Five times gold! Canada's junior hockey team destroyed Sweden 5-1 to capture their fifth gold medal in as many years.
Cody Hodgson, John Tavares and just about every Canadian junior player made a contribution to this historic victory.
Tampa Lightning brass must be beaming this morning as it was their draft pick, Dustin Tokarski, who faced 39 shots to back stop the Canadian victory. Tokarski's stellar play included denying Sweden's vaunted scorers on four straight power plays in the 2nd period.
Angelo Esposito (who I have blasted in previous posts for soft play) was one of the Canadians who set the tone for the night. The future Atlanta Thrasher skated furiously all night hounding the Swedish puck carriers and getting in the face of the Swedish netminder. His chippy and aggressive style unsettled the Swedes and led to at least a couple of Canadian goals.
Speaking of the Swedish goalie, Jacob Markstr0m, appeared to be demonstrating his ballet skills for an upcoming career with the Swedish Ballet or auditioning for a role as a "fish out of water". When he wasn't writhing on the ice he was flopping around like a fish out of water. His dramatics did little to help his club. They say his is a great goalie but his histrionics last night leave me wondering about that.
So it on to Saskatchewan for next year's World Junior Hockey Championships. If it is going to be half as good as this year's I can't wait!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Canada Beats Russia - Face Sweden For Gold Monday
Three times the Canadian juniors took the lead, only to have the Russians bounce back to tie the game and then ultimately go ahead.
I was about ready to turn off the television, when with only a few seconds left, John Tavares grabbed the puck along the boards and fired the puck towards the Russian net. A Russian defenseman blocked the shot but instead of smothering the puck he allowed Jordan Eberle the opportunity to get the puck free, take a couple of skating strides and score the biggest goal of his young career! There was only 5.4 seconds left on the clock.
Boy, am I ever glad that I had not turned off the TV.
Ten minutes of nail-biting overtime resolved nothing and then the dreaded shoot-out.
I hate shoot-outs.
Canada's Jordan Eberle shot first and scored on a great backhander past the Russian netminder.
Canadian goalie, and Tampa draft pick, Dustin Tokarski then thwarted Russia's Dimitri Kugryshev.
Canada's next shooter was none other than John Tavares who fired a great wrist shot to score Canada's second shoot-out goal.
Pavel Chernov, representing Russia's last hope of keeping Russia's shoot-out hopes alive was turned aside by Tokarski to give Canada a 6-5 decision.
Monday Canada faces Sweden for the gold medal.
I was about ready to turn off the television, when with only a few seconds left, John Tavares grabbed the puck along the boards and fired the puck towards the Russian net. A Russian defenseman blocked the shot but instead of smothering the puck he allowed Jordan Eberle the opportunity to get the puck free, take a couple of skating strides and score the biggest goal of his young career! There was only 5.4 seconds left on the clock.
Boy, am I ever glad that I had not turned off the TV.
Ten minutes of nail-biting overtime resolved nothing and then the dreaded shoot-out.
I hate shoot-outs.
Canada's Jordan Eberle shot first and scored on a great backhander past the Russian netminder.
Canadian goalie, and Tampa draft pick, Dustin Tokarski then thwarted Russia's Dimitri Kugryshev.
Canada's next shooter was none other than John Tavares who fired a great wrist shot to score Canada's second shoot-out goal.
Pavel Chernov, representing Russia's last hope of keeping Russia's shoot-out hopes alive was turned aside by Tokarski to give Canada a 6-5 decision.
Monday Canada faces Sweden for the gold medal.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Canada Roars Back to Defeat U.S.A. in World Jr. Action
A shaky first period by the Canadian Junior squad allowed their rivals from below the border to jump out to a 3-0 lead. But before the teams could go their dressing rooms for the first intermission the Canadians had roared back, scoring three goals to tie the game.
It was John Tavares who led the Canadians’ comeback and before the game was over the budding superstar, and probable first over-all selection in next summer’s amateur draft, had notched a hat trick (the final goal went into an empty net).
Although the final score 7-4 indicates a solid Canadian victory, this is far from reality. Canada’s final two goals were dumped into an empty net as the Americans had pulled their goalie for an extra attacker in a desperate attempt to score the equalizer and force overtime.
The game, although not a sudden-death affair, still had a lot of significance as the winner received a bye to the semi-finals on Saturday and loser had to play an extra game on Friday to advance to the semis.
Although Dustin Tokarski had a shaky first period he made some saves late in the game. Some of those stops will have hockey fans talking for a long time. The biggest save, and one for highlight reels for sure, occurred when U.S.A.’s Colin Wilson was left alone in front of the Canadian net for what must have seemed like an eternity.
