With the preliminary rounds behind them Team Canada finished with a 3-0-1 record, with their overtime loss coming at the hands of Sweden. Canada has been hampered by a number of injuries (including forward Calvin De Hann, Cody Eakin and Jaden Schwartz—who will not be back), the questionable suspension of power forward Zach Kassian and some truly spotty goaltending from Olivier Roy—who has been guilty of going down into the butterfly position far too early, leading to a number of short side high goals from the opposition. With all this in mind, as much adversity as Team Canada has had to endure, they are still 3-0-1, in position to compete for a medal game and have played some inspired hockey along the way. Even after the loss to the Swedes, there does not seem to be a sense of panic

As Team Canada gets set to take on the Russians this afternoon just about every Canadian on the planet will be watching. The World Junior Championship has become a Christmas tradition for many Canadians and for some is bigger than the Stanley Cup. Canada’s record at the WJC is astounding. Since it’s inception in 1977, Canada has brought home a total of 26 medals, including 15 gold, seven silver and four bronze—second all-time to Russia’s/Soviet Union’s 28 medals. Canada is the only team to win five consecutive gold medals, a feat they accomplished twice—1993-1997 and, most recently, 2005-2009. The 2010 WJC ended with Team USA defeating Team Canada 6-5 in overtime. John Carlson’s overtime winner will not be forgotten by those that donned the red and white for Canada last year, nor does it sit lightly with this years Team.

If you call yourself a hockey fan you either watched or have heard of the 1972 Canada—Russia Summit series. For many hockey fans, the Canada—Russia series is still widely regarded as the best hockey ever played, for Canadians the series helped shape the Canadian culture and still serves as one of the proudest moments in Canadian history. Recently, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of the Russian Government, where, amongst other things, Putin opened up a forum of discussion on celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1972 summit series with a modern day Summit series against Canada in 2012. During the meeting it was brought to the attention of the Russian government that the Russian Hockey Federation has proposed the idea of organizing a new hockey series between Canada and Russia to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the

It appears as if the NHL and NHLPA will finally have an answer as to which side will emerge victorious in the grueling Ilya Kovalchuk saga. Richard Block—who was elected to be the arbitrator in the Kovalchuk hearings—has concluded his two-day hearings and now has until Monday to render a decision. Block has two options. First, he can choose to allow the Kovalchuk contract which would mean the NHL would have to accept the ridiculous 17-year, $102 million deal at face value. The other option would see Block side with the NHL, which would mean the contract would be rejected on the premise that it circumvents the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. If Block does side with the NHL, the New Jersey Devils (the team that signed Kovalchuk to the deal) would not only potentially lose the services of the talented

Reports have surfaced stating that the stick and glove that went missing soon after Sidney Crosby scored the winning goal in the Gold Medal game against the United States has been found. Hockey Canada released a statement saying Crosby’s equipment was, in fact, misplaced and not stolen as originally suspected. As it turns out the stick was found in a shipment that was reportedly headed to the IIHF Hall of Fame in St. Petersburg, Russia and that the glove was found in the possession of teammate Patrice Bergeron’s equipment bag. Reebok had just last week put up a $10,000 reward for the return of the “priceless” items, no word on whether or not Bergeron will collect on the reward (of course I am joking). The stick and gloves are now expected to be given back to Crosby who in all likelihood will

Heading into the 2010 Olympic tournament Canada’s hockey team was the prohibitive favorite to win the gold medal. As fate would have it, Canada fulfilled the “experts” predictions, capturing the gold medal Sunday afternoon at the expense of the surprisingly strong American team. It’s easy to say, “Canada won because they were expected to win,” but given their trials and tribulations throughout the Olympics, Canada earned the gold and were full value for their 3-2 win over Team USA. At the other end, the American squad looked every bit as good as Canada for most of the game and, in some people’s eyes—namely USA head coach Ron Wilson’s—USA Hockey deserved a better result. So, how is it a team/nation that was not supposed to even compete for a medal was playing Canada for gold on Sunday afternoon? Just how did