One of the most anticipated tournaments for hockey fans has once again come and gone with Christmas and New Years, but I think the disappointment that comes with this year’s results may stick around for quite some time
Every Boxing Day, Canadian hockey fans dust off their Team Canada jerseys, set their alarm clocks and get prepared to enjoy the holidays watching some of the brightest future NHL stars take part in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championships.
But this year in the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championships held in Helsinki, Finland, Canada experienced something that its fans are not quite accustomed to – Canada being ousted from the tournament in the quarterfinals and not even getting the opportunity to play for a medal.
The fact that Canada didn’t even play in the semifinals is still something hockey fans will have to get over, but what I think we might have to get over more is the fact that maybe Canada isn’t the junior hockey superpower it once was through the ‘90s and 2000s.
Sure Canada took home gold during the 2015 tournament, which was hosted in Toronto and Montreal, but in the years leading up to the 2015 tournament Canada struggled against other hockey powers like Russia, Sweden, the United States and the 2016 champion, Finland.
Canada failed to medal in back-to-back tournaments in 2013 and 2014, held in Ufa, Russia and Malmo, Sweden. Prior to that Canada settled for bronze during the World Junior Championships held here in Alberta in 2012 and earned a pair of silvers in 2010 and 2011.
As much as it may pain me to say this, Canada isn’t feared as much as it used to be when it was winning five straight gold medals in the mid to late 2000s.
But why is this? Why is Canada not as good as it once was? Is it because the parity among the top hockey nations is now razor thin with little room for error between the top five teams?
Is it because Canada just doesn’t do well in European countries during this type of tournament? That could be it. Canada has failed to medal in three straight tournaments held across the Atlantic Ocean. The last time Canada won a medal overseas was a gold in the 2008 World Junior Championships held in the Czech Republic.
Or maybe it’s because we as a nation put too much pressure on the kids representing our country each and every tournament. This is the World JUNIOR Championships after all, they are still young men trying to find their ways in their hockey careers and having the pressure that great teams and an entire nation has put on them may just be too much for them to live up to.