As the American star tried to baffle the Canadian netminder with a series of moves, not one Canadian skater could be found in the vicinity. Finally, with Tokarski down, Wilson fired a hard shot towards the wide open Canadian net. But, equally as fast the Canadian goalie flashed the leather and made a fantastic catch to rob the Americans of a sure goal.
The save and others by the Watson Saskatchewan native no doubt had the Tampa Lightning brass drooling over the thoughts of this youngster playing for them in the next few years.
Note: On other occasions I have lamented the lack of good officiating in international hockey and last night’s game does not change my mind. Although there were questionable calls in both directions I thought (and I bet Team USA’s coaching staff agrees) that the Americans were the victims of some calls that probably had an impact on the final score.
On a final note: In a previous post I criticized Angelo Esposito for his lack toughness with the puck. Last night the youngster exhibited a much stronger work ethic and hockey toughness. Keep up it up Angelo you are capable of being a very good hockey player.
It was John Tavares who led the Canadians’ comeback and before the game was over the budding superstar, and probable first over-all selection in next summer’s amateur draft, had notched a hat trick (the final goal went into an empty net).
Although the final score 7-4 indicates a solid Canadian victory, this is far from reality. Canada’s final two goals were dumped into an empty net as the Americans had pulled their goalie for an extra attacker in a desperate attempt to score the equalizer and force overtime.
The game, although not a sudden-death affair, still had a lot of significance as the winner received a bye to the semi-finals on Saturday and loser had to play an extra game on Friday to advance to the semis.
Although Dustin Tokarski had a shaky first period he made some saves late in the game. Some of those stops will have hockey fans talking for a long time. The biggest save, and one for highlight reels for sure, occurred when U.S.A.’s Colin Wilson was left alone in front of the Canadian net for what must have seemed like an eternity.
As the American star tried to baffle the Canadian netminder with a series of moves, not one Canadian skater could be found in the vicinity. Finally, with Tokarski down, Wilson fired a hard shot towards the wide open Canadian net. But, equally as fast the Canadian goalie flashed the leather and made a fantastic catch to rob the Americans of a sure goal.
The save and others by the Watson Saskatchewan native no doubt had the Tampa Lightning brass drooling over the thoughts of this youngster playing for them in the next few years.
Note: On other occasions I have lamented the lack of good officiating in international hockey and last night’s game does not change my mind. Although there were questionable calls in both directions I thought (and I bet Team USA’s coaching staff agrees) that the Americans were the victims of some calls that probably had an impact on the final score.
On a final note: In a previous post I criticized Angelo Esposito for his lack toughness with the puck. Last night the youngster exhibited a much stronger work ethic and hockey toughness. Keep up it up Angelo you are capable of being a very good hockey player.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Canada Out-Muscles Germany 5-1
Canada’s World Junior hockey squad scored a 5-1 victory over their counterparts from Germany on Monday night.
Although the score seems one-sided and the shots on goal favored the Canadians, the game was full of high speed and hard hitting action.
The Germans seemed to want to turn the game into a street-fight and the Canadians were only too willing to respond. The result: lots of heavy hitting, great checks and penalties.
Many of the penalties (to both sides) were borderline at best or “phantom calls”. Like most international hockey games, the officiating is often less than good and many times it is just downright awful!
Barrie Colts and Washington Capital’s draft pick, Stefan Della Rovere of Maple Ontario seemed to be running all over the ice delivering awesome bodychecks. The 5'11 200 pound forward was sentenced to the sin bin three times, but in reality he should probably only have cooled his heels in the penalty box once.
For two periods the Germans kept the score close by frustrating the Canadians at every turn. (not the mention great goaltending by the German netminder) But the turning point in the game had to be Belleville Bulls defenseman PK Subban’s dramatic end-to-end rush which resulted in a foiled scoring attempt but the rebound was banged home by Evander Kane for a 3-1 lead.
After that goal the Germans played nastier and the Canadians just did what they do best, hit hard and score goals.
Zach Boychuk led the assault on the German goal with two goals and lots of other nifty plays.
Chet Pickard got the start between the pipes for Canada facing only 14 shots. The one that got behind him was a screen shot from the point on a power play.
NEXT UP: The games are only going to get more difficult for Team Canada. On New Year’s Eve they meet Team USA in a match that has all the marks of being something special. The stakes will be high as the winner will most likely get a bye into the Semi-final round.
Although the score seems one-sided and the shots on goal favored the Canadians, the game was full of high speed and hard hitting action.
