
A close friend of mine and my editor Ricky is a huge Buffalo Sabres fan. Threw thick and thin Ricky has stood by his team. It hasn't always been easy for him the last couple of years but Ricky talks about the all the changes going on in Buffalo with a smile on his face. This year Ricky was invited to my family's house for Christmas. When we picked him up from the ferry terminal he couldn't wait to share the news, his team had given him an early Christmas gift. The goal was credited to Sabre Mark Pysyk but it was thanks to Mike Smith, goalie for the Coyotes, and a puck literally down his pants that sounded the winning goal. Ricky this one is for you!
Now on to the World Juniors…… what are the World Juniors?
Top 5 Things you need to know about the World Juniors!
1) The World Junior Championships or WJC for short is an international hockey tournament held each year.
2) Founded in 1977, Russia and Canada have collected the most gold medals. Canada has recorded 15 gold medal wins while the Soviet Union/Russia has won 13 times.
3) How do they decide which teams make it into the tournament? The top 10 teams make it in and usually consist of Canada, the USA, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Norway.
4) In the 1970s the Soviet Union dominated winning for straight gold medals. Canada was the next country with a winning streak. Between 1993-1997 Canada was atop the podium every single year and they repeated the 5 year gold medal streak again between 2005-2009.
5) Since 2009 Canada hasn't won gold but other countries have surfaced as forces in the hockey world. The USA has collected gold twice, in 2010 and 2013. Russia won in 2011 their first time with goal since 2003 and Sweden won in 2012!
Check back over the course of the next week and I will keep you updated on everything WJC! Canada beat Germany this morning 7-2. Anthony Mantha scored 3 goals for Canada. The official record between Canada and Germany in this tournament is 12-0. Next up in Norway and Russia