Woe Canada: Canadians Blow Another World Juniors, Get Bounced In The Quarterfinals For The 2nd Year In A Row
This is their tournament. There's not another country out there that cares as much about the World Juniors as Canada does. This is their version of March Madness. They show up every year with the most 1st round NHL Draft picks. They are expected to win every year. They've won 20 gold medals, 12 silver medals, and 6 bronze. There have only been two instances where Canada has failed to win a medal in back-to-back years. That was from 1979-81, and then they finished in 4th place in 2013 and 2014.
This year they were hosting the tournament on home soil. And for the 2nd straight year…
Canada is going home without even having a chance to play for a medal after getting bounced in the quarterfinals by Czechia. It was a 3-2 loss to the Czechs exactly 365 days ago, and then a 4-3 loss to the Czechs in the final minute of last night's game.
First off, what a shot out of Adam Jecho (2024 STL 3rd rd). One T, knee drop, low blocker, how ya doin. That's a man's shot right there. And one of the biggest complaints out of Canadian fans is that this roster was mostly comprised of a bunch of kids in the OHL who play "Instagram hockey" all season. Guys like the Armdog wanted more Western Hockey Leaguers on the roster.
Good news for Czechia is that they probably showed up to the tournament with the most Western Leaguers in the tournament. Adam Jecho has spent the past 2 seasons playing with the Edmonton Oil Kings in the WHL. Big boy hockey, big boy goals.
And naturally that final goal came on the powerplay for the Czechs.
This Canadian team was so wildly undisciplined all tournament long. They were a great team 5v5, but they hardly ever got a chance to play 5v5 because they were constantly in the box. They had 3 powerplay goals scored against them by the Americans on NYE. And last night against the Czechs, they took 6 penalties and gave up 2 powerplay goals. We're talking about one of the worst coached hockey teams to ever exist.
I hope that's where most of the hate and vitriol is pointed towards this morning in Canada. I know Canadians typically love to go after the kids, and poor Easton Cowan didn't do himself any favors last night.
But my god. What a disasterclass out of Dave Cameron behind the bench for Team Canada. We don't even have to talk about roster construction. We all know how much talent Dave Cameron left at home when selecting this team. I feel like he watched "Miracle" a few too many times and just got hooked on the line where Herb Brooks tells Craig Patrick "I'm not looking for the best players, I'm looking for the right ones".
But even with the roster Canada brought to this tournament, they should have been playing for a medal. But after the shootout loss to Latvia, Dave Cameron cancelled practice the next day. After they got crushed by Team USA on New Years Eve, Dave Cameron cancelled practice the next day. Another massive quarterfinal matchup against the Czechs last night? Dave Cameron cancelled morning skate before the game. Sure, the kids on the ice ultimately didn't get the job done. But the Canadians played awful all tournament long and their biggest consequence was an off day. If anyone deserves the blame for Canada leaving this tournament without a medal in back-to-back years for the first time in a decade, it's Dave Cameron.
Me personally? Well I love the guy.
I hope they give him 4 more years. The tournament already became wide open for the Americans to dominate once the Russians were banned from competing. Now that Hockey Canada is in complete disarray and can't even sniff the podium? Well it's time for USA to really start chipping away at that all-time medal count.
Play the music!!