Christmas is a busy time of year for a lot of people. Usually I am the same, finishing up my shopping, wrapping gifts, working, spending time with family, among a multitude of other things.
This year will be a little different for me since I won’t be going home.
I had to finish my shopping and wrapping early this year so I could mail the gifts home to my family, since none of them live in Saskatchewan. It also means I won’t be spending time with family this Christmas.
As a kid, if you would of told me that I wouldn’t be getting any gifts for Christmas, like most kids I probably wouldn’t have been very happy. As you get older, you start to realize that gifts are the smallest part of what Christmas is all about and that family is the biggest part, something I will miss this holiday season.
I am very big on traditions and family togetherness, something I am going to miss this Christmas is the breakfast we had every year for as long as I can remember.
On top of the Christmas morning breakfast and spending lots of time with family, there is one more tradition I get very excited about at this time of year, especially being Canadian.
I am of course referring to the World Junior Hockey Championships. This is a hockey tournament held for the best hockey players under 20 years old.
The WJHC has been an annual Christmas tradition since the Soviet Union won the first tournament in 1977. Every Christmas teams from nine countries, plus the host gather together to play for international hockey bragging rights.
As a kid, I remember watching the tournament religiously, even trying to emulate some of the players in my driveway between games. I remember watching games where Canada won easily, sometimes too easily, I remember close games, I remember losses, wins and most of all the incredible moments, especially recently, both good and bad.
I will never forget 2011 in Buffalo, when Canada lead 3-0 after two periods, only to allow five in the third to lose the gold medal game 5-3.
I was watching the game at my school campus with some friends from the Bahamas and Barbados. They couldn’t believe the highs Canadians experienced during the first two periods and the lows felt during the epic collapse.
I remember the unbelievable goal scored during the 2009 tournament in Ottawa.
With Canada trailing by a goal and only seconds remaining, Jordan Eberle pulled the puck out of a mess of players to tie the semi-final. Complete pandemonium.
Canada went on to win that game and then the gold to complete the second of two, five straight gold medal streaks.
The next year, I remember Eberle putting the team on his back, scoring twice in the final couple minutes, to tie the Americans and send the game to overtime. John Carlson scored the overtime winner snapping Canada’s gold streak.
Another low.
As Canadians we have been very spoiled by the play and the players that have been sent to represent this great hockey nation.
Canada has twice as many gold medals (16) as the rest of the world combined (8), except Russia (13), and is the only nation with five consecutive gold medals, a feat accomplished twice.
Russia is the next closest with four, no other nation has more than two.
Because of all the success Canada has enjoyed over the years we begin to just assume that the gold medal is a foregone conclusion, definitely no easy feat that they make look very easy a lot of the time.
Canada is the defending champion again, after five straight years without a gold medal and the previous two without a medal at all.
The team returns four players from last year and begins the tournament on Boxing Day against the rival United States.
Have fun this Christmas season and enjoy spending time with family. After all, that is the most important part of the holiday season.
Oh, and Go Canada!
