Four in a row for Canada

We were back in Pardubice on Saturday night for the gold medal game of the world junior hockey championships. Canada was looking for gold against Sweden, who handed Canada its first loss in four years in the round robin portion of the tournament. The final was a fantastic, well-played game in front of a rabidly pro-Canada crowd. I think Chelsey was quite surprised at how many Canadians (we estimate about 4,000) showed up in small town Czech Republic for this tournament, especially the final.
Both teams came out flying and hitting to start the game, although Canada was a little more physical. They also jumped to the early lead, scoring off a goalmouth scramble and getting the fans all pumped up. The Canadians added a second goal in the period. They didn't score in the second, but continued to dominate play and looked like they would avenge their earlier loss. Goaltender Steve Mason, later named tournament MVP, stopped all the Swedish chances he had to.
The Swedes really picked it up to start the third period though, and for the first time all night it was Canada which was trying to keep up. The Swedes were even hitting harder, I think. They got one goal back on the power play, and were all over the Canadians for the tying goal. Mason held them out, however, and with two minutes left Sweden pulled their goalie, then forced a faceoff in the Canadian zone. It was about this time I remarked to Chelsey that Sweden scored the winning goal in the first round with seven seconds left. A few seconds later, with 38 seconds left in the game, Sweden banged home the tying goal on a rebound and commenced an emotional celebration on the ice. Overtime, here we go!
Despite Canada coming so close to winning it, I was pleased with overtime, as it meant more of what had been a good game. Knowing we wouldn't want to leave the gold medal game early, we had booked a room in Pardubice that night, to avoid a repeat of last week's all-night adventure. We didn't have to wait too long for the decider, though, as Canada scored about three minutes into the extra period. The Canadian players swarmed the ice, and Montreal Canadiens draft pick PK Subban was second to no one in excitedly buzzing around the ice in celebration. The players stayed on the ice celebrating for at least twenty minutes; at one point the players carried the trophy into the penalty box and lifted it over the glass so all the Canadian fans sitting there could touch. We eventually left as they were celebrating, and headed out into the Pardubice night with thousands of other jubilant Canadians.
The picture is of the Canadian team waving a huge flag in celebration after the game. Chelsey took a lot of pictures and she'll put them on the picasa site soon.
-Jason