World Junior Hockey Champions 2007

Canada Beats Russia 4-2 and Wins the Gold Medal for the Third Straight Year

They pile together on the blue line, looking exhausted and shell-shocked, smiling, wiping away tears, and staring up the the crowds of cheering fans. Every team wants to be a part of The Picture. The one that happens at the end of every tournament; a tradition for the winning team that seems to be just as important as recieving the medals themselves. They stand as a group, arms around each other, as people cheer and take pictures. It's a moment that I'm sure each one of those players will never forget.

Every year I watch the World Junior Hockey Championship and spend hours watching the games and making predictions and arguing about what's going to happen next with my father. Since it comes right after Christmas (usually starts on Dec 26th), we usually get to watch the first few games together at my parent's house.

The reason I love this tournament so much is because these kids play with more heart and drive than most players in the NHL. For no money at all. Just the love of the game and to make their countries proud, they play against the best young players from all around the world. Some of the most incredible things I've seen in a lifetime of watching this sport have come from this annual competition.

Hundred of Canadians post comments on the CBC and TSN websites about how proud we are of our boys. Let me join in to say CONGRATULATIONS GUYS - WE'RE ALL SO PROUD OF YOU!!

The best part of the tournament comes when the clock runs down and our goalie throws his mask, gloves, and stick in the air and is joined by the team in the center of the ice to celebrate, while Canadians around the world smile and cheer and think once again that we are completely justified in calling hockey Our Game. This year TSN put a microphone on the team while our national anthem was playing, so we were treated to listening to a bunch of hockey players try to sing between whoops of joy.

I'll never get tired of hearing that song.

Living in England, I (obviously) don't get to hear our national anthem very often. In fact, the last time I heard O Canada was during our first week in Bayswater when, late one night, a group of very drunk french Canadian tourists were loudly singing it in the streets. So it was even sweeter this year to hear it at the end of the gold medal game.


It's funny how living in another country has made me even more proud to be a Canadian.




* pictures taken from articles on TSN.ca