hckošice

UNDER 20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magic and tears Fourth U.S. U20 gold tops tournament highlights Like a great hockey team, the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship got better every day, climaxing with the U.S.’s 5-4 shootout win over Canada for gold. Among many unforgettable memories, this final was the jewel in the crown. “Everyone had so much energy built up and was running all over the ice,” said U.S. forward Troy Terry, who scored the shootout winner to give the U.S. its fourth World Junior gold of all time. “It was really an awesome hockey game.” The University of Denver star inscribed his name in hockey history with his five-hole masterpiece on Canada’s Carter Hart. It was the same spot Terry picked while scoring three times in the shootout in the U.S.’s 4-3 semi-final win over Russia, prompting comparisons to the heroics of Canada’s Jonathan Toews at the 2007 World Juniors and the U.S.’s T.J. Oshie at the 2014 Olympics. The gold medal game was a magical display of run-and-gun hockey, the kind you just don’t see in defence-obsessed pro leagues. And the U20 Americans came through big time. It was another milestone for USA Hockey. This success didn’t come out of nowhere. The roster featured 17 alumni of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, including Terry, tournament all-stars Clayton Keller and Charlie McAvoy, and U.S. goals leader Colin White. American goalie Tyler Parsons put on an epic show, too, as Canada outshot the U.S. 50-36. “Crazy,” said White. “Five saves in the shootout. He was just unbelievable. Hell of a player.” Want the definition of guts and character in hockey? Rallying from deficits of 2-0 and 4-2 and killing off five penalties before winning the big game in extra time. That’s living the American dream. The World Juniors have been amazingly blessed with wild, hard-fought finals. Six of the last eight gold medal games have been decided by one goal, and five of the last eight have gone into extra time. For thrills and chills, the barnburner in front of 20,173 fans at the Bell Centre on Thursday night rivaled the previous all-North American final, 2010’s 6-5 U.S. triumph on John Carlson’s overtime goal in Saskatoon. “It’s incredible,” said Terry. “It’s something that I’ll remember forever, being able to win with this group of guys and just how exciting the game was.” Even in defeat, Canadian defenceman Jeremy Lauzon will carry away vivid memories: “It was pretty awesome. Sometimes the crowd was so loud that I couldn’t even talk to my partner.” Overall, the U.S. went unbeaten in seven games in Toronto and Montreal and topped both Canada and Russia (their two biggest rivals) twice en route to gold. At the U20 level, the Americans now hold clear bragging rights over archrival Canada. The two North American powers have met in four World Junior finals, and the United States has prevailed three times (2004, 2010, 2017) to Canada’s one (1997). When you factor in the 2013 gold medal in Ufa, Russia, the U.S. is also the most successful World Junior nation so far this decade with three titles, one up on Finland (2014, 2016). Yet even after tearfully settling for silver, host Canada can hold its head high. The tournament’s highest-scoring team with 35 goals attacked its opponents in waves. MVP Thomas Chabot put on a two-way defence clinic while logging massive minutes. The Canadian forwards entertained and inspired, too, from the slickness of captain Dylan Strome to the smarts of Matt Barzal, from the speed of Mathieu Joseph to the grit of Julien Gauthier. Hockey is a game of inches, and Canada could easily be celebrating a victory right now. In a nation with a gold-or-bust mentality, fans need to be forgiving this year. The European nations came away with moments to cherish as well. Edging Sweden 2-1 in overtime in the bronze medal game, the Russians earned their seventh consecutive World Junior medal, going back to 2011’s gold. Captain Kirill Kaprizov’s electrifying moves and never-say-die attitude enabled him to amass a tournament-high nine goals and three assists. Ilya Samsonov deserved his Best Goaltender award after his fantastic 38-save performance in that bronze tilt. Sweden’s Alexander Nylander showcased his cool playmaking and tied Kaprizov for the tournament points lead. Captain Joel Eriksson Ek sniped with confidence and 16-year-old defenceman Rasmus Dahlin had flashes of brilliant skating and puckhandling. Yet this tournament was underwhelming for rookie head coach Tomas Monten’s squad, as the Juniorkronona failed to capture a medal for the third straight year. Nonetheless, the Swedes have made the final four 11 straight times, and a return to the podium can’t be far away. Denmark made some happy history with its first U20 wins over Finland and the Czech Republic. Mathias From’s overtime winner versus the Czechs on a solo rush was a contender for goal of the tournament. The Danes placed fifth, an all-time high. “That’s unbelievable,” said forward Joachim Blichfeld. “We’re a small country, so it’s amazing.” It’s also a great prelude to hosting the 2018 IIHF World Championship in Copenhagen and Herning. Switzerland enjoyed the international coming-out party of 18-year-old sniper Nico Hischier, who led his team with seven points (4+3) and could be the top pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. Exciting overtime wins over the Czechs and Danes helped the Swiss finish seventh. Both halves of the former Czechoslovakia had their ups and down in Eastern Canada. The Czechs only earned one regulation win, but it was a doozy, a 2-1 opening win over defending champion Finland on Michael Spacek’s goal with 1:18 left. The Czechs also hung tough with Canada in the quarter-final, keeping it tied till the halfway point, but ultimately falling 5-2. For an unheralded Slovak team featuring captain Erik Cernak in his fourth World Juniors, the highlight was surviving into the quarter-finals after topping Latvia 4-2. The Finns, of course, had the roughest ride of any medal contender. Expectations were just too high after Jesse Puljujarvi, Sebastian Aho, and Patrik Laine led them to 2016 gold in Helsinki. “Sometimes there’s just bad luck,” said defenceman Juuso Valimaki. “In this tournament, goal-scoring was hard for us.” At the Bell Centre, they scored just 12 goals in six games, finishing ninth. Coach Jukka Rautakorpi was fired mid-tournament and replaced by Jussi Ahokas, who led Finland to World U18 gold last April. Finland became the only defending World Junior champion ever to play in the relegation round, where they defeated Latvia in two straight games. For the underdog Latvians, it was another valuable learning experience, and goalie Mareks Mitens battled valiantly, facing 170 shots in five outings. When you’re dealing with the world’s top teenage hockey players, magic and tears are inevitable. That combo keeps hockey fans entranced. It’s hard not to start looking forward already to the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo.

