The 2017 IIHF World Junior Tournament

Today is Boxing Day in Canada, which signals the beginning of the 11 day national holiday known as the IIHF World Junior Championships.

This year's tournament is the 41st edition and will take place in Toronto, Ontario at the 19,746 seat Air Canada Centre and the 21,287 capacity Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec with Montreal hosting two of the four Quarterfinals and both the Semifinals and Bronze and Gold Medal games. Ten nations will participate in this years competition, divided into the customary two groups. Group A consists of the Czech Republic, Denmark, the defending champions Finland, Sweden and Switzerland. All games in Group A will take place at the Bell Centre.

Meanