Jonathan Toews Loses Bet to Patrick Kane

Every year, many hockey players and people who cheer for rival national teams who meet in the gold medal game make bets with their friends about who won. And this year, with Canada and USA meeting in the gold-medal game of the World Junior Championship, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane made a bet over who would win. The loser of the bet had to wear the other team's sweater for a day. Here is the result of the bet:

Boy am I glad I didn't make bets with anyone. And I know that these are the types of quality posts everyone loves to see on my blog 😉.

P.S. All Johnny Toews had to do was ask Pat Kane how his team did in the World Cup 😎

Canada is headed to the World Junior Gold-Medal Game!!

Canada won over Sweden 5-2 yesterday night in a crazy game. Connor Ingram, the starter goaltender for Canada, let in two goals on three shots, prompting Dominique Ducharme to pull him and put in Carter Hart. He kept out all the shots he faced while his team scored five times to take the game easily. 

On the other hand, USA downed Russia in a shootout, but just barely, to advance to the gold-medal game, making USA and Canada meet in the World Juniors gold-medal game for the first time since 2010.

Who has the better odds, many have asked? Canada, host to this tournament, has won five times out of eleven playing at home. And while Canada's defence is deeper than the USA's, their offenses are pretty evenly matched and Canada needs to figure out their goaltending dilemma. So, who do you think will win? Let us know in the comments below.

The nation's eyes, both nation's, will be on these young players tonight at 8 pm when the puck drops. The team that wants it more will get it. “Having the whole nation behind you, it’s going to be pretty cool. We’re excited for tomorrow,” Anthony Cirelli said.

Can Canada Win the World Junior Championship?

Gold-medal winners in 2015, but an eighth place finish in 2016; the ride for Canada's junior team has been a bumpy one, in the least. But can they prove themselves this year?

After winning against the Czechs in the quarterfinal, Canada looks to finish off Sweden in the semifinal today and advance to playing the winner of the USA-Russia semifinal in the gold-medal game. However, they have played against weak teams for the majority of the tournament. And the one good team they faced, USA, ended up winning 3-1 and going undefeated for the whole tournament. 

Sweden is a team that is unproven past the first stage of the World Junior tournament. They usually go undefeated, only to lose early in the knockout stage. This time, it is Canada they are playing. Many people are nervous about this game on both sides, because neither team has faced much adversity and both teams are unproven in the World Juniors. 

Once they get past Sweden, Canada faces either USA, whom they lost to 3-1, or Russia, both of which will be tough opponents. Historically, Canada and Russia are almost evenly matched when they face each other in the final; however, Canada does have a few games in hand. On the other hand, it has been rare when Canada and USA face each other in the finals, although it will be an exciting game for both Canadian and USA fans, as the teams are big rivals.

Who do you expect to win the semifinal? How about the gold medal? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. 

Top 5 Moments of the World Cup of Hockey

Check out my new YouTube video about the top 5 moments of the World Cup of Hockey. I hope you enjoy it!

Yes, all the goals are from Team Canada (WCH Champions!!!) and Team NA because these are the games I watched and the goals i thought were the best,

Just a quick note - numbers 1 and 2 are not based on skill. I made them the top 2 because they were the most exciting. Team Europe was leading Canada 1-0 until the last 2 minutes of the game, when Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand scored two quick goals to tie it and win the game in regulation. If you missed that game, you missed one of the most exciting hockey games you will ever see.

Team Canada is In the World Cup of Hockey Final!!!

Canada has been dominating the World Cup of Hockey, right from the start until the end.

First, they went undefeated in the preliminary games, beating the Czech Republic, USA, and Europe. The USA game was the most anticipated of the tournament, and Canada ended up beating a team specifically designed to beat them 4-2 and knocking them out of the tourney.

Next, they faced Russia in the semifinal, beating them 5-3. Many players were outstanding during the game, and Brad Marchand had two goals.

The final series started yesterday, and Marchand continued his excellence, scoring once and being dominant on the powerplay. The final is a three-game series between Team Europe and Team Canada, and Canada took the first game 3-1. The next game is on Thursday, and if Canada wins, then they are crowned champions. If Canada loses, there will be a game next Saturday, and the winner will win the championship. 

Team Canada Announces World Cup of Hockey Roster

Yesterday was the deadline for teams to announce the first sixteen players they have selected to play in the World Cup of Hockey, and the remainder of the players has to be selected by June 1. Luckily for the GM, he does not have to select younger, 18-23-year-old players, as there is Team North America for them. However, Canada is the team with the most roster depth in the world, so it is incredibly hard to choose who goes, and world-class players often get left out.

Below is the roster:

Goaltenders

• Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
• Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks
• Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals

Defencemen

• Drew Doughty, LA Kings
• Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks
• Marc-Edouard Vlasic, San Jose Sharks
• Shea Weber, Nashville Predators

Forwards

• Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars
• Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins
• Jeff Carter, Los Angeles Kings
• Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks
• Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars
• Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning
• John Tavares, New York Islanders
• Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks

As can be seen here, the most notable commissions are PK Subban and Corey Perry, but they can be added later. However, the biggest surprise comes when seen that since all three goaltenders have been picked, Roberto Luongo is not on the list. For the first time since 2002, Luongo has been left out of a best-on-best tournament with Team Canada. In my opinion, I think he should go ahead of Corey Crawford, because he is about the same level but with more experience. He was very accepting of this and said that the GM told him that he is next on the list for an injury replacement. Here is Luongo's Twitter reaction:

Other notable omissions include Claude Giroux, Alex Pietrangelo, Kris Letang, Brent Burns, and Brent Seabrook, Taylor Hall, Matt Duchene, Joe Thornton, Tyler Toffoli, Ryan O’Reilly, Brendan Gallagher, Mark Stone, Wayne Simmonds, and Logan Couture, but again, all these could be named to the final 23-man roster. 

However, Marc-Andre Fleury was another goaltender not named to Canada. They have incredible depth at that position and it was a challenge for GM Doug Armstrong to pick. 

Here is the staff picking the players:

Staff

Tom Renney, President
Scott Smith, Chief Operating Officer
Scott Salmond, Hockey Operations
Doug Armstrong, General Manager
Marc Bergevin, Assistant General Manager
Rob Blake, Assistant General Manager
Ken Holland, Assistant General Manager
Bob Murray, Assistant General Manager
Mike Babcock, Head Coach
Claude Julien, Assistant Coach
Bill Peters, Assistant Coach
Joel Quenneville, Assistant Coach
Barry Trotz, Assistant Coach

One more thing... Go Canada!!! (Sorry, everyone)

IIHF WJC Preliminary and Relegation Schedule

  

Obviously, the games you must not miss are USA VS. Finland on Friday at 3:00 PM, Russia VS. Sweden on Monday at 5:00, and USA VS. Canada on Wednesday the 31st at 4:00.

And a topic that confuses most people...the 5A VS. 5B game in the relegation match means that the top teams from Group A will play the top teams from Group B depending on the results of the preliminary rounds. In Group A, there is Team Canada, Team Finland, Team USA, Team Slovakia, and Team Germany. In Group B, there is Team Sweden, Team Russia, Team Czech, Team Denmark, and Team Switzerland. The winners of the relegation match will go on to play four quarterfinals against each other all at different times on January 2 (I will be posting the schedule when the time comes), and the winners of the quarterfinals will play two semifinals, and the losers of the semifinal will play the bronze medal game, while the winners will compete for gold, while the loser wins silver. Good luck to all teams!
Go Team Sweden! Go Team Russia!