apparently overheard Barch using a racial slur against PK Subban. If this is true, then this is the first time I can ever remember a referee or a linesman giving a penalty to a player for such alleged conduct.

With that said, I want to know - Did you ever give penalties to players because they said something that was as bad?

Jason Bouchard
Toronto, Ontario

Jason: Happy New Year to one and all! I thank you for providing this very important first question of 2012 in hopes that tolerance and appropriate conduct is extended by each of us to all our brothers and sisters throughout this New Year. This makes for a long column, but a very important topic.

The investigation continues concerning Krys Barch's alleged comments that were overheard by a linesman and resulted in the assessment of a game misconduct. This is not the first time that a linesman reported such an incident.

Shane Doan was accused of directing an anti-French comment to the four-man Francophone officiating crew in a game and assessed a misconduct penalty which blew up into a major ordeal. I don't know of a better person or one more grounded in his Christian faith than Shane Doan throughout the NHL. I've seen him spitting mad in the moment and the very worst I ever heard him utter was the word, "frig". He was exonerated of all charges following an in-depth investigation by the League.

In the name of tolerance, let's not rush to judgment to convict Krys Barch. If through a thorough investigation, the NHL finds Barch guilty of directing a racial slur at PK Subban, he will be appropriately reprimanded (as anyone should be) and a valuable lesson learned by all.

Political correctness in our ever changing world demands us to be sensitive to the feelings of others. The hard truth is that the intolerance and inequality well documented throughout history was never okay but certainly something to learn from.

Even though there is no 'PC rule book,' we should all know what type of comments cross the line. Some years ago, 'racial taunts or slurs' were added to the NHL rule book under Game Misconduct, rule 23.7 (ii) to address these changing times. Respect and tolerance for the differences of others is something that we must uphold.

Taunting and trash talk continues to be utilized by some participants in all sports in an effort to gain an edge and veer an opponent off his game. I don't believe that will ever change. Some of the banter can be funny while others just plain inappropriate.

Jason, I want to share some incidents committed by players and fans that I encountered during my career which I believe went below the line of being deemed acceptable. In each case I will provide my response or non response to the incident. In publicized events I will use names; in private incidents I will leave it generic in nature.

Prior to the sensitivity issue players often taunted their opponents with trash talk that centred on sexual orientation. 'Queer' was the optimum buzz word. Some might remember a Hockey Night In Canada hot microphone near the Philadelphia Flyers bench catch Bobby Clarke's displeasure with referee great, Bruce Hood when he shouted, "Hood, you ----ing queer."

In a game I worked a scrum ensued after a whistle in front of a team bench. The tough guy/fighter was on the bench and had his face well covered with Vaseline to protect against potential cuts. He and an opponent on the ice, who happened to have a high-pitched famine type voice got into a verbal confrontation. The player on the ice said with a lisp, "Oh why don't you just go put some more Vaseline on your face," to which the tough guy immediately responded, "At least I don't stick up my _ _ _." Everyone laughed including the player with the wispy voice. The scrum dispersed and nobody was offended.

In another game prior to racial slurs being penalized a player of East Indian decent was involved in a scrum by the player's bench when the trash talking began. An opponent seated on the player's bench in a calm voice looked to his teammate seated beside him and asked, "Did someone call a cab?" The only one that didn't find it humorous was the player of East Indian decent. I heard the comment and failed to respond.

In 1995, Claude Lemieux won the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff MVP when he led the NJ Devils to the Stanley Cup in spite of going through a very public, nasty divorce. In a preliminary round Matthew Barnaby, the king of agitation and trash talk was all over Lemieux, trying to get him off his game.

Claude approached me at a stoppage in play with tears in his eyes and asked me to please tell Barnaby not to speak to him about his personal life. Claude told me that he was going through a terrible divorce and that Barnaby had made some extremely derogatory and obscene comments about his estranged wife.

As far as I'm concerned a player's family is off limits. I immediately called Matthew Barnaby over insisted that he apologize to Claude Lemieux or I would throw him out of the game. Barney didn't believe I could or would do it until I firmly said, "Try me."

It took two Barnaby two attempts because I didn't think the first one offer to Lemieux was sincere enough. Claude accepted the second one and skated away leaving me to threaten Matthew Barnaby never to say those types of things again or he would get an early shower.

