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PARDUBICE, Czech Republic — Like a posse of stubborn old sheriffs refusing to turn in their badges when the end is near, the Canadian juniors tossed aside the notion that their time was up at the world under-20 hockey championship.
They had no intention of surrendering the golden titles won by the team the past three years. So captain Karl Alzner drove in a crucial power-play goal that turned out to be the game winner. Brandon Sutter and his checking linemates were at their stingiest best. Defenceman Luke Schenn rubbed out an opponent into the boards. Drew Doughty blocked a shot. Goaltender Steve Mason silenced his skeptics to become the man of the hour.
In the end, what was everybody worried about? The Canadian teenagers, who at times in this event were jittery and unproductive, pulled themselves together for their most determined performance at the tournament, a 4-1 victory against the United States.
The semi-final win propelled Canada into its fourth gold-medal final in a row, and the Canadians couldn't be happier that their opponent Saturday will be Sweden, the only team that has knocked off Canada in this tournament.
Canadian goalie Steve Mason will be between the pipes on Saturday in the gold-medal game against Sweden at the world junior hockey championship. (REUTERS/Shaun Best)
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Mason wasn't in goal for that game last Saturday. The decision by Canadian coach Craig Hartsburg to start Mason over Jonathan Bernier in the medal round ignited a firestorm of second-guessing by analysts, NHL scouts and fans across the country. The second-guessing fuelled Mason to a wonderful 33-save effort that was only part of a wild day for the native of Oakville, Ont.
He called home in the morning and discovered he had been traded to the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL from the London Knights. He also watched TSN and heard analyst Pierre McGuire say Bernier deserved the start. Message boards and other articles on Canadian websites agreed.
"I had a lot of motivation coming into the game," said Mason, undefeated in his four starts at the world junior. When I came into the dressing room [after the game], I had a big smile on my face and coach Hartsburg had a big smile on his face.
"I wanted to prove a lot of people wrong. Everybody has their own opinions and that's fine. I'm sure if Jonathan started, he would have done a great job as well. I'm happy that coach Hartsburg put his faith in me. If I could pay him back by winning the gold medal, I definitely would be pretty proud."
Mason admitted that being dealt to the Rangers, who will play host to the Memorial Cup in May, unnerved him. He liked playing in London and now he will be forced to split with his mentor, Knights goaltending coach Dave Rook.
"It was another pill to swallow and it was tough to take," 19-year-old Mason said. "I made a lot of friends in London and I'm going to miss my billets.
"It was another thing that I had to shut out. I'm not playing for Kitchener now, I'm not playing for London right now, I'm playing for Canada. It was difficult to put that aside, because like I said, I enjoyed my time in London and it meant a lot to me. It was a difficult day to go through. … It was a whirlwind day."
After a hard-fought, action-packed 0-0 first period, Canada broke through for the game's first goal early in the second period on a wraparound goal from Shawn Matthias. Alzner added a power-play goal midway through the second period.
The Canadians went up 4-0 when Colton Gilles and Brad Marchand scored 20 seconds apart in the third period. U.S. forward James van Riemsdyk ruined Mason's shutout bid with a late-game goal from a goal-mouth scramble.
It was fitting that Gilles scored as the result of a slick three-way passing play with his linemates Sutter and Stefan Legein. They were given the difficult assignment of checking van Riemsdyk and his linemates, Colin Wilson and Jordan Schroeder, and they came through.
The top two Canadian defence pairings, Alzner and Doughty and Schenn and Thomas Hickey, also played a huge role in defending against van Riemsdyk and his teammates.
"Any time we play against the Americans, it's the game of our lives and it's a bigger rivalry now than playing against Russia," Marchand said. "It's easy to get up for these games. We want to be the best in the world."
