Anytime Canada and U.S. square off in any sporting event, the stakes are high. But when world junior hockey gold is on the line, the intensity increases.
Tuesday night’s world junior gold-medal game was no different. In the leadup to the game, U.S. forward, Trevor Zegras made a bold claim that Canada hadn’t been tested in the world juniors yet. Those words were not well received before the game, but the Anaheim Ducks prospect helped back the claim up as the U.S. defeated Canada 2-0 in the final, with Zegras scoring the second goal and assisting on the first.
USA posing for team picture with what appears to be a trash can with a Canada logo on it. <a href=”https://t.co/YuGdxTGBBt”>pic.twitter.com/YuGdxTGBBt</a>
After the game, however, controversy stirred. U.S. players and coaches were posing for a team picture with the trophy and its gold medals when a barrel was brought out with a Canadian logo. According to Zegras, the barrel is something they did throughout the tournament.
“We pretty much had a barrel for each team we were playing,” Zegras said in his post-game interview. “Each game we just wanted to get to the next barrel. Today was our last barrel. We threw the Canada sign up there, [put] it on the ice and took our picture. It was kind of our thing this tournament.”
WATCH | U.S defeats Canada to win world junior gold:
American star Trevor Zegras scored early in the second period to give the United States a 2-0 lead at the world junior hockey championship. 1:00
Zegras added the barrel was symbolic as it was about “getting to the next barrel, not looking too far ahead, only looking to that game, the next opponent.”
Although the barrel was not well received by Canadians, U.S. head coach, Nate Leaman explained the meaning of the barrel and the story that comes with it.
This is the story that the Barrel idea is derived from. Sent in a Dec 19th US internal team newsletter. <a href=”https://t.co/mHS6msk5ZS”>pic.twitter.com/mHS6msk5ZS</a>
“It’s a story that when I was an assistant coach [with the USA at world juniors] in 2007, that [head coach] Ron Rolston brought to our team,” Leaman said.
“About crossing the heart of the Sahara Desert, crossing a terrain that’s 500 miles long, that over 1,300 people had perished and the only way that they could figure to cross this part of the Sahara Desert was to put barrels out so that when you got to one barrel, the only thing you could see was the next barrel on the horizon. I shared the story with the guys before the tournament, and let them know that we’re not going to talk about the gold medal. All we’re talking about is going one barrel at a time.”
Just to be transparent. It was barrel on the ice with our team after the game. It was motivation for our team to take the tournament one game at a time. I am sure every team had something of motivation. The barrel was ours. No disrespect to Canada who is a great team.
Leaman went to Twitter after his press conference to further add that it was not meant to be disrespectful to Canada or anyone. Instead, it was a rallying cry for the U.S. team to remain focused on the task ahead.
“We took a selfie in the locker room around the barrel after every win,” Leaman added. “Every one of our wins, we have our team around the barrel in the locker room. … (Tonight) they got into the emotion of the celebration, they wanted to get the barrel on the ice. No disrespect to anyone, especially Canada, who played a great game today and obviously had a great team. it’s not disrespectful to them. I’m sure every team had something in the tournament that they rallied around, and ours was the barrel.”
With the win over Canada on Tuesday, the U.S. has now won five world junior gold medals. The win also gave the Americans its fourth consecutive victory over Canada in a world junior final, having earned wins in 2004, 2010, 2017 and 2021.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
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