Another OT, Another Gold: Canada Wins Fourth Straight World Junior Title
Posted January 5, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The comeback is complete.
What once seemed like little more than a far-fetched dream became a reality Saturday, as Canada‘s junior hockey team rallied to a 3-2 win over Sweden in the World Junior gold medal game, making it four-straight victories at the annual tournament.
Canada’s back was against the wall after Sweden cost them a chance to finish first in their group during round-robin play, setting up a scenario in which they needed to win three games in four days in order to extend their impressive run of dominance.
But Craig Hartsburg’s club rose to the challenge, winning in the quarterfinal over Finland and the semifinal over the U.S., and taking Sweden all the way to overtime before Matt Halischuk potted the winner in a 3-2 final.
“I just wanted to go to the net and whack it home,” Halischuk said as his teammates piled on top of one another in celebration. “Thank God it went in. That’s all I can … I’m speechless.”
Brad Marchand and Claude Giroux scored for Canada in the first period, while Jonathan Carlsson got Sweden on the board early in the third period and Tomas Larsson tied it in the final minute of regulation.
The crowd on hand in Pardubice, Czech Republic included thousands of Canadian fans, who made the contest feel as if it was a home game for the Canucks. It was energy they clearly fed off of.
Goalie Steve Mason and Canadian defenceman Drew Doughty were named to the tournament all-star team along with Swedish defenceman Victor Hedman and Berglund, Russian forward Viktor Tikhonov and American forward James vanRiemsdyk. Mason was also named tournament MVP.
The gold medal victory was reminiscent of 2007, when Canada needed a lengthy shootout effort to best the United States in the semi-final before going on to capture their third straight title.
The tournament now heads to North America for a four-year run. The 2009 world junior hockey championship will be held in Ottawa and Canada will host it again in 2010 and 2012 while the U.S. gets it in 2011.
Earlier, Russia defeated the United States 4-2 in the bronze-medal game.