What a amazing farewell from Tina in Maribor

Here you can find livestreams of all matches of U20 Division II B in Spain https://www.youtube.com/user/alfredomella/videos?view=2&live_view=502&shelf_id=2&sort=dd

Well, The U20 top division championship over, but the hockey world continue, During next week several World Championships tournaments will be contested. 2 of them will start tomorrow Saturday, Mens Under 20 Division II Group B World Championships in Logroňo (ESP) Day 1 Schedule (7th January 2017) GMT +1 13:00 Mexico vs Belgium 16:30 Serbia vs South Korea 20:00 Spain vs Australia *Usual format, Round Robin Tournament, 1st Ranked team will advance to the Under 20 Division II group A next year and will be replaced in Division II Group B by Croatia relegated from U20 Div II A tournament played before christmas in Estonia. the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th ranked teams will maintain in this division also for next year, the 6th ranked team will be relegated next year in to Under 20 Division III World championships and will be replaced by the winner of this years edition which will be played later this month in New Zealand. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Womens Under 18 Top Division World Championships in Czech Republic Day 1 Schedule (7th January 2017) GMT +1 Group A in Zlín 15:30 USA vs Russia 19:30 Canada vs Sweden Group B in Přerov 16:15 Czech Republic vs Japan 20:15 Finland vs Switzerland * format of the tournament, 8 Nations divided in 2 preliminary groups, Group A with 4 highest ranked nations and group B with lowest ranked teams. First 2 Teams of Group A will automatically qualify for the semifinals, 3rd and 4th teams of Group A and winner and 2nd team of Group B will qualify for the quarterfinals, 3rd and 4th teams of Group B will battle in a best of 3 matches relegation round serie.

