2006 Canadian World Junior Team

On Thursday, January 5, 2006, the Canadian World Junior Hockey Team successfully defended their gold medal after beating Team Russia with a 5-0 shutout. They played in front of a hometown crowd, winning the gold at GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia. The consensual winner of the tournament was Russia, since they had talents like Evgeni Malkin and Alexander Radulov; however, it was Canada who emerged victorious.

The Canadian team was coached by former NHL player Brent Sutter, a tough disciplinarian who focused on a specific system in which all the players worked together to help each other to improve. In Sutter's opinion, there was no room for individuality but there was much room for a group mentality. In essence, no player was expected to deviate from the group mentality in any way, alleviating the possibility for error. Sutter ensured this group mentality in two ways. Firstly, all of the players with long hair were told to get their hair cut in a similar fashion. Secondly, he would routinely bench players who he felt were not playing within the team's system.

As a whole, the team was one of little experience. For most of the players, it was their first time ever representing their country in an IIHF tournament. Sutter drew criticism for having such an inexperienced team but he chose not to let his team disappoint.

Something to Prove

• 21 of the 22 players on the team were already NHL draft picks, and the other -- Jonathan Toews -- was strongly touted to be one of the top three picks in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

• Steve Downie had just been traded to the Peterborough Petes from the Windsor Spitfires, where he was embroiled in a hazing scandal involving a fight with Akim Aliu during a practice; he searched for his redemption and this seemed to be the only way how.

• In 2005, Benoit Pouliot was named both the OHL and the CHL Rookie of the Year.

• Cameron Barker, a returnee from the Chicago Blackhawks, was the only player on the team who had been on the 2005 team that won gold in Grand Forks, North DAKOTA, but he was sick with mononucleosis and missed nearly the entire tournament.

• Kyle Chipchura had to prove his leadership skills when he was chosen to be the captain of Team Canada.

• Marc Staal became the first in his family of four brothers to play for Team Canada.

• Luc Bourdon had to show the Vancouver fans that he was very talented, since he was the first-round pick of the Canucks in 2005.

• David Bolland was a late cut of the team in 2005.

Personal Challenges

Some of the players had personal challenges that they had overcome in order to get to where they were.

• Benoit Pouliot's father, Sylvain, died of leukemia on Valentine's Day of 2004.

• Luc Bourdon was raised alone by his mother Suzanne.

• Justin Pogge was raised alone by his mother Annet; his father had abandoned her when she was four months pregnant with him.

• Steve Downie had two challenges other than the scandal in Windsor. At age eight, his father died in a car accident; at age 13, he developed the hearing disorder otosclerosis and Downie is deaf in his right ear. (He is only able to play the game by wearing a hearing aid.)

The Final Game

Defying everyone's expectations, Team Canada survived the semi-final game, blanking Team Finland 4-0. However, there was much speculation that the talents of Evgeni Malkin and Alexander Radulov, as well as the stellar goaltending of Minnesota Wild draft pick Anton Khudobin, would be too much for Canada to bear. One person who seemed to have faith in Canada was Wayne Gretzky, who predicted a 6-1 win for Canada (the same score as in the 2005 final) and the Winning Goal would be scored by Steve Downie.

The gold medal game was played before a crowd of 18,620 people. At 17:12 of the first period, Downie scored the first goal of the game. By the second period, the score was 4-0 in favour of Canada, thanks to two goals by Michael Blunden and one by Blake Comeau. The Russians nearly scored when it seemed that the puck was in the Canadian net, but the goal lamp did not go on. The goal was disallowed. In the third period, captain Kyle Chipchura scored to make the score 5-0. When the game was over, that score stood. The winning goal had been scored by Downie, but the final score was a bit different.

At the final buzzer, Team Canada immediately came off the bench and a sea of white jumped on top of goalie Justin Pogge. The Russians cried; so did some of the Canadians. The most notable crying Canadian was Benoit Pouliot, who eventually collapsed into the arms of his Sudbury Wolves teammate Marc Staal and of Guillaume Latendresse, who represented the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL.

Awards & Accomplishments

• Dustin Boyd led Canada in goal scoring.
• Blake Comeau led Canada in point scoring.
• Marc Staal was named the tournament's top defenceman.
• Justin Pogge was named the tournament MVP; he had a 1.00 GAA and a .953 save percentage.

The Players

• Andrew Cogliano (Woodbridge, Ontario; University of Michigan; drafted 25th overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 2005)

• Benoit Pouliot (St. Isidore, Ontario; Sudbury Wolves; drafted 4th overall by the Minnesota Wild in 2005)

• Blake Comeau (Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan; Kelowna Rockets; drafted 47th overall by the New York Islanders in 2004)

• Cam Barker (Winnipeg, Manitoba; Medicine Hat Tigers; drafted 3rd overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2004)

• Daniel Bertram (Calgary, Alberta; Boston College; drafted 54th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2005)

• David Bolland (Mimico, Ontario; London Knights; drafted 32nd overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2004)

• Devan Dubnyk (Calgary, Alberta; Kamloops Blazers; drafted 14th overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 2004)

• Dustin Boyd (Winnipeg, Manitoba; Moose Jaw Warriors; drafted 98th overall by the Calgary Flames in 2004)

• Guillaume Latendresse (Ste. Catherine, Quebec; Drummondville Voltigeurs; drafted 45th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 2005)

• Jonathan Toews (Winnipeg, Manitoba; University of North Dakota; drafted 3rd overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2006)

• Justin Pogge (Penticton, British Columbia; Calgary Hitmen; drafted 90th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2004)

• Kris Russell (Caroline, Alberta; Medicine Hat Tigers; drafted 67th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2005)

• Kristopher Letang (Laval, Quebec; Val-d'Or Foreurs; drafted 62nd overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005)

• Kyle Chipchura (Vimy, Alberta; Prince Albert Raiders; drafted 18th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 2004)

• Luc Bourdon (Shippagan, New Brunswick; Val-d'Or Foreurs; drafted 10th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in 2005)

• Marc Staal (Thunder Bay, Ontario; Sudbury Wolves; drafted 12th overall by the New York Rangers in 2005)

• Michael Blunden (Gloucester, Ontario; Erie Otters; drafted 43rd overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2005)

• Ryan O'Marra (Mississauga, Ontario; Erie Otters; drafted 15th overall by the New York Islanders)

• Ryan Parent (Sioux Lookout, Ontario; Guelph Storm; drafted 18th overall by the Nashville Predators in 2005)

• Sasha Pokulok (Montreal, Quebec; Cornell University; drafted 14th overall by the Washington Capitals in 2005)

• Steve Downie (Queensville, Ontario; Peterborough Petes; drafted 29th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2005)

• Tom Pyatt (Thunder Bay, Ontario; Saginaw Spirit; drafted 107th overall by the New York Rangers in 2005)

See also

• 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships
• List of Canadian hockey rosters