Fans can also wound players with insensitive words. Mark Fitzpatrick was playing goal for Florida Panthers in a game in Tampa just after a publicized incident where he was charged with aggravated domestic battery. At the first commercial stoppage Mark was visibly shaken and pointed to a fan directly behind his goal that he said was taunting him by calling him a wife beater.

The fan Mark singled out was a middle aged man dressed very professionally. His seat was positioned directly in front of a seam in the glass where his shouts could be easily heard on the ice. I approached the fan who confirmed the insensitive comments he had been directing at the Panthers goalie. I asked him please refrain from anything further of that nature or I would have him ejected from the building to which he agreed.

Prior to the start of the next period I took one of my signed hockey cards and passed it through the glass as an offering of cooperation to the fan. The gentleman was most apologetic for his conduct and said that he, of all people should be sensitive to the issue for Mark Fitzpatrick given the fact that in his professional life he operated a shelter for battered women. The emotion as a hockey fan caused him to lose control of his professional values and senses.

The very best example and lesson I can offer on the subject came from an incident on Dec. 20, 2000 in a game at Madison Square Garden between the NY Rangers and the St. Louis Blues which I wrote about in detail in The Final Call.

A scrum ensued at the end of the first period between Theo Fleury (who had just completed the League imposed substance abuse program) and Tyson Nash, a second-year player with the Blues.

Theo approached me with tears in his eyes after Nash brought up Fleury's much publicized battle with alcohol and drugs. I approached Blues coach Joel Quenneville in the coach's room and we agreed to get his player to offer a sincere apology to Theo Fleury on the red line between the two benches prior to the start of the next period. Tyson was visibly shaken when he offered the apology which was accepted by Fleury. The two combatants shook hands, the game finished and I thought that was the end of it.

That is until I was writing my book ten years later and called Tyson Nash for his permission to chronicle the event. The telephone got quiet - Tyson said, "Kerry, that was a life-altering, career-changing incident for me." It was obvious to me that the apology I forced in 2000 had a profound effect on Tyson Nash even to this day.

Let me share with you in Tyson Nash's own words the positive impact the incident that night on Madison Square Garden ice had on him.

"When I first started playing hockey, I was actually pretty decent and had the ability to put the puck in the back of the net, but as I travelled on in my career I realized, and certain coaches helped me realize, if I was going to make the NHL…I needed to play a certain way. I, of course, didn't always agree with them...but I listened and am so thankful I did because of the career I ended up having...

Coach Quenneville gave me an opportunity and a role on a great team. When I first got called up to the NHL after four years in the minors, I knew this might be my only chance to show what I can do...I ran around and hit everything that moved and smiled and laughed the whole game through, and in many more after that, for I was living my dream and I was playing in the NHL…Coach Quenneville told me that I needed to be the most hated man in hockey and bring that smile and energy to every game and as long as I did that I would be a St. Louis Blue. The rest was history. From that day I would do whatever I had to do to stick in the league; I would hit anything and anyone...I would yell and chirp and do whatever I could to get the upper hand or draw penalties. After all, we had the best power play in the league, and in fact we had a stat sheet for penalties drawn—which, of course, I dominated. At least I could say I was good in one stat column.

I am pretty sure I was a ref's nightmare, always in the middle of everything, and it just escalated from there. It was a tough role [to assume] because it really wasn't who I was. I consider myself a pretty nice guy who, off the ice, hates controversy, but on the ice I had to do something totally opposite or I would be gone. I was given a job and I wanted to be great at it, no matter what or who stood in my way - until on a particular night.

Before a game against the Rangers, everyone talked and gossiped, and in the heat of the moment I said things that I typically never do and [got] personal. I was frustrated with Theo Fleury and in the heat of the moment I...attacked him as a person. Obviously, Theo was a very fiery guy and it didn't take much to get him, but instead of fire him up, I apparently struck a chord emotionally and he approached Kerry Fraser about it and, well, that was a huge wake-up call for me that certain things are offsides no matter how bad you want to win the game...

After that I never went after someone's personal life, and I have Fraser to thank for playing dad in this one." - Tyson Nash.

I believe the insight and honesty of Tyson's candid self-analysis have great value. We are reminded that, while winning at all costs seems to be the accepted aim of our game, form the NHL to youth hockey, the cost might not be a simple two-minute penalty but something so damaging and injurious it cuts to the core of an opponent.

