Hockey fans cheering on Team Canada in the world junior hockey championship had been enjoying a winning streak — but that came to a crashing halt Tuesday night, when the U.S. team came through with a 2-0 victory to win the gold medal.
Hockey fan Dwan Street was one of the viewers at home watched as Canada lost their first — and last — game of the tournament, and says there’s always an extra layer of nerves whenever the Canadians face their neighbours to the south.
“It’s not that I didn’t have faith in Team Canada, but when it came down to U.S. and Finland I was kinda rooting for Finland, because anybody who’s been watching the world juniors for a while, you always kind of have that lump in your throat when they’re playing the U.S.,” Street said.
“It was the fifth gold medal game between Canada and the U.S., and the States are always hungry and for some reason. I don’t know what it is — most times they just seem to want it a little bit more and have something to prove.”
Definitely proud of the hometown boys.– Dwan Street
The American team came in with a strong start, Street said — something Team Canada may not have been used to so far in the tournament, which started Christmas Day in Edmonton.
“I think Canada had a bit of a cakewalk into that gold medal game,” Street said.
“It was the first game that they had to play with a bit of adversity and effort, and you did see a lot of those cross-ice passes, two odd-man rushes, and Canada almost seemed like they were getting a little bit fancy, but the States weren’t letting them get away with it.”
Canadian players react after their loss to the United States in the gold medal game. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)
The gold-medal match was definitely a different game for Canada, agreed fellow hockey fan Andrew Corbett.
“They had such a dominating tournament and to fall behind in the first period, you could just see it was a different game they were playing than they’d played the whole rest of the tournament,” Corbett told CBC’s St. John’s Morning Show.
“The passes and everything else weren’t as crisp as they’ve been in some of the other games and you could just see, especially in the third period, they were definitely playing with a more sense of urgency than they’ve had to do the rest of the tournament.”
While the U.S. took home the gold medal, the silver (medal) lining for Newfoundland and Labrador fans was the performance of Alex Newhook of St. John’s and Dawson Mercer of Bay Roberts.
Players from the United States celebrate following their 2-0 win over Canada. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)
“They both represented Newfoundland very well and they certainly put an extra little thing on for everybody in Newfoundland to be watching the games, and I’m sure a lot more people than normal stayed up to 11 o’clock last night to watch the game than they would have had there not been two Newfoundlanders playing,” Corbett said.
“And they weren’t just people there — they were on the ice. You heard them, they were mentioned all the time, they were out there playing their regular shifts and they both did a great job.”
That’s a sentiment shared by Street, who said it was a treat to watch local boys playing so well for Team Canada.
“There’s nobody as loyal and dedicated as Newfoundland when we have Newfoundlanders excelling at anything, and I think that there was a lot of excitement around the tournament because of that, and not just having them on the team but having them play so well,” Street said.
“The boys played great … especially Mercer; he was a pretty integral cog in the wheel there, and last night especially. He played a hard game and we’ll give them that — definitely proud of the hometown boys.”
Congrats <a href=”https://twitter.com/AlexNewhook_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@AlexNewhook_</a> & <a href=”https://twitter.com/DawsonMercer14?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@DawsonMercer14</a> ???????? Silver ain’t so bad; you guys had the Rock on wheels for a coupla weeks ???? <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Newfoundland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Newfoundland</a> Great memory. Great showing; <a href=”https://twitter.com/Avalanche?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Avalanche</a> / <a href=”https://twitter.com/NJDevils?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@NJDevils</a> must be impressed ???? <br><br>Good luck the rest of the season ☘
The tournament was a unique one to watch this year: the stands in Edmonton were empty, with no audience being allowed in order to avoid the spread of COVID-19, something Corbett said felt strange at first when he watched hockey this past year.
“It’s definitely been different, watching hockey with no fans in the stands now. It’s funny to say but we’re almost a little used to it now after watching half a season of NHL and playoffs and everything else,” he said.
“Hopefully by next season for sure it’s back to having fans in the stands and everything else, but it’s something I think that most people have grown a bit accustomed to, whether they like it or not.”
Canada’s Alex Newhook is stopped by Russian goalie Yaroslav Askarov during the semifinal on Monday. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)
Street said people who are used to sitting down and watching a hockey game every night were probably thrilled with the world juniors, after having such a shortened NHL season, and the quality of players definitely helped.
“I think the roster that Team Canada had definitely helped that hype a bit because if you look at some of the guys, this team I think was touted to pretty much have the best roster since 2005, and — my Penguins bias aside, of course — that was the year we had [Sidney] Crosby, [Réjean] Bergeron, Jeff Carter, [Ryan] Getzlaf, [Dion] Phaneuf, Shea Weber,” Street said.
This year’s team had players like Dylan Cozens, who Street thinks should have won MVP of the tournament — a title that went to U.S. winger Trevor Zegras — and who has been drafted by the Buffalo Sabres.
“I think a lot of these guys are gonna have pretty historic careers, so it was a great tournament and it was definitely great to have that calibre of hockey,” she said.
“Hopefully now when the NHL gets going everybody can stay safe and they can do a good job like they did with the playoffs there.”
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
