That's right. That's me being speechless, and we all know how hard that is for me to do. That game had so much drama in it with so many classic signs of... well... a classic: great goaltending (on Russia's part), shoddy goaltending (Tokarski), thunderous hits (Cormier), flukey goals, shaky goals, skill goals (see Canada's shootout), back-and-forth action, strings of Canada PPs, streaks of Russian PPs. It had courage, intensity, grit, determination, heart, pride... and one huge climatic finish. Here is the proof...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_33a5Y0IzsU
First off, we all need to give credit where it is due, and that's to Russia. Now, I know I talk about the Americans climbing up in the hockey world, but I think Russia took giant strides too. And, it's not that I am anti-Canadian, its that I enjoy GREAT hockey and they certainly provided that. Russia has the reputation of folding under the Canadian pressure, but they sure didn't this time. They answered every Canadian goal (sometimes within the same minute) and played cat-and-mouse up until they finally took the Canadians by the throat with a 5-4 lead. They just lacked the discipline to lock up the win. Some may point to the 'selfish' empty net attempt with 40 seconds left, but even if he had dumped the puck to center, Canada would have gained the zone and continued to pound last minute pressure and I'm certain the end result would have been the same. The Russian's played one hell of a hockey game that lived up to all the past battles at the Summit and leading 5-4 with under a minute to play, probably should have won this game. While Russia lacked the experience to close out Canada for those final 40 seconds, Canada failed to grab hold of the Russian's by the throat throughout the game and really hammer them into the ground. With all of this praise, like I said, I cheer for great hockey and this game certainly lived up to expectations and we need to give full props to the Russians for providing one f*cking wicked awesome showdown.
Now, Canada. Wow. Talk about balls. Well, I'm not really sure if it was balls or just plain dumb luck, but with their backs against the wall, the gun to their head, the finger on the trigger... they found a way to dodge a bullet, grab hold of the gun, turn it on their opponents, fire a deadly shot and turn a free spirit into a lifeless body.
I'm honestly still in shock as to how they won this game. Tavares and Hodgeson were left off the goal sheet, Dustin Tokarski was doing his best 2002 Tommy Salo Olympic impersonation, Canada's power-play looked like a power-outage and yet... the secondary guys really stood up. Eberle is easy to talk about: his opening goal, his game changing 2nd and his fast hands in the shootout, but I'm gonna talk about Angelo Esposito.
Here is a guy who was attempting to make his 4th World Jr team after being cut the three previous times, plummeted down the draft board, had been a lightning rod for criticism and somehow, he may have had the nicest goal of the whole game with his break away shorty, off the bar, ROOF DADDY that really magnified what kind of special player he is. I still think it was a mistake to pass on this guy at #15 (Alex Plante, where is he at this tourney???) and that goal just shows what kind of talent this kid really has.
As for the shootout, it worked out perfectly for Canada: the hot-handed Eberle and the super-star Tavares both got to shoot (and both had huge beauties, ROOF DADDY) while Sergei Nemchinov (2 cups in 'Jersey and NY) took a gamble with Filatov shooting 3rd and never got a chance to skate solo on Tokarski. Obviously, the gamble didn't pay off for Russia, but I can't take anything away from Tavares and Eberle. The game was a battle of grit and determination, while the shoot-out did exactly what it was supposed to do, turn into an individual skills contest, which Canada clearly dominated. Again, here's the proof...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlUmOAcvaAw
Some other thoughts I had on the game...
- How confident is Canada going to be against Sweden with Tokarski in net again?
- If Russia's 1st shot didn't hit the post, how different would the shootout have been?
- Did anyone else notice the inconsistency with the fans? They must have been on the same roller coaster I was on...
-Thomas Hickey played a horrible game, just simply brutal
- I never once thought Canada was in full control of the game, and my gut feeling only got worse as the game went on
All in all, Canada will need one huge effort to beat the Swedes tomorrow. I'm going to look to Tavares to have a huge bounce-back game and really take hold of the #1 draft slot; he's tied for the all time Canadian record for career World Jr goals (12) and should break it. Also, Tokarski has to play the same way he did against Sweden in the exhibition win they had 4-2. Every great team starts with goaltending and if he can't deliver, Canada's drive for five will end in silver disappointment.
One final thought that scares me, Canada has already beaten Sweden this year; therefore, I think that gives Sweden more motivation then Canada. Sweden won't want to lose to Canada again, and definitely not in the gold medal game, I can just picture that newspaper clipping (of the loss) up in their dressing room prior to game time.
It's a good thing all eyes will be focused on the ice...
Cheers.
-Smith
p.s. Whom ever drafts Magnus Svensson-Paajarvi is going to get one hell of a player. This guy is absolute dynamite.
p.s.s. I hope Canada wears the replica Summit Series jerseys they wore against Germany because the regular ones just don't match up to the mighty solid yellow and blue crowns of Sweden.
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