Kamil Stoch is 4-Hills-Tournament winner What a dramatic final of the 65th 4-Hills-Tournament in Bischofshofen. Double Olympic champion Kamil Stoch of Poland won the final event and also took the overall title of the 4-Hills-Tournament. Stoch jumped on 134.5 m and 138.5 m (289.2 points) and won the competition ahead of Austria's Michael Hayboeck (130.5 m and 142 m; 283.3 points) and Piotr Zyla (131 m and 137 m; 275.8 points). In the overall ranking Stoch won ahead of his teammate Piotr Zyla and Norway's Daniel Andre Tande. Stoch superior, Tande loses shoe-clip in final jump After the first round, the two top favorites Stoch and Tande were still close together, Austria's Stefan Kraft, who still had a theoretical chance to win the overall title, was out of the race with his 128 m jump. In the final Norwegian Daniel Andre Tande then had extremely bad luck: During his jump the clip of the binding came off. Tande lost control of his jump, could avoid a fall, but landed already on 117 m. The dream of winning the title was over for the 22-year-old, Tande was devastated. Now Kamil Stoch only needed a solid jump on the Paul-Ausserleitner-hill. Stoch jumped on 138.5 m and won the competition in Bischofshofen and the overall title. Austria's Michael Hayboeck came in second, followed by Stoch's teammate Piotr Zyla. "This is an outstanding result and great success for our entire team. Piotr Zyla is second and Maciej Kot fourth in the overall ranking. I think that Stefan Horngacher is the best coach in our sport, but everyone on the team played his part", Stoch said after his success. Kamil Stoch is now the second Pole after Adam Malysz to win the 4-Hills-Tournament. The 29-year-old is also one of the few ski jumpers, who could win Gold at World Championships and Olympic Games, the overall World Cup title and the 4-Hills-Tournament. After the first moments of disappointment, Daniel Andre Tande was happy again about his great performances and the third place in the overall ranking at the award ceremony. "After my second jump I was extremely disappointed, but a few minutes later it was okay again." For Piotr Zyla the second place behind his teammate came as a big surprise. "I really didn't expect that I would be on the podium in the overall ranking. My shape is getting better and better." Austrians celebrate podium finish Michael Hayboeck provided a successful ending of the 4-Hills-Tournament for the Austrian hosts. He was sixth after the first round, but with an outstanding jump of 142 m in the final he moved up to second. "This was an incredible second jump and so the 4-Hills ended well for me. Stefan Kraft and I were really not feeling well at lunch today. Now it's about getting healthy again. I gave my all in this competition. My fanclub was here and this was definitely an extra motivation for me", said the Austrian, who could not compete in Innsbruck on Wednesday due to a stomach flu. Hayboeck's teammate Stefan Kraft was third in the overall ranking behind Tande and Stoch before this final event, but after he was only 25 on his home hill today, the local hero finished sixth overall. Best Austrian in the 65th 4-Hills-Tournament was Manuel Fettner (12th in Bischofshofen) in fifth. Tepes loses half-time lead, Prevc in "Yellow" again After the first half of this exciting final it seemed it would be a successful day for Slovenia on the Paul-Ausserleitner-hill. With a great jump of 141 m, Jurij Tepes surprisingly was in the lead. Although he was not able to defend this result in the final, the 27-year-old seemed very satisfied with his seventh place. His teammate Domen Prevc came in fourth and missed the podium by only 0.6 points. With this performance the 17-year-old regained the "Yellow Bib" for the overall World Cup leader. The German athletes were not among the very best in this final event of the 4-Hills-Tournament, but with Richard Freitag (6th), Stephan Leyhe (8th) and Karl Geiger (9th) three athletes of head coach Werner Schuster landed in the Top 10. Andreas Wellinger, the winner of the qualification and new hill record holder, failed to qualify for the second round in 31st with a jump of 123 m. The ski jumpers will now have a couple of days to rest, before the World Cup continues next weekend in Poland, where two competitions will be held in front of definitely enthusiastic fans in Wisla on January 14th and 15th. Full Results Here 4 Hills Tournament 2016/17 Overall Results Here

yes, She is still young, it´s her 1st season in the world cup, she had some promising results in the juniors category so I assume it would need some time to adapt in the senior level for her. at least we have still some sources in the youth category like Zmij/Veverčák in the doubles, they even finished many times on the podiums. but our problem is we have almost nobody in decent level in seniors category, also Jozef Ninis will not compete for eternity among mens, he is already the oldest athlete in the circuit and I don´t see anyone who can replace him after PyeongChang

another disastrous result in the team relay...few years ago we were constantly aound 6th place now we are still among the lasts...if it will continue this way I´m worried if we will even qualify our relay for the olympics

oh man, this is awesome also Romania in womens GS and NZL in both tomorrows events

