Canucks & Beyond
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WJC—Hating Thy Neighbors
by Alanah McGinley on 01/04/08 at 12:53 PM ET
Comments (25)
Almost gametime in the Czech Republic between Canada and the USA at the World Junior Championship semi-finals, so here is an open post in case anyone wishes to share info, trash talk, or is just looking for scoring updates while they’re stuck at work. (Updates will be added to the comments throughout the game.)
“One of the consistent themes we have had is that we are completely focused on us,” said USA coach John Hynes. “We want to make sure we come up with the right energy and mental focus because that’s all that we can control. We have respect for Canada, but we have no control over them.”
Canada will need its top players to raise their game in a one-game showdown. A lot of Canada’s success has come from the power play and young guns John Tavares and Steven Stamkos in particular. More will be expected from the top line of Kyle Turris, Brad Marchand and Claude Giroux.
Official puck drop time is 11am PT I do believe—so it’s a coffee experience through the first hour, morphing into a cocktail one at the stroke of noon. Gotta love Fridays.
(Of course, eastern viewers can start their martinis earlier. But those drunks always do.)
P.S. Apparently not all Canadians like the WJC. This is a mystery to me.
Filed in: | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: IIHF, mid-day+cocktails, world+junior+championships,
Comments
Online Viewing:
USA viewers can apparently get the live feed here.
Canadians can get the game live at TSN.ca. Just click the link to “watch live now” on the top right side of the page.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/04/08 at 01:36 PM ET
Winner of this semi-final game will be playing Sweden in the Gold Medal game tomorrow. Russia will be playing the loser for bronze.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/04/08 at 02:01 PM ET
Pierre McGuire says the key to the game for Canada: “Control their emotions.”
Sure. Lack of emotion in a championship hockey game sounds like a great plan… Easily done, I’m sure.
(And now that the game has started, he might want to talk to his play-by-play partner instead—Gord Miller’s emotions are a wee bit excitable right off the top...!)
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/04/08 at 02:07 PM ET
Americans are dominating. It hurts me to see Matthias playing well after the Wings traded him away for a gimpy Bertuzzi.
Posted by PDXWing from Portland, OR on 01/04/08 at 02:36 PM ET
I don’t think the USA is “dominating”—but they are a bit better, I’ll admit. Still, a good game all around, and Canada is actually looking better than they have in earlier games, so that gives me optimism. 
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/04/08 at 02:43 PM ET
Canada Scores - Shawn Matthias scores in the 2nd, 2:46 into the period.
1-0 Canada
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/04/08 at 02:56 PM ET
Just a side note, the game is is not in HD on the NHL Network in the US. Wonder if someone failed to flip the switch?
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 01/04/08 at 02:56 PM ET
Matthias just hurt my feelings.
Posted by PDXWing from Portland, OR on 01/04/08 at 02:56 PM ET
ha! Well, if it helps any, Matthias actually made me quite happy.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/04/08 at 03:00 PM ET
Oh, and Paul? Some of us don’t have the luxury of HD… so don’t expect me to feel sorry for you. 
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/04/08 at 03:03 PM ET
Canada’s Karl Alzner makes it 2-0 on a PP goal, about half way through the 2nd period.
Fun! (So far...)
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/04/08 at 03:10 PM ET
It amazed me to see that everyone from Tim Wharnsby to James Mirtle had the U.S. as favorites going into this one: sure, they went undefeated in pool play, but don’t Canada’s last three championships count for anything? The Canadians know their whole country is watching, and they’re willing to put the team ahead of themselves (except maybe Jonathan Bernier) which I think gives them the extra edge they’ll need to win.
Posted by Andrew Bucholtz from Kingston, ON on 01/04/08 at 03:45 PM ET
And the Americans get called for their second too-many-men penalty… is Don Cherry coaching this team? As Pierre McGuire just pointed out, they faced no adversity until now, and they seem to be having trouble coping with it…
Posted by Andrew Bucholtz from Kingston, ON on 01/04/08 at 03:47 PM ET
Well, I never like to predict - it’s such a crap shoot. The US has indeed been the popular pick, but I think those writers know it’s a crap shoot, too.
You’re right about adversity. One thing about Canada last year too, I think, they seemed to have troubles earlier in the tournament, then got better as they went along…
And now 3-0 Canada, in the 3rd. Colton Gillies first goal of the tournament.
Cocktail time!
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/04/08 at 03:51 PM ET
Ooops… 4-0. American having a meltdown.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/04/08 at 03:52 PM ET
Ugly.
Posted by PDXWing from Portland, OR on 01/04/08 at 03:52 PM ET
“Ugly”? Well, it’s one of those “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” things, I think.
(But sorry PDXWing...)
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/04/08 at 03:56 PM ET
Quite right, predictions are always a crapshoot, and these are both elite teams (despite the US not playing like it at the moment). I just found it interesting that the Americans were a large consensus pick. The Canada-Sweden rematch in the final should be epic…
Posted by Andrew Bucholtz from Kingston, ON on 01/04/08 at 03:57 PM ET
Also, Steve Mason’s having a great game, perhaps in reaction to Bernier’s comments. Wonder if he knows he’s been traded yet?
Posted by Andrew Bucholtz from Kingston, ON on 01/04/08 at 03:59 PM ET
America scores… about 8 (?) minutes left, score 4-1.
A big hill to climb though so I’m not going to freak out yet. This isn’t the pre-Luongo Canucks, after all.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/04/08 at 04:01 PM ET
4-1 win for Canada. Tomorrow’s Bronze Medal Game is at 9:30am ET, I think. USA vs Russia. Gold Medal Game… not sure of the time, but I’ll check.
Canada vs Sweden could be a classic.
Andrew -- I’m not sure, but I think I heard that Mason was informed he would be traded earlier on. Quite a day for him…
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/04/08 at 04:19 PM ET
Re: the PS. Lebrun doesn’t like anything so it’s no surprise he doesn’t like the World Juniors.
Posted by Shane on 01/04/08 at 04:31 PM ET
So according to the schedule posted at TSN:
Bronze - USA v Russia is at 10am ET
Gold - Canada v Sweden is at 2pm ET
Both Saturday, January 5th.
Shane -- You think so? I know what you mean about the hockey writers that don’t seem to like anything, but I’ve never really thought Lebrun fell into that category.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/04/08 at 05:47 PM ET
Whoops, I mixed up and thought it was Lebrun who had panned the Winter Classic game just recently as well but it was Scott Burnside who didn’t like it.
I just thought Lebrun had gone sour after the holidays or something 
Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 01/04/08 at 05:55 PM ET
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About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003, sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen. In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah is one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast, as featured at Canucks.com.
She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
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Pre-game shows start on both TSN (Canada) and NHL Network (USA) at 10:30am PT, it looks like.
Online streaming video… I’ll add the links if/when I find them.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/04/08 at 12:58 PM ET