Players, fans, coaches, parents and officials at all levels of the game; let's incorporate the valuable lesson Tyson Nash learned at MSG as a New Year's resolution for all of us.

World Junior Hockey 2012: Sweden’s Patrik Nemeth loves to annoy his opponents

Chris O'Leary, edmontonjournal.com, January 4, 2012



CALGARY - If he hasn’t already, Patrik Nemeth is going to get on your nerves.

The Swedish defenceman loves to get a mental edge on his opponents. Most of the time he uses his six-foot-five, 216-pound frame to do that, laying out bodies on the ice and stifling snipers.

The Dallas Stars prospect (41st overall in 2010) has usually irritated his opponents well before the puck has dropped, though, with a pre-game ritual that’s guaranteed to rub people the wrong way. Before the national anthem has started to wind down, Nemeth breaks from the pack and circles his net a couple of times. He did it at Rexall Place in Edmonton when the Swedes played Canada in an exhibition game on Dec. 23 and drew the ire of his opponents. Nemeth got the last laugh though, as Sweden came away with a 5-3 win. Skating into Thursday night’s gold-medal game, winning is something the Swedes have done a lot of since Boxing Day.

“We played an exhibition game last year in Toronto and I did the same thing,” the Stockholm native said, chuckling. “It’s been a habit.

“I do the same thing back home in Sweden, but I know the national anthem isn’t really as big a thing there as it is here.”

Nemeth’s habits are known to Swedish head coach Roger Ronnberg, who has pleaded with his defenceman to just stand still for a few more seconds during the anthems — particularly when it’s on Canadian ice.

“He doesn’t do things like that with a purpose,” the coach said. “He’s just a kid focused on playing a game. We’ve told him several times that (when) the national anthem plays, put your helmet in your hand and stand still, but … he’s into the game and he’s so focused. It’s hard to control him sometimes.

“We try to take it away. It’s not respectful, but it’s hard to control the kids sometimes.”

Nemeth said that he thinks the routine does give him an edge, which is what he’s after.

“I think hockey is a mental sport and you get that (mental) game working and you’re ahead of your opponents,” he said.

For any pre-game stress that Nemeth causes his coach, he balances it out — and then some — when it’s time to get down to business.

“He’s a really steady defenceman,” Ronnberg said. “He’s had a role to shut down the other team’s best lines and he’s been leading also on the penalty kill.

“He’s also a guy who is a defenceman that is strong on the puck. I love his puck possession and he’s found a way to be effective here that I really love about him.”

On Wednesday, Nemeth took to a different game. He entertained the request of Swedish journalists, who wanted pictures of him smashing Russian matryoshka nesting dolls. The sound of porcelain smashing on the floor at Canada Olympic Park drew a crowd of media onlookers. When told about what Nemeth was up to, Ronnberg was almost in disbelief.

“He did what? It’s nothing I told him to do, for sure. Some one of you guys (media) fooled him to do it,” he said, fighting back a bit of a smile.

“It’s not good. I think we should be humble here and just focus on ourselves and have big respect for the Russians because they have a really good hockey team here.”

Nemeth downplayed the photo-op.

“It was a newspaper wanted me to do that, so I had to,” he said, laughing. “I don’t think (the Russians) saw it. I don’t think that’s a big deal.”

Nemeth’s teammate, Oscar Klefbom called his fellow defenceman a free spirit.

“I don’t think about it too much,” he said of what Nemeth does during the anthem. “It’s just his thing to try to irritate the other teams. We’ll see if it works against the Russian team.”

World Junior Hockey 2012: Canada will give its all in battle for bronze medal

Kristen Odland, Calgary Herald January 5, 2012



Today is a new day and for 22 Canadian teenagers, it’s their last chance to celebrate a victory as a team.

And while playing Finland for a bronze medal is not what they envisioned or expected at the start of the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship, at this point it’ll have to do.

“We don’t want to go home empty-handed,” said captain Jaden Schwartz as Canada faced the music, a day after suffering a 6-5 semifinal loss to Russia. “You lose, you get nothing — you win, you get a bronze and we’re going to do whatever we can.

“As individuals, I think winning bronze is going to mean more to us than what we think right now,” said Schwartz, one of four returnees from the 2011 silver-medal squad.

