2009 World Junior Hockey Championship
 

Hey y'all, don't know how many Planeteers are hockey fans (btw, are you guys any closer to finding a tenant for the Sprint Centre or whatever it's called?) but the World Junior hockey championships have been going on since boxing day, and it's the first tournament in several years where Canada hasn't been mopping the floor with everyone. It also happens to be the fifth straight tournament since 04 in which the Americans completely choked. Don't get me wrong, I'm not rooting against them. Until today's Canada/Russia game (Russia took a 5-4 lead with under 3 to play, and Edmonton Oiler first-rounder Jordan Eberle scored the tying goal with 5 seconds to go, and added the shootout winner a short time later. Canadian goalie Dustin Tokarski was a nightmare until the shootout, but what do you expect from a guy the Tampa Bay Lightning brass labeled as 'NHL quality'), I didn't think there was a better game of junior hockey ever played besides the one on New Years Eve. That game was poetry on ice, and the fact that one team had to lose was a shame, but I had hoped the Americans could make it to the finals the hard way. But no, they lose to Slovakia of all teams...

Anyway, if there are any hockey fans on here, the Canada/Sweden final on Monday should be quite the battle. John Tavares of Canada and Victor Hedman of Sweden are flip-flopping between the first and second overall picks in the upcoming draft, so if you're interested in a great hockey game with a great hockey atmosphere (Scotiabank Place is going to be loud as all hell), try and find it.

Cheers

i just wanna give a quicjk shout out to my boys in calgary... john, justin, and peter... you're some beautiful sons of bitches

I went to several World Junior Hockey games a couple years ago when it was hosted by the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, ND. They really are fantastic games, even if the US gets its doors blown off everytime they step onto the ice.

Go Sweden.

The lack of US success at this tournament in recent years astounds me, personally. This team had almost the exact same number of first-round picks as Canada; the talent is there. For whatever reason they don't play well as a team.

And Jebus, the Grand Forks tourney... the only place Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin could skate on the same team against a bunch of teenagers from other countries and get the snot beat out of them... the Team Canada roster that year was positively frightening.

TONS of talented players in that tournament. Some of those double-digit thwompings were spectacular and fun to watch, but good lord... THOSE were beat downs.

No doubt; there's one guy on here who's got a picture of Thiggy with 'Hope' written underneath... those annihilations personified the 'absence of' :D

Haha, never figured I'd see a post like this in ChiefsPlanet. I bet that 95% (if not more) of the members here don't care about this thing at all.

It was an exciting game tonight, and Canada will be going for their 5th straight win in this tournament on Monday. I may end up attenting the game actually, but it will be tough to get tickets.

They should change the rules (from goal differential to goals agaisnt) so teams like Kazachstan and Latvia don't have to be embarrassed like that. There are really only 8 or so competitive hockey nations, anyway.

It's not their fault; I'd be surprised if anyone below Minnesota had actually heard of the thing. It's the same thing in Europe; there's only a few places that actually fill buildings. Which is a shame, because a lot of times it's better theatre than the pro game.

A player from our local junior team (Topeka Roadrunners) plays for Latvia. Edgars Lipsbergs.