The Germans seemed to want to turn the game into a street-fight and the Canadians were only too willing to respond. The result: lots of heavy hitting, great checks and penalties.
Many of the penalties (to both sides) were borderline at best or “phantom calls”. Like most international hockey games, the officiating is often less than good and many times it is just downright awful!
Barrie Colts and Washington Capital’s draft pick, Stefan Della Rovere of Maple Ontario seemed to be running all over the ice delivering awesome bodychecks. The 5'11 200 pound forward was sentenced to the sin bin three times, but in reality he should probably only have cooled his heels in the penalty box once.
For two periods the Germans kept the score close by frustrating the Canadians at every turn. (not the mention great goaltending by the German netminder) But the turning point in the game had to be Belleville Bulls defenseman PK Subban’s dramatic end-to-end rush which resulted in a foiled scoring attempt but the rebound was banged home by Evander Kane for a 3-1 lead.
After that goal the Germans played nastier and the Canadians just did what they do best, hit hard and score goals.
Zach Boychuk led the assault on the German goal with two goals and lots of other nifty plays.
Chet Pickard got the start between the pipes for Canada facing only 14 shots. The one that got behind him was a screen shot from the point on a power play.
NEXT UP: The games are only going to get more difficult for Team Canada. On New Year’s Eve they meet Team USA in a match that has all the marks of being something special. The stakes will be high as the winner will most likely get a bye into the Semi-final round.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Canadian Juniors Clobber Kazakhstan 15-0
On Sunday I usually watch NFL football but because it is that time of year when the World’s best junior hockey players play World Junior Hockey Championship I switched the channel to watch a hockey game. Imagine my surprise when the Canadian Juniors defeated their opponents from Kazakhstan by more than two converted touchdowns.
From the opening face-off the Canadians roared into their opponent's end of the ice and they seemed to stay there for the entire game. Chet Pickard, Canada's goalie may have recorded the shutout but he was virtually alone for the entire game facing only 11 shots.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s Andrei Yankov faced 44 shots and was mercifully pulled at the end of the second period.
Before everyone condemns the Canadians for “running up the score”, it is important to remember that in international competition, goal differentials (goals for vs. goals against) are used as tie-breakers. So to protect themselves later on in the tournament the Canadians had to score when they could.
What was interesting and admirable on the part of the Canuck juniors was their lack of celebration after scoring a goal. Some of them seemed to be almost embarrassed to have scored against the Kazaks. (Especially late in the game.)
Although they won, the Canadians had better look in the mirror and evaluate themselves before they skate out on the ice against the Germans tonight.
They tried to be too fancy with their passes at times and the result often meant a turnover. Against stronger competition this would have meant goals against.
Another note: Angelo Esposito can score goals there is no doubt but he has to learn to be stronger on the puck or his pro career will not be what many think it should be.
Finally, I have to agree with TSN’s Pierre McGuire. The International Ice Hockey Federation should cap the number of goals that can be applied against the goal differential tie-breaker. If the differential was limited to 5, then debacles like yesterday would be less likely to happen.
From the opening face-off the Canadians roared into their opponent's end of the ice and they seemed to stay there for the entire game. Chet Pickard, Canada's goalie may have recorded the shutout but he was virtually alone for the entire game facing only 11 shots.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s Andrei Yankov faced 44 shots and was mercifully pulled at the end of the second period.
Before everyone condemns the Canadians for “running up the score”, it is important to remember that in international competition, goal differentials (goals for vs. goals against) are used as tie-breakers. So to protect themselves later on in the tournament the Canadians had to score when they could.
What was interesting and admirable on the part of the Canuck juniors was their lack of celebration after scoring a goal. Some of them seemed to be almost embarrassed to have scored against the Kazaks. (Especially late in the game.)
Although they won, the Canadians had better look in the mirror and evaluate themselves before they skate out on the ice against the Germans tonight.
They tried to be too fancy with their passes at times and the result often meant a turnover. Against stronger competition this would have meant goals against.
Another note: Angelo Esposito can score goals there is no doubt but he has to learn to be stronger on the puck or his pro career will not be what many think it should be.
Finally, I have to agree with TSN’s Pierre McGuire. The International Ice Hockey Federation should cap the number of goals that can be applied against the goal differential tie-breaker. If the differential was limited to 5, then debacles like yesterday would be less likely to happen.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
2008-2009 McDonald’s Hockey Card Inserts
The 2008-2009 McDonald’s hockey card set is as usual a great sports card collectible. In a previous post I detailed the base set. Today, let’s look at the inserts.