The Canadians awoke Wednesday morning, sick to their stomachs and trying to remember if Tuesday’s nightmare really happened.

“It’s obviously not what we wanted,” said Canadian centreman Ryan Strome. “We wanted to play for a gold-medal game.

“But we talked last night; we have something to play for still. We can go out here with a win and that’s a positive. I’m really proud of this group. We’ve come so close and it’s not good to quit now. There’s so much to play for still. We’re going to do our very best (today).”

The players skated at Calgary’s WinSport Arena and Hockey Canada’s galactic headquarters in their final practice as a team.

Today will be their last clash in red and white Canadian silks at the Scotiabank Saddledome as they vie for a bronze medal for the first time since 2001 in Moscow.

“We had a really good practice,” Strome said. “I mean, we’re not the happiest guys, but we worked really hard. Coach wanted us to work hard and we did. I think we just have to move on as quickly as we can.”

Despite the open wounds, Strome kept things in perspective.

“We’re going to see our family a bit later — and we’re just going to have to kind of get over it a little bit,” he said. “(Today) is another game day and I think everyone’s going to be over it. And, if not, they’re going to have to figure it out quick because we have a game.”

In the other semifinal Tuesday, Finland suffered a cruel shootout defeat to Sweden. The loss stung considering the Finns scored two goals on 12 shots and held onto the lead 3:11 into the third period. Sami Aittokallio was also outstanding through three periods, overtime and the shootout, making 55 saves on 58 Swedish shots.

Canada expects an improved Finnish squad, compared to the one it beat 3-1 in exhibition play and 8-1 to open the tournament on Boxing Day.

“I think we kind of woke them up there,” said Canadian defenceman Brandon Gormley. “They played very well after we beat them pretty bad. We’re expecting a much different team.

“We have to look forward, there’s no other option. We’ll be ready for Finland.”

The bottom line, according to Schwartz, is there is no time to feel sorry for themselves.

“We came here to win a gold and we didn’t accomplish that,” he said. “We have to regroup and refocus. We have to be determined to win a bronze medal.

‘‘I don’t know how many chances you’ll ever get to put on the Maple Leaf sweater,’’ said Schwartz.

THN at the WJC: Rising and falling draft stocks

Ryan Kennedy, The Hockey News, 2012-01-05


Though the World Junior Championship is widely regarded as a tournament for 19-year-olds, this year in particular has featured some of the top draft eligible talent available for 2012. These youngsters were given a huge stage to showcase their skills and the results heading into the final games have been mixed to be sure. So how did they all fare? Glad you asked.

Nail Yakupov, LW – Russia

Depending on whom you ask, Yakupov is either the first- or second-best prospect in the draft. I say he’s first and he cemented it in Calgary. Though he is known more for goal scoring, the talented kid from the Tatar region actually put nothing but assists up heading into the gold medal game - nine in six games to tie for the tourney lead with Finland’s Mikael Granlund. That ability to vary his contributions is nice to see and his competitive drive (not to mention the best press scrums since Kirill Kabanov) is undeniable.

Mikhail Grigorenko, RW – Russia

An ankle injury against Latvia limited Grigorenko to spot duty for most of the tourney, so it’s hard to gauge his effectiveness. Those who don’t favor Yakupov go with Grigorenko at No. 1, but he couldn’t improve his station based on Calgary thanks to the injury.

Ryan Murray, D – Canada

True, Murray had the game from hell against the Russians, but the rest of his body of work was sound. He gave Canada big minutes when Scott Harrington and Nathan Beaulieu went down against Team USA and his skating ability was already well-known. I would still rate him the top D-man in the draft.

Filip Forsberg, LW – Sweden

Forsberg’s stickhandling and creativity has been quite evident in Calgary, but it hasn’t translated into results. He posted just one point through five games, but on the plus side, was chosen for the shootout against the Finns in the semifinal. At 6-foot-2, he also has enviable size.

Andrei Vasilevski, G – Russia

Goalies are always ranked differently in the draft, so this is as good a place as any to include Vasilevski. Forget the Canada comeback; the Russian has been bailing his defense out all medal round and has a flair for the dramatic with his glove hand. He’s a battler and will be one of the top goalies taken along with Malcolm Subban of OHL Belleville.

