Canada triumphs at the World Junior Championships
It was a record setting week and a half in the nation’s capital on and off the ice for Canada.
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While Canada’s national junior team was busy winning its fifth straight gold medal to tie its own record from a decade ago, fans attended the event and watched on television in record numbers. In the end, it’s the Canadian minor hockey system that will benefit the most.
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Many of the profits that are generated from the tournament are dumped back into the Canadian hockey system and tournament co-chairman Cyril Leeder said that in excess of $700,000 would go towards minor hockey programs in the Ottawa area as a legacy of the event.
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“We want to make sure that all Canadians get to enjoy this,” said Hockey Canada President Bob Nicholson. “Hopefully in all of that, we get young boys and girls interested in playing the game and staying in the game. World Championships are special and this is about making sure that young boys and girls get to play the game globally.”
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The tournament attracted record attendance of more than 450,000 people for the 31 games held at ScotiaBank Place and the Ottawa Civic Centre. A record crowd of 20,380 attended the championship game on Monday and tournament organizers estimated the economic impact of the tournament to the Ottawa region at close to $50 million.
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“It’s gone exceeding well here in Ottawa,” Leeder said. “The fans have responded in record numbers and the volunteer have been simply outstanding. We’re certainly proud of setting a new attendance mark.”
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TSN’s broadcast of the championship game on Monday was the most watched Canadian television program in the past year with more than 4.5 million viewers tuning in to see Canada skate to a 5-1 win over Sweden. The numbers were a new high for TSN topping the previous mark set when Canada played in the gold medal game in Halifax in 2003.
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On the ice, the Canadian juniors had a dominant effort against Sweden after a roller-coaster ride to the championship game.
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After coasting through the first three games of the tournament, the Canadians wrapped up the preliminary round of the tournament with a thrilling come-from-behind win over the U.S.A. on New Year’s Eve. That win gave Canada a direct route to the semi-finals and presumably an easier road to the championship game but the Russians were looking to change that course.
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Canada scored first in the semi-final but Russian came right back and tied it up – again and again before finally taking the lead with three minutes left in the game. But Jordan Eberle of the Regina Pats proved to be the hero – first tying the game with just five seconds left on the clock and then scoring the shootout winning goal to give Canada a berth in the championship game for an eighth consecutive season.
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The final ended up being a bit anti-climactic but only because Canada – and goaltender Dustin Tokarski of the Spokane Chiefs – played a near flawless opening 40 minutes, limiting Sweden to a handful of quality scoring chances. They sealed the win with a couple of empty net goals and the record setting crowd joined them in a rousing version of ‘O’ Canada’ shortly after IIHF President Rene Fesel officially closed the tournament.
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“There are a lot of proud kids in there that worked hard and deserved the good results that they got,” Canadian coach Pat Quinn said after the final. “They became a good team and overcame some things that there were some questions on.”
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Photo: Aaron Bell/CHL