First of all, the 6 card Checklist set features goalies from the 6 Canadian NHL hockey clubs. The card below features Calgary’s Mikka Kiprusoff. The other goalies featured include Carey Price of the Canadiens, the Senator’s Martin Gerber, Edmonton netminder Mathieu Garon, Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo and Leafs goalie Vesa Toskla.
Upper Deck suggests that you will pull a Checklist once out of every four packs.
The Superstar Spotlight series is a 14 card subset featuring stars such as Tampa’s Vincent Lecavalier, Joe Thornton of the Sharks and Red Wings’ dynamic forward Pavel Datsyuk.
According to company statistics on the back of the hockey card packages cards from this brightly colored and sharp looking insert set can be found on average once in every ten packs.
Unfortunately Upper Deck featured Jaromir Jagr who no longer plays in the NHL on the 12th card of this set.
The 10 card Profile subset features a wide array of NHL stars including Martin Brodeur, Dany Heatley and Roberto Luongo.
Of note, Mats Sundin, who has yet to decide whether he will skate in the NHL and with which team is a part of this hockey card subset.
The availability of the Profile cards is a ratio of one in fifteen packs.
The Speed Skater inserts are a 10 card set featuring some of the fastest skaters in the NHL. To accentuate the skating aspect of this set the cards are shaped like a hockey skate.
Cards from this set are a little more difficult to find as they are randomly packed one to every twenty five packages of hockey cards.
Some of the fastest skaters in the NHL are featured from the first card, the Lightning’s Martin St. Louis to Atlanta’s dynamic Ilya Kovlchuk, to the last card in the series Anaheim’s super fast defenseman Scott Niedermayer.
My favorite subset is also the most difficult to pull from a package. Cards from the “Clear Path to Greatness” subset are only found on average once in every 60 packs of hockey cards.
This set is going to be difficult to fill not only because of the 1:60 packs ratio but also because there are 14 cards in the set.
Featured stars include Henrik Zetterberg star forward with the Detroit Red Wings, superstar Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin one of the Penguins young stars.
These subsets are all well produced, featuring great colours, and Upper Deck’s usual photographic brilliance.
Postscript: There is another subset to this McDonald’s hockey card set but it is so scarce that I have yet to see a card from this set. McDonald’s have produced a limited edition gold parallel set. Each card is numbered out of 100.
The 2008-2009 Upper Deck McDonald’s hockey card set is a great set. Fun to collect and should be part of every hockey card collector’s collection.
First of all, the 6 card Checklist set features goalies from the 6 Canadian NHL hockey clubs. The card below features Calgary’s Mikka Kiprusoff. The other goalies featured include Carey Price of the Canadiens, the Senator’s Martin Gerber, Edmonton netminder Mathieu Garon, Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo and Leafs goalie Vesa Toskla.
Upper Deck suggests that you will pull a Checklist once out of every four packs.
The Superstar Spotlight series is a 14 card subset featuring stars such as Tampa’s Vincent Lecavalier, Joe Thornton of the Sharks and Red Wings’ dynamic forward Pavel Datsyuk.
According to company statistics on the back of the hockey card packages cards from this brightly colored and sharp looking insert set can be found on average once in every ten packs.
Unfortunately Upper Deck featured Jaromir Jagr who no longer plays in the NHL on the 12th card of this set.
The 10 card Profile subset features a wide array of NHL stars including Martin Brodeur, Dany Heatley and Roberto Luongo.
Of note, Mats Sundin, who has yet to decide whether he will skate in the NHL and with which team is a part of this hockey card subset.
The availability of the Profile cards is a ratio of one in fifteen packs.
The Speed Skater inserts are a 10 card set featuring some of the fastest skaters in the NHL. To accentuate the skating aspect of this set the cards are shaped like a hockey skate.
Cards from this set are a little more difficult to find as they are randomly packed one to every twenty five packages of hockey cards.
Some of the fastest skaters in the NHL are featured from the first card, the Lightning’s Martin St. Louis to Atlanta’s dynamic Ilya Kovlchuk, to the last card in the series Anaheim’s super fast defenseman Scott Niedermayer.
My favorite subset is also the most difficult to pull from a package. Cards from the “Clear Path to Greatness” subset are only found on average once in every 60 packs of hockey cards.
This set is going to be difficult to fill not only because of the 1:60 packs ratio but also because there are 14 cards in the set.
Featured stars include Henrik Zetterberg star forward with the Detroit Red Wings, superstar Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin one of the Penguins young stars.
These subsets are all well produced, featuring great colours, and Upper Deck’s usual photographic brilliance.
Postscript: There is another subset to this McDonald’s hockey card set but it is so scarce that I have yet to see a card from this set. McDonald’s have produced a limited edition gold parallel set. Each card is numbered out of 100.