Jacob Trouba, D – United States

Big, ornery and skilled, Trouba brings a lot to the table. One of the better U.S. defensemen at the tourney, he has certainly solidified his draft stock and probably even given it a boost. Right now he’s looking like a top-10 pick for sure.

Sebastian Collberg, RW – Sweden

Another youngster trusted in the shootout against Finland, Collberg scored on his attempt and has put up great numbers for the Swedes. The mid-sized winger had four goals and seven points through five games, placing him second on the team behind Max Friberg’s 11 points. Collberg definitely has some slick hands and creativity and his stock will rise now.

Olli Maatta, D – Finland

An early concussion knocked Maatta out of the tourney, denying Finland one of their better offensive defensemen. Depending on the length of time he’s out, the OHL London import may get passed by other prospects, at least in the short-term.

Tomas Hertl, C – Czech Republic

An offensive catalyst for the Czechs, Hertl showed off some great playmaking skills with linemate Dmitrij Jaskin and in the process opened a lot of eyes towards his potential. Coupled with his numbers in the Czech League (15 points in 23 games), he’s looking like a first-rounder for sure.

The future looks bleak for Canadian minor hockey
Youth participation in Canadian hockey programs is decreasing while the numbers are increasing in the U.S.

Emile Therien, Toronto Star, Jan 04 2012


Although Canadians are mourning the national team’s loss to Russia at the World Junior Hockey Championships, far deeper problems threaten the future of the game in this country.

First and foremost, hockey is plagued with serious injuries. Back in the 1970s the big safety issue was eye injuries. Now, more and more Canadians share concerns about bodychecking and head injuries. The Canada Safety Council has been speaking out on this for more than 20 years. Others are at last breaking their silence on this critical national health and safety issue.

A five-year study of 3,000 boys aged 4 to 18 in a youth hockey program in Burlington found that 66 per cent of injuries were from accidents such as colliding with teammates, sliding into the boards or posts or being hit with the puck. The researchers from the University of Buffalo attributed the remaining 34 per cent to players checking each other. Only injuries serious enough to keep players off the ice for at least 24 hours were counted.

A joint study by the University of Calgary, McGill University and the University of Laval tracked injuries to 2,200 peewee players through the 2007-2008 season. It revealed that 11- and 12-year old hockey players in leagues that allow bodychecking are 2.5 times more likely to get hurt and 3.5 times more likely to suffer a concussion. In Quebec, players do not bodycheck until bantam (ages 13 to 14), and even then only at the elite levels. In Alberta, bodychecking begins at the peewee level (ages 11 and 12).

The findings make a case for raising the bodychecking age and for limiting bodychecking at all levels. One of the researchers, Dr. Carolyn Emery from the University of Calgary, estimated a ban on bodychecking in peewee hockey would eliminate more than 1,000 injuries and 400 concussions annually among the nearly 9,000 peewee players in Alberta.

Traumatic brain injuries from hits to the head can lead to severe and lifelong consequences. Research by Dr. Shree Bhalerao, director of medical psychiatry at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, and Deborah Pink, resident in psychiatry at the University of Toronto, have found they can cause post-concussive symptoms, cognitive disorders, depression, personality changes and substance abuse.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information reported 8,000 hockey-related injuries in Ontario hospital emergency rooms in the 2002-2003 season. Among players 18 and under, 62 per cent of the injuries were a result of checking.

The main reason kids play any sport is for fun — and getting hurt is no fun. Fear of injuries is driving young players and their parents away from the game. As the pool of talent dwindles, so does the quality and talent level of those who go on to represent Canada internationally.

Enrolment in Hockey Canada teams is currently 572,000 players, down more than 200,000 from its peak. And the prospects are grim. In the next decade, some say there could be 200,000 fewer kids playing the game. Yet Hockey Canada remains apathetic to the injury problem.

The opposite trend is evident south of the border, where the number of players registered with USA Hockey rose from 195,000 in 1990-91, to 500,579 in 2010.

Nov. 5 was Try Hockey For Free Day in the U.S. More than 430 sites in 47 states conducted free clinics for more than 11,000 American children ages 4 to 9. The event was part of a slate of activities scheduled for Come Play Hockey Month, an initiative involving USA Hockey and the NHL designed to increase youth participation in the game.

