2009 World Juniors Wrap

It has been almost a week since the World Juniors have ended in Ottawa and I think that it is time to reflect on just what a great 2 week tournament not only this was but what a great tournament this is. Ottawa seemed to do a great job from top to bottom hosting the event. I heard nothing but good things, no horror stories no glaring problems or logistical difficulties. To manage to pull off a tournament of this magnitude and to shatter the attendance records (granted the event is rarely held in the same city and allowed for more of a cross section of available games and locations) was no small feat, from the execs to the volunteers to the great people handing out mini Febreeze’s...grabbed me a few bottles of those for myself. Eugene Melnyk was the face of this bid and did a great job. With that said, a huge hand goes to 67’s owner Jeff Hunt who had made many attempts in the past to year in and year out bid to get this tournament held in Ottawa. He knew what the tournament meant not only to Ottawa but to Canada.

The Canadian team’s “ Drive For Five” was an added storyline that just added to the excitement, not that as Canadians we needed any more reason to watch. TSN had the highest ratings ever on the network for the Gold medal game topping at 4.7 million viewers at its peak. Scotiabank Place was sold out Canada’s games and topped over 20,000 in a few games. Not bad for a city that is supposed to not be a “sports town”.

The one major downside and this will continue to be difficult to overcome in the near future is that after watching the tournament and going through the ups and downs, the roller coaster of emotions that the games put us through, we have been spoiled. The New Years Eve Classic that was dubbed as one of the best hockey games ever played, the 5.4 last seconds goal from John Tavares to Zach Boychuk and then to the gold medal game between Canada and Sweden. I watched 2 Sens games since the end of the tourney and compared to what i saw the 2 weeks prior the 2 NHL games could hardly be called hockey. No excitement no urgency and the game seemed to be slow and un-passionate. Hopefully that will change and the games will pick up but as for the Juniors they put on a great show and for those of us in Ottawa who were lucky enough to take in the tourney, we were treated to a great show and a great product.
Now it is time to attempt to collect some autographs from some of these young Canadian Hero’s.I have already gotten to meet 7 of them and get a mini Team Canada jersey signed when they did a signing at the SportCheck in Kanata right after the team was selected and on their way to Petawawa.

In closing, thanks boys you did the country proud and GO CANADA!

Canada-USA New Years Eve 2008

As for the second part of the New Years Eve story. Following the early game I roamed around the arena for a bit, grabbed some free giveaway cheese, which was good as i was in need of a snack, in fact i went back for a second one. Treated myself to a Jumbo Hotdog and a tallboy Coors grabbed me a set of thundersticks...not once not twice but thrice. At this point it was off to my standing room location. The giant flag worked it’s way around the arena and it was time for the USA vs Canada a rivalry renewed. The main reason that I got a ticket to the game was mostly because of the epic game Montreal Canadiens Versus The Red Army in 1975. It came with the billing of a huge game from the start of the tourney.I figured this had all the makings of a classic and I wanted to be a part of that. After the game began the building was electric. But then all that changed. Like Harry Carey would say “It 1, 2, 3” ...not strikes your out but goals had fans wondering if maybe the 2 things that should be out was Dustin Tokarski and the chances for a Canada win. That was when John Tavares took over and scored 2 goals in less then a minute and Canada managed to tie the game at 3 all. Canada then went up 4-3 USA tied it up, Then Cody Hodgson scored to put Canada up 5-4. Canada eventually potted 2 more to salt the game away in the last minutes of the game. The building was even more crazy then when the game began. You couldn’t hear yourself think, it was craziness. I am not one that usually gets loud and crazy at sporting events...this was more then a sporting event...this was National Pride. The great thing about being in the standing room was when my Thunder Stick EXPLODED in my hand I still had 1 that I was able to bang on the ledge at the top of the arena! The guy next to me stated that it was the wildest game he had ever seen, I tended to agree. The next day all over the TV and radio was that it was one of the best Junior games ever, and I believe that it was. Little did we know at the time that there was going to be a semi final game vs the Russians that would either equal and probably overtake it only a few days later with some last minute heroics that not even a Hollywood writer could come up with. I was so glad that I decided to get tickets for that game but kicked myself that I didn’t go with my gut and get a ticket for the Semi versus Russia in what will be known as the 5.4 second Jordan Eberle game.As regulars who read my blog and recall earlier events that I have attended by myself as I have had trouble recruiting people to attend events with me if the are additional “storylines” I will mention it. There was indeed and the girl to my left in the standing room was about 5’7” blond and smokin’ hot!
Now as i finish this post Canada has just won the Gold medal and I am sure I will have to have a take In the next few days after I have time to take in the true magnitude of the event.

GO CANADA GO!!

Happy New Year

Due to Christmas and the New Year, I have taken a bit of a hiatus in the blogging department but it is 2009 and it is time to get back to it!

Post 1 for 2009 is the only thing that it could be and that is the IIHF World Juniors that are being held here in Ottawa.

For those who are familiar with some past entries, I had purchased a 5 game ticket package at Scotiabank Place that included 3 Senators games and 2 World Juniors. The first 2 Sens games were decent (despite the teams record) but the main focus was on the Jr. Games. The first game that I attended was the Canada vs Germany game. Not a battle of the titans but a surprisingly closer game on the scoreboard then it should have been. Canada dominated in shots and dictated the play but Germany kept it close and fought a good fight agents the more skilled Canadian team. It was a fun game to watch as there was little doubt about the outcome and there were many goals eventually scored. The game was a little frustrating at times as the shots for increased and the shots allowed were minimal at best. The goaltending by the Germans was very respectable but a failure to capitalize on the many opportunities that were presented to the Canadians was trying at times.

The second game was Kazakhstan vs Czech Republic on New Years Eve Day. Not the most entertaining game as it was very 1 sided and with 2 lesser teams involved the atmosphere and attendance was decent but not great. It was nice to see that the crowd got behind the kazaks and were cheering saves and good chances and celebrating when they managed to get 2 goals. It was nice to see that there was legitimate fondness for a team that maybe shouldn’t be involved in the tournament (like Canada at any international soccer event).
At the conclusion of that game begins a whole new storey and that will be touched upon in my next post!