Wednesday, January 4, 2012

WJC Today - 1/4/12


ABOUT LAST NIGHT
This is why you never leave a junior hockey game early.

By the end of the second period, the entire country was ready to go outside and light some mailboxes on fire. Then the third period happened, and Canada started to roll. Hamilton made it 6-2. Then Schwartz and Gallagher scored to make it 6-4. Then Gormley made it a one-goal game with over five minutes to play. The folks who had left after 40 minutes got what they deserved.

But it wasn’t meant to be on Tuesday night in Calgary as Team Canada fell 6-5 to Russia. Canada will play Finland for bronze while Russia will take on Sweden for gold.

The first two periods of this game were simply a disaster. The only time you really felt Canada was in it was when Brett Connolly made it a 2-1 game early in the middle frame. Boone Jenner took a stupid spearing penalty. Ryan Murray scored like three Russian goals. Jonathan Huberdeau was given a 10-minute misconduct after slamming his stick on the boards in frustration. It was an ugly performance by the Canadians.

On the other hand, Canada played pretty well in the third period, nearly completing one of the greatest comebacks in tournament history. But unfortunately they had dug a hole too deep to climb out of. Canada showed character in the third period, and proved that their dominance in the preliminary round was not luck. It may not have been the game Team Canada wanted last night, but at least they didn't go down without a fight.

Huberdeau had an assist on Canada’s first goal. He had an unbelievable scoring chance in the first period but couldn’t connect. He finished with one point and three shots on goal.

Here are the highlights.



BEAULIEU
Courtesy of 25stanley.com, here’s what Nathan Beaulieu’s Wikipedia page looked like after last night’s game (click image to enlarge).


Bad times for Beaulieu on the Russians sixth goal last night, which proved to be the game-winner. He finished the game with three shots and a -1 rating.

TODAY
Charlie Coyle and Team USA play their final game of the tournament today against Switzerland. They beat Latvia 12-2 yesterday to open up their relegation round schedule.

Slovakia plays today as well against the Czech Republic to see which team will finish fifth and sixth. Tomas Jurco suffered a hip flexor injury in Slovakia’s last game and it is unclear if he’ll play today.

The world juniors end tomorrow with the bronze and gold medal games. 

4 comments:

  1. Wow I can't believe they would say those things about Beaulieu! It was a team effort. Why are they only saying he is lazy for one play when they should be taking in the whole tournament and how well they played throughout! The loss happened because of too many penalties. Some of which were deserved others not so much!! It will be great to have our guys back playing with the seadogs!!

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  2. People can blame Nathan all they want.... they are however placing blame on the wrong person. If that game ends up 6-1, Nathan is mentioned in passing, if Canada ties it up, Nathan probably isn't mentioned at all.

    The team played 40 minutes of undisciplined hockey. They lost their cool, and made some mistakes, the Russians capitalized on each mistake the Canadians made, and were backed up by some steller goaltending.

    The third period just goes to show what wearing that Red Maple Leaf on your chest means to this kids.

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  3. It was not all Nathan's fault!
    Even Wedgewood admitted he was at fault...

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  4. It was not Nathan's fault at all!!! It was a team effort! They win and loose as a team!
    If Wikipedia or anyone else feels the need to blame any one person for that loss they should be looking at Don Hay. He is the one who decided to keep playing Ryan Murry even though he was having a very off night.. Don Hay should have realized this and benched Murry before he had scored his third goal on the Canadian net and assisted on another. Blame Don Hay not Beaulieu or Murry!!!
    Ryan Murry, Nathan Beaulieu and the rest of the Canadian players are just teenagers with the weight of the world on their shoulders while playing in this tourney and representing their country. They gave it 100% this year and fell just short. We should all be proud of them no matter what the result of the game!!

    GREAT JOB GUYS!!!

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