The American system and players are better today than they have ever been. Currently more than 58 universities and colleges play Division I hockey. In addition, 74 colleges play NCAA Division II and Division III hockey, and 447 colleges have club hockey teams (men’s and women’s).

Canada has no comparable development programs. Our system is built on and caters exclusively to the Canadian Hockey League and its teams, which are, in effect, commercial entities.

What’s the solution? Can corporate Canada save our game? An RBC survey released on Dec. 6 found that 82 per cent of Canadians in hockey households believe corporations must do more to help the sport’s grassroots programs. It is unclear whether that corporate support includes the thousands of small businesses that support minor hockey in their respective communities to the tune of millions of dollars each year. Nonetheless, corporate support, however defined, is not the magic bullet that will solve all these problems.

A major overhaul of minor hockey is needed in Canada — and soon. A detailed, systemic investigation of the issues confronting minor hockey is crucial.

The average annual registration and participation cost is about $1,500, according to the RBC survey; some families simply can’t afford this. Local availability of facilities and resources can also be an issue.

Until now, the hockey establishment has not been held accountable. Is it up to the challenge? Don’t count on it.

For leadership, look to the medical community, school officials, health and safety researchers and advocates, and other concerned organizations and individuals. It’s not too late to change direction and save our game, with its strong historical and cultural roots.


Emile Therien is former president of the Canada Safety Council.

USA Hockey Scraps the American Development Model (ADM) Following the US Performance at the 2012 World Juniors

01-02-2012


Today, USA Hockey announced a complete overhaul of the recently implemented American Development Model (ADM). Immediately after its one win 2012 World Junior performance, USA Hockey held round the clock meetings with top US coaches across Minnesota in an effort to get the new program implemented before the end of this year's minor hockey season. The result is a new “Play-for-Pay” model based upon the long term international domination by the now defunct Soviet Union.

The proven Play-for-Pay approach is a clear departure from the current acronym based USA development model. Effective today, coaches are not allowed to use the acronyms Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD), small area games (SMAGs), fundamental movement and skills (FMS), and most importantly, using ABC’s for describing agility, balance, coordination and speed. USA Hockey’s Chief Director of Acronyms fired himself over the weekend after hearing a post game interview with an anonymous and confused USA forward saying “Wow, I thought ABC’s meant Avoid Back Checking….”. This comes as a double setback to the US as they had invested significantly into the creation of revenue generating on-line acronym practice and training videos (project CRAPs). Everyone now agrees that acronyms do not create winning hockey teams.

The Play-for-Pay approach will be a complete departure from the existing model, says Reg Dunlop, USA Hockey’s new Director Chief Associate Creator of the Play-for-Pay program. The new program is based on the premises winning is more fun than losing, and the more incentive given to winning the more likely it is to occur. Coach Dunlop goes on to describe several of the immediate changes, including:

Playing full ice games with a functioning scoreboard so kids can learn losing stinks and have a fear of it – the current program has kids, parents and coaches thinking they are all winners

Increasing registration fees for all, and using the proceeds to provide cash rewards for individual hat tricks – the current patches are not enough incentive to drive individual excellence

Encouraging goalie specialization at an early age so they can have more time to adjust to the fact that skaters just tolerate them in hopes they stop pucks – ADM had goalies believing they were a regular member of the team

Encouraging freezing of all pools in hopes to get more ice time for kids – swimming is an individual lane specific sport that teaches kids to keep their heads down, it has no correlation to winning hockey games

Many critics of the ADM program have made accusations that the prorgram was actually a tactic by Hockey Canada to keep USA Hockey down after USA took the Canadians to overtime in the past Olympics. Critics pointed to a long time quote on USA Hockey’s ADM website wherein Brian Burke, General Manager of Canada's Toronto Maple Leafs, is quoted and slipped in saying “The program is absolutely fantastic. I know its implementation will take some time, but the principles are dead…”.

USA hockey will be notifying coaches this week of the new on-line “potential specific coaching modules" that must be completed before the end of the following week. The fee for the 8 hour classes have been increased to $100.

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Nice to see someone at hockeygrinder.com has a sense of humour!

I don't see anything wrong with playing with a scoreclock; in fact, I recommend people keep track of the score in prctice as much as possible - as the game uses one - kids want to know who wins and who loses! We should reward scoring - that's the best part of the game! If you want to be all warm and fuzzy... hug a teddy bear!