Diggins gets 5 km hat-trick The USA's Jessica Diggins has won her third consecutive 5 km free technique competition in the interval start format. She joins Elena Valbe as the only female skiers to win 3 straight times at that distance, technique and format. Finland's Krista Parmakoski got her first second place finish of the season and brought herself closer to the top three in the Tour with her result today. Parmakoski remains 4th in the overall standings after stage five +36.8 seconds back from Norway's Heidi Weng, who now leads the Tour. Weng finished 5th on the day +17.5 behind Diggins but moved into first place in the Tour when Sweden's Stina Nilsson had her worst day of the Tour with a 20th place finish +40.5 off the lead. The USA's Sadie Bjornsen recorded her first ever individual World Cup podium take the third spot on today's podium +14.6 seconds back of her teammate. Similar to the men's competition Bjornsen bumped Charlotte Kalla from third by just 0.3 seconds. Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg struggled to an 8th place finish today +23.5 off the winning time of 12:45.6 but remains in 2nd place in the Tour standings +11.1 behind Weng. Nilsson fell to third in the standings +16.3 back with just two stages of the Tour remaining. The Tour now moves to Val di Fiemme, Italy for the final two stages. Stage 6 will feature 10/15 km mass starts in classic technique with stage 7 being the traditional 9 km in free technique finishing at the top of Alpe Cermis. Full Results Here

Ustiugov keeps streak alive Sergey Ustiugov (RUS) had already set a Tour de Ski record for men with his 4th consecutive win after stage 4 and has now won his 5th in a row Toblach, Italy. No male athlete had won more than four stages in the previous 10 editions of the Tour de Ski. Today's win in the 10km free technique was also his first ever win in an individual start competition on World Cup. France's Maurice Manificat put in another strong effort in Toblach to take second place just +0.4 seconds back. Simen Hegstad Krueger of Norway recorded his first ever World Cup podium with a third place finish +16.6 seconds behind Ustiugov. Krueger took third place away from Finland's Matti Heikkinen but just 0.7 seconds. Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby struggled on today's stage and finished in 14th place and lost valuable time to Ustiugov in the overall standings. He remains in second place but is now 1:34 back. Switzerland's Dario Cologna has moved up to third in the overall +2:07.5 back and just 0.5 ahead of Canada's Alex Harvey. With his result today Manificat has moved up to 5th in the overall. Third to ninth place in the overall are separated by less than 40 seconds with just two stages remaining. Full Results Here

Kamil Stoch is the new 4 Hills Tournament champion. so now he is 2 olympic champion, overall world cup winner, world champion, only thing he is missing is the ski flying world championships. poor Tande, what a disastrous way to lose the 4 hills...

yes, I know. the idea of the outdoor game (first ever at worlds juniors championship level) is interesting and the atmosphere around will be certainly awesome. just pitty we are in the same group again. we will not have again any chance against north american junior hockey is far far away of our level, and will want fix their reputation next year destroying everyone everywhere and Finlands playing style is our worst nightmare, we just don´t know how to play against Finland. can´t even remeber last time we achieved good result against them..I think it´s 2003 in Helsinki..since then we lost all matches in allcategories !!! all in all, this will means at best the QF against the winner (best team) of second group so again no chance for success. so thanks this outdoor game we will send a team next year again with goal to train, prepare and win only 1 match against

Preliminary Groups for next years Under 20 Top Division World Championships in Buffalo, USA 2018 Group A Belarus Canada Finland Slovakia United States Group B Czech Republic Denmark Russia Sweden Switzerland yep ofc, again both North americans..oh god what did we do wrong to deserve this

as expected..the Japanese girls took the oportunity that we competed only with 2 girls here, and after Oberhof we are 18th !!! in the Nations Cup...what a shame ! Can´t believe it...how deep we felt, this is just embarassing, I would have never believed that we will be in so much serious troubles in qualification for PyeongChang...but well, what can we do...now we have just to pray and hope that things will be better in the second part of the season, the good thing is this was the only race counting for the qualification period this weekend in Oberhof, next stage in Ruhpolding will have 2 qualifying events in the program (relay and sprint) and we are supposed to compete with our full team Still there some positive things to find today, Jana Gereková clearly improved her skiing times, 35th fastest time is pretty decent looking on her previous races this season. pitty for this last target with clean shooting it would be 10-11th place..at least it´s nice points for the world cup standing and good position for the pursuit. and about Poliaková...it was very bad today, shooting and skiing altogether.. very bad.

