The Puck Stops Here

The finals in the World Junior Hockey championships occurred today. Here are my writeups on the round robin, quarterfinals and semifinals. Here were the results:

Bronze/ 4th Game Finland 4 USA 2 USA took an early lead in the first period when Bobby Ryan (an Anaheim Mighty Duck draft pick) scored. Jari Sailio, who is thus far undrafted, replied to tie up the game. Jesse Joensuu (who is 2006 draft eligible) gave Finland a 2-1 lead. USA tied it up on a Jack Johnson (a Carolina Hurricane draft pick) goal. Finland took the lead for good when Lauri Tukonen (an LA King draft pick) scored. Joensuu added an insurance goal. Finland won their fourth bronze in five years.

Gold/ Silver Game Canada 5 Russia 0 Justin Pogge (a Toronto Maple Leaf draft pick) made 35 saves for his second straight shutout. There was a disputed Russian goal scored in the second period when replays showed a puck across the Canadian goal line when the score was 2-0, but it was not allowed. Canada's goals were scored by Steve Downie (a Philadelphia Flyer draftee), Blake Comeau (a New York Islander draftee), two goals by Michael Blunden (a Chicago Blackhawk draftee) and Kyle Chipchura (a Montreal Canadien draftee).

Evgeni Malkin of Russia (who is a Pittsburgh Penguin draftee) was named tournament MVP and best forward. Canada's Mark Staal (a New York Ranger draftee) was named the best defenceman in the tournament, Finland's goalie Tuukka Rask (a Toronto Maple Leaf draftee) was named the tournament's best goalie. Rask's win suprises me given the tournament Pogge played. Given his two shutouts in the medal round, I thought Pogge would be named the best goalie in the tournament and possibly also its MVP (although Malkin was the other candidate).