Like I said yesterday, this year's World Junior Hockey Championship in Helsinki, Finland was shaping up to be a historic moment in US junior hockey. And it was.
The Americans beat Canada 4-3 on a fluke goal late in the third period when Canadian goalie Marc Andre Fleury tried to clear the puck and banked it off his own defenceman and into his own net. The loss can't be pinned on this one play, but it was indicative of a Canadian team that didn't seem to have much of a game plan, and instead who survived primarily on the individual flourishes of players such as Nigel Dawes, Mike Richards, and Anthony Stewart. The US team plays significantly more time together during the year, because of their Soviet-style hothouse approach to developing a national under-20 side, and this team chemistry probably made the difference for the US, who seemed to have better defensive awareness than the Canadians for the entire game.
Despite having the second best junior hockey team in the world for the third consecutive year, Canada will consider this loss particularly devastating. A single game, of course, proves nothing; but Canadian hockey fans don't see it that way when hockey is the game. As a Canadian hockey fan, I have to wonder: Does this mean the Americans will pour more money into their development program, and produce even more competitive teams in the future? With ten times the population of Canada, and far more money than Canadian hockey, the United States could build a dynasty if it wanted to. And that, unfortunately, just contributes to American arrogance in the realm of international politics and sport.
I don't think Canada has to worry about its junior hockey program. Keep in mind the number of first round NHL draft picks playing for Team Canada (11, I believe), and the eligible players who were not released by their NHL clubs (Patrice Bergeron, forward, Boston Bruins; Pierre-Marc Bouchard, forward, Minnesota Wild; Nathan Horton, forward, Florida Panthers; Rick Nash, forward, Columbus Blue Jackets; Eric Staal, forward, Carolina Hurricanes).
Putting aside bad refereeing (always a staple of these tournaments when they are held in Europe) and fluke goals, this game was decided by the chemistry of Team USA, who play together most of the year, versus the lack of organization in Team Canada (the type of thing that doesn't show when you're playing pushover countries, but does show against a side that has played together for more than 2 weeks). The US was proficient at proper defensive positioning, shot blocking, and an outstanding performance from their goalie, Al Montoya, who no doubt improved his draft rating considerably.
So, Canada is back to where it was decades ago against the Soviet Union: Can pure Canadian talent that is thrown together weeks before the tournament beat a team that has played together all year (as the Red Army teams did)? This year the answer was no.
Here is a medal history of the tournament since 1974. Next year the tournament is in the United States. Crap.
2:42:00 PM 
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