Biathlon Qualification Standing after Event 8/22 Womens 1 France 2845.0 1 Germany 2845.0 3 Czech Republic 2413.0 4 Ukraine 2378.0 5 Russia 2371.0 6 Norway 2340.0 7 Sweden 2204.0 8 Italy 2183.0 9 Belarus 2063.0 10 Kazakstan 1954.0 11 Switzerland 1946.0 12 Poland 1931.0 13 Austria 1908.0 14 Finland 1833.0 15 Canada 1731.0 16 USA 1530.0 17 Japan 1387.0 18 Slovakia 1375.0 19 Bulgaria 1239.0 20 Slovenia 1172.0 21 Estonia 1101.0 22 Lithuania 1024.0 23 South Korea 952.0 24 Romania 818.0 25 Latvia 460.0 26 United Kingdom 366.0 27 China 190.0 28 Spain 135.0 29 Hungary 83.0 30 Bosnia and Herzegovina 72.0

Ustiugov 5/5 this time only by 0.4. Also Great race from Maurice Manificat today, so close to win. btw for Ustiugov it´s first ever World Cup win if we count only the interval starts events. In other side very very bad day for Sundby and disastrous day for Harvey. edit it´s already 1:34 the margin between Ustiugov and Sundby after todays stage, I think any drama or exciting finish is over

Manfred Moelgg is the new Snow King! The World Cup has a new Snow King! After 8 years of victory drought, Manfred Moelgg claimed the win at the slalom in Zagreb, ahead of Felix Neureuther and Henrik Kristoffersen. A firework for both the new crowned king and the 50 years of the FIS Ski World Cup concluded the “Snow Queen Trophy” in the Croatian venue. It was well known that Manfred Mölgg is in a great shape again, as he podiumed in the Levi Slalom and ended 4th in Madonna di Campiglio. But today, he took it to another level by grabbing his third World Cup win. The last time Mölgg won was back in 2009, when he came first in a slalom race in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. A year later, he finished second atop Sljeme, and this year, he announced his good form in the first three slaloms of the season. “I feel great, just like a king. It’s wonderful to win here in Zagreb,” Mölgg said. He is the second Italian, alongside Giuliano Razzoli, to take the Sljeme crown. Germany’s Felix Neureuther came second, the same as two years ago. It’s a 42nd podium for the skier from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, who had two DNFs in slalom earlier this season (in Val d’Isère and Madonna di Campiglio). Henrik Kristoffersen finished third on the podium. The Norwegian, who had won the last two World Cup slaloms, failed to continue the winning streak but still finished in his highest ever position atop Sljeme. Of the three skiers who had taken the top three positions following the first run, only Julien Lizeroux managed to finish the race. He came ninth, while both Mark Engel and the leading skier after the first run, Manuel Feller, failed to finish the second run. No later than tomorrow, the men’s Tour is moving to Adelboden, where a Giant Slalom and a Slalom will take place this week-end. Full Results Here Manfred Moelgg 1st Run Manfred Moelgg 2nd Run

UNDER 20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gold Medal Match USA - Canada 5-4 after GWS HIGHLIGHTS

UNDER 20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bronze Medal Match Russia - Sweden 2-1 after Overtime HIGHLIGHTS

The Under 20 Top Division World Championships 2017 in Canada is over, another epic tournament full of fantastic skilled players, amazing atmosphere in the candians arenas and briliant junior hockey. Congrats to the USA new Under 20 World Champions 4th Title (2004, 2010, 2013, 2017) Also big respects to Canada silver medalists and Russia Bronze medalists, interesting fact all 3 medalists were from our preliminary group B, just pointing the fact how insanely tough group we had this year Tough luck this time for Sweden 4th this time without medals, but with a team completely full of amazing players, many many future world hockey stars. 5th finished Denmark, absolutely amazing result for the young Danes, great tournament with wins over Finland and the Czechs meant in overall standing the best ever result for Denmark in the juniors worlds. 6th Czech Republic, 7th Switzerland and 8th Slovakia all achieved their goals, avoid the relegation round and advance to the quarterfinals, hopefully all 3 without big troubles managed their first goal but unfortunately this time all had too strong opponents in the QF which finished their journeys in the tournament already in the quarters. 9th Finland, Not very memorable tournament for the Suomis, for the first time ever a reigning junior world champion played the relegation round next year, and this happened to Finland this year, very very bad preliminary round send them to the relegation round, at least they managed to recover and maintain themselves among the world juniors elite also for next year. 10th Latvia has been relegated to the Under 20 Division I Group A world Championships next year. It was a very painful and hard tournament for the Baltic country, extremely tough preliminary group and even harder opponent in the relegation round finished in the fact of relegation. Next year in Buffalo, USA 2018 Latvia will be replaced by Belarus winner of this years Under 20 Div. I A WCh in Germany. All results can be found in the result thread here