The 2008-2009 Upper Deck McDonald’s hockey card set is a great set. Fun to collect and should be part of every hockey card collector’s collection.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Upper Deck Hockey Cards – 2007-2008 Series One
Upper Deck hockey cards are probably the most sought after hockey cards each hockey season. Of course, 90%, or more, of the hockey cards produced each year come from this giant of the sports card industry. But, the main set is simply the one called Upper Deck hockey.
I have to admit at first I was not crazy about the 2007-2008 set. There was something about the copper colored writing and logo that just did not seem right. But as with most things in life after a while I got used to the set and started collecting it.
Collecting this set actually began in earnest when we were shopping in a local store and I discovered a nicely packaged tin container with a picture of Sidney Crosby on the top and eight packs of Upper Deck 2007-2008 Series One hockey cards inside.
When I opened the packages I was delighted with my cards. Especially the contents of the second pack where I pulled a card of one of my favorite players, Tampa Lightning star Vincent Lecavalier. The photo (below) is an example of another of Upper Deck’s strengths, great photographs in either unique settings or action shots.
But, the pack also contained the most highly valued rookie card in the set, Montreal Canadiens’ great young goalie Carey Price.
I also found some neat inserts including an NHL’s BEST Alexander Ovechkin in the other packages.
These unique collector tins also contained an over-sized card. The one that was in my tin was of Mike Modano, the Dallas Stars veteran star.
The Series One set of 2007-2008 Upper Deck Hockey cards features the company’s great photography, especially of the goalies. In particular I like this card showing Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom in action.
As for unique photo shots check out this overhead view of superstar Joe Sakic attempting to score on Edmonton netminder Dwayne Roloson.
There are a lot of good rookie cards in this issue, including Coyotes Young Gun Peter Mueller and Montreal’s other rookie goalie Jaroslav Halak. There are some very interesting insert sets, including Lord Stanley’s Heroes, Hometown Heroes, Award Winners, and of course jersey cards.
I have to admit that I went back to the store and bought another collector tin of cards and much to my delight I pulled a jersey card of Curtis Sanford, in a Vancouver Canucks uniform. Now, this may not be a newsflash for the collecting world, but I have known Curt and his family for many years. (I even featured him in an article in our hometown newspaper.)
The packs in this tin contained a few inserts and a Sidney Crosby card.
The 2007-2008 Upper Deck Series One hockey cards is great set of hockey cards and the rookie cards especially are going to cause this set to be in great demand for years to come.
I have to admit at first I was not crazy about the 2007-2008 set. There was something about the copper colored writing and logo that just did not seem right. But as with most things in life after a while I got used to the set and started collecting it.
Collecting this set actually began in earnest when we were shopping in a local store and I discovered a nicely packaged tin container with a picture of Sidney Crosby on the top and eight packs of Upper Deck 2007-2008 Series One hockey cards inside.
When I opened the packages I was delighted with my cards. Especially the contents of the second pack where I pulled a card of one of my favorite players, Tampa Lightning star Vincent Lecavalier. The photo (below) is an example of another of Upper Deck’s strengths, great photographs in either unique settings or action shots.
But, the pack also contained the most highly valued rookie card in the set, Montreal Canadiens’ great young goalie Carey Price.
I also found some neat inserts including an NHL’s BEST Alexander Ovechkin in the other packages.
These unique collector tins also contained an over-sized card. The one that was in my tin was of Mike Modano, the Dallas Stars veteran star.
The Series One set of 2007-2008 Upper Deck Hockey cards features the company’s great photography, especially of the goalies. In particular I like this card showing Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom in action.
As for unique photo shots check out this overhead view of superstar Joe Sakic attempting to score on Edmonton netminder Dwayne Roloson.
There are a lot of good rookie cards in this issue, including Coyotes Young Gun Peter Mueller and Montreal’s other rookie goalie Jaroslav Halak. There are some very interesting insert sets, including Lord Stanley’s Heroes, Hometown Heroes, Award Winners, and of course jersey cards.
I have to admit that I went back to the store and bought another collector tin of cards and much to my delight I pulled a jersey card of Curtis Sanford, in a Vancouver Canucks uniform. Now, this may not be a newsflash for the collecting world, but I have known Curt and his family for many years. (I even featured him in an article in our hometown newspaper.)
The packs in this tin contained a few inserts and a Sidney Crosby card.
The 2007-2008 Upper Deck Series One hockey cards is great set of hockey cards and the rookie cards especially are going to cause this set to be in great demand for years to come.
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