Five Times Gold!!

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!