UNDER 20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chabot named MVP Two Americans, two Russians make all-star team Canada’s Thomas Chabot was voted the Most Valuable Player of the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship by the media. Chabot, a 19-year-old defenceman who plays for the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs and appeared in one NHL game this season with the Ottawa Senators, was also voted to the tournament All-Star Team, and was named Best Defenceman by the tournament directorate. He scored Canada’s opening goal and added an assist in the final against the United States. Chabot led all defencemen in tournament scoring with 10 points (4+6), and led Canada in ice time, averaging 26:14 per game. The U.S. and Russia both placed two players on the tournament all-star team. Russian captain Kirill Kaprizov, who led the World Juniors with nine goals, was named Best Forward and an all-star. Individual Awards (selected by the directorate) Best Goalkeeper: Felix Sandstrom Best Defenceman: Thomas Chabot Best Forward: Kirill Kaprizov Most Valuable Player (selected by the media) Thomas Chabot All-Star Team (selected by the media) GK: Ilya Samsonov DE: Thomas Chabot DE: Charlie McAvoy FW: Kirill Kaprizov FW: Alexander Nylander FW: Clayton Keller

UNDER 20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gold Medal Match USA - Canada 5-4 after GWS Terry scores shootout gold USA wins extraordinary game, 5-4 Troy Terry has done it again. He was the only scorer of ten shootout shooters tonight, giving the USA the gold medal in an incredible 5-4 win over Canada. Just 24 hours ago, he scored three goals in a shootout to defeat Russia and advance to today's championship game. "Before the shootout, I was thinking about trying something different [than shooting between the legs]," Terry explained. "As I came down, I decided I just had to try to go five-hole." “I think it’s a Troy effect,” teammate Jack Roslovic enthused. “No matter what, you can cover it all you want, you can sit in the butterfly, he’ll find the five-hole.” U.S. goalie Tyler Parsons stopped all five Canadian shooters, none of which came particularly close to scoring. Canadian counterpart Carter Hart stopped four shots, allowing only Terry's low shot between the pads. For the Americans this marks their fourth U20 gold, following 2004, 2010, and 2013. "It was a great atmosphere in the building," Parsons said. "It gave me chills. It's unbelievable to win this for your country." “Unbelievable,” said Colin White. “There’s no feeling like it. We came together as a team. Four weeks now we’ve been together, and to win a gold medal together is just great. The calmness we’ve had all tournament was huge. We were down yesterday, down twice today by two goals. We stayed calm on the bench and fought back.We always knew we had each other’s backs all tournament, and we came together so well as a team.” Canada had an early lead of 2-0--and let it slip away--as well as a more critical 4-2 lead early in the third, but the Americans simply refused to give up or be intimidated by the pro-Canadian crowd. There were countless scoring chances and giveaways forced by puck pressure, end-to-end action, and blinding speed. Canada outshot the U.S., 50-36, but in the end it was another nifty move by Terry that proved the difference. "It was such an up-and-down game," Terry said. "We were down two goals twice. I think when we were down 2-0 and came back to tie it we got some confidence because it sucked to go down two goals right away. But, we knew as a team that no matter how we played, we had the confidence to get back into the game." Kieffer Bellows, with his second of the game, and Colin White tied the game midway through the third, and despite incredible opportunities to score, the game went into a fourth and final period. "The 23 of us, all the way from summer camp to Buffalo camp, we knew we had to come up huge," said Bellows, the American-born son of longtime Canadian NHLer, Brian. "Our country needed us at this point with the hockey. Kids looking up to us, teenagers, older adults that love hockey so much were looking up to us. We came out on top, and hopefully the country’s proud of us." The 20-minute, five-on-five overtime was breath-taking and