Since 1977 there has been a growing trend amongst Canadians of all ages. It captures our attention and fixes us to our television screens for hours on end: the World Junior Hockey Championships (WJHC).
The tournament initially started in 1974, but it was not declared official until 1977. It’s comprised of the brightest rising hockey stars from around the world under the age of 20. Every year the top ten national teams gather in one location and play a series of round robin games. Whoever comes out on top heads off to the medal rounds, while the bottom ranked teams are sent packing.
But what is it that obsesses Canadians with this tournament?
It’s often said that hockey is Canada’s game, and while the original roots of the game are often disputed, it can surely be agreed upon that Canada is the world’s most dominate nation in the field of professional hockey. There is also no doubt that Canadians are obsessed with the sport of hockey. In recent years, viewing totals for the WJHC gold medal game, which has featured Canada for the past nine years, have started to climb at an exponential rate — this past gold medal final breaking a TSN record for the highest rated live sporting event with 14.2 million viewers (or about 1/2 of Canada).
One major reason for the rise in popularity is the recent success that Canada has had at the tournament. Canada won their first gold medal at the WJHC in 1982, where they edged out second place Czechoslovakia in Minnesota — the first time the United States hosted the tournament. Ever since that first gold medal, the Canadian squad has gone on to win an overall total of 26 medals and a tournament leading 15 gold medals. The only other country that can compare to Canada is the USSR/Russia, accounting for a total of 28 medals while managing to muster 12 gold medals.
From 1994-99 Canada won five straight World Junior Championships. In the following two years Canada placed second, losing both tournaments to the Russians. From 2004-09 Canada went on to win another five straight gold medals, only for the streak to be broken by the United States last year in a classic overtime game that will not soon be forgotten.
Canada suffered another heartbreaking loss this year as they fell to Russia 5-3 in a historic final game. As the Russians found themselves down by three goals in the third period, they made a comeback like never before, scoring five unanswered goals all in the final period to steal the gold from Canada.
Even though Canada found themselves defeated, the story does not end here. The tournament will be held in Alberta in 2012 and the taste in Canada’s mouth has gone from bitter to disgusting. There is no doubt that Canada will field a star-studded team once again in an attempt to reclaim the World Junior gold.