heart-stopping, Canada dominating but both teams having several glorious chances to win. Indeed, the Canadians had the only power play, called because of a too-many-men penalty to the U.S., but it couldn't put the puck in. The Fates seemed to will the puck out of the net, believing a shootout was needed to decide this incredible contest of speed, skill, strength, and determination. Canada's defenceman Thomas Chabot, named tournament MVP, played a staggering 43:53 in defeat. "I'm proud of what I've done in this tournament," he explained, "but it's so hard to lose this game. I put everything I could into representing my country as well as I could and help the team win. I may have got the MVP, but I'm heartbroken. It's very difficult right now." The game was played before a crowd of 20,173, just shy of the single-game mark set in Ottawa in 2009 between Canada and Sweden (20,380). Emotions were high and the tension thick as the final game of the 2017 World Junior Championship started. The Americans had defeated Canada soundly, 3-1, just six days earlier, but now the gold medal was on the line. Both teams had developed and matured over the last two weeks, and with everything on the line players gave it their all, and more. The game started at a feverish pitch, and the raucous Bell Centre crowd was as loud as it’s been this year for the juniors. But just as the Canadians seemed nervous and tentative on New Year’s Eve, tonight it was the Americans who seemed rattled by circumstance, the intensity, and the relentless puck pressure from Canada. Canada took control early and maintained high energy throughout the period, getting the puck deep and forcing the U.S. defencemen to turn and skate back to make a play. The opening goal came at 4:38 off the rush. Matt Barzal made a nice pass to Mathieu Joseph, going to the net. Joseph couldn’t handle the puck but it came to defenceman Chabot who buried the puck as Parsons was playing Joseph to shoot. Canada made it 2-0 at 9:02 thanks to a scramble in the U.S. slot. Adam Fox made an ill-advised swat at the puck with his glove, and it came right to Jeremy Lauzon who waited patiently before ripping a shot to the stick side of a screened Parsons. Two goals, two defencemen, two French-Canadians. 2-0. The Americans had a chance to get back into it with a power play, but they would up incurring a minor of their own halfway through to nullify the chance. To start the second, though, the U.S. came out with purpose and turned the tables on Canada, getting the puck deep, forechecking effectively, and putting Canada on its heels. The reward came just 3:04 into the period when Jordan Greenway made a nice pass from the left-wing boards to defenceman Charlie McAvoy, the trailer on the play. He had plenty of time to take aim and drill a shot over Hart’s glove to cut the lead in half. The crowd responded with tremendous support, and the Canadian players got their legs going, coming right back at their opponents. This wave was scuttled by a too-many-men penalty, though, and that cost Canada dearly. A point shot from Fox drifted to the goal and hit Bellows on the way in at 9:30. Tie game. The Canadians continued to skate and drew two late power plays, but some over-passing on their part and good defence by the Americans kept it a 2-2 game. A third power play early in the third gave Canada a chance it didn't pass up. Nicolas Roy ripped a shot over Parsons' shoulder at 1:52, and at 4:05 they made it 4-2 when Mathieu Joseph raced past Casey Fitzgerald at the U.S. blue line and made a great deke on Parsons. But the resilient Americans did not go queitly to defeat. Just 38 seconds later McAvoy fed Bellows in the slot, and his quick shot fooled Hart to make it 4-3. They weren't done yet. Fox made a sensational pass to Colin White to the side of Hart, and White's perfect deflection at 7:07 found the back of the net. Four goals in just over five minutes and the game was tied again, much to the shock of the Bell Centre fans. “I saw [Fox] get the puck up there,” White described. “I was behind the net, and I knew if I stayed on that low post he’d get it to me. It was a great play by him, and I was lucky enough to tip that in.” That set the stage for a wild finish that will go down in history as one of the greatest junior games ever played.

UNDER 20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gold Medal Match USA - Canada 5-4 after GWS

UNDER 20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bronze Medal Match Russia - Sweden 2-1 after Overtime Bronze goes to Russia Samsonov shines, Guryanov gets OT winner Russia edged Sweden 2-1 in the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship bronze medal game on Thursday. Denis Guryanov scored the overtime winner at 0:33. The goal came from a miscue. Swedish defenceman Rasmus Dahlin, one of two 2000-born players in this tournament, attempted to feed the puck back to scoring leader Alexander Nylander, who couldn't control it. Guryanov jumped on the puck and surprised everyone with a quick backhander that slid past Swedish goalie Felix Sandstrom. It’s Russia’s seventh straight World Junior medal. The streak includes gold (2011), silver (2012, 2015, 2016), and bronze (2013, 2014, 2017). "I'm proud to keep this streak going for Russian hockey," said captain Kirill Kaprizov. Guryanov stepped up in the playoffs. The 19-year-old forward from the AHL's Texas Stars also scored two third-period goals in the 4-3 semi-final loss to the United States, and put two pucks in the net during the shootout finale. "It's just amazing to win a medal, especially in the Bell Centre, my home rink," said defenceman Mikhail Sergyachov, who played three games for the Montreal Canadiens at age 18 this season. "It's special. Our goalie Ilya Samsonov was amazing. He's an NHLer, for sure." It's the third straight year with no medals for Sweden, which also finished fourth in 2015 and 2016. They settled for silver in 2013 and 2014. "We had a lot of chances to put the game away early," said Rasmus Asplund. "We played well but we made too many mistakes." The last Swedish gold – the first and only one since 1981 – came in 2012 under coach Roger Ronnberg, with Mika Zibanejad scoring the 1-0 overtime winner versus Russia in Calgary. That was also the only other time Sweden and Russia have squared off in a medal game since the IIHF instituted the playoff system in 1996. Kaprizov said: "Our players were completely exhausted last night after losing -- physically and emotionally -- but we battled to the very end. We knew a bronze medal is still a medal to be proud of." In regulation, Jonathan Dahlen scored for Sweden, and Kirill Kaprizov tallied for Russia. Sweden outshot Russia 39-36, and Samsonov saved his best tournament performance for last. "He came up big for them," said Swedish captain Joel Eriksson Ek. "We needed to maybe get in front and get some tips, get some rebounds. And we weren’t able to do that today." Samsonov, a 2015 first-round pick of the Washington Capitals, barred the door in the scoreless first period, where the Russians took three minors. Sweden, despite outshooting their opponents 15-3, couldn’t break through. Kaprizov drew first blood just 16 seconds into the middle frame. Showing great determination, he cut to the net and flubbed his first attempt, but got the puck away from Dahlin to bang it past Sandstrom. Kaprizov’s goal – his tournament-leading ninth – tied him for the second-highest number of goals in one World Juniors by any player in the post-Soviet era (after 1991). Sweden’s Markus Naslund set the all-time record with 13 goals in 1993, while Russia’s Pavel Bure had 12 in 1991. Max Friberg, another Swede, scored nine goals in 2012. About five minutes later, Samsonov was briefly shaken up when Eriksson Ek collided with Carl Grundstrom going to the net, pushing his teammate into the Russian goalie. But Samsonov got up and kept on trucking. Sweden tied it halfway through the second period on a Russian mistake. Assistant captain Yegor Rykov got the puck right in front of his net, but fluffed his pass, enabling Dahlen to whack it past a surprised Samsonov for his fifth of these World Juniors. "I saw that he was holding the puck unusually long in that situation, so I tried to pressure him," said Dahlen. "Then I saw he made the pass really quickly and I just tried to get it in the net because the goalie was not ready. It was a lucky play, but it was in the back of the net." Russia failed to click with its two second-period power plays. Dahlen got a breakaway with under six minutes left, but Samsonov stoned him on the initial shot and the follow-up. The Russian goalie strained himself while kicking out his right leg to foil a late-period Swedish chance. But again, he soldiered on. Fredrik Karlstrom came close just before the second buzzer, putting one off the crossbar. Chances for both sides abounded in the third period. Asplund sent a lovely pass to Karlstrom on a 2-on-1 rush, but Samsonov came across to foil him. Guryanov waltzed down right wing and rang one off Sandstrom's left post. Nylander and Grundstrom barely failed to click on a pretty give-and-go. "We won the first two practice games before the tournament and the five first games in the tournament," said Dahlen. "We won seven out of nine games but we’re standing here without a medal. Something was wrong. It’s a huge disappointment." Both teams will hope for better results at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo. That American border city was the site of Russia’s last gold medal seven years ago.

UNDER 20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bronze Medal Match Russia - Sweden 2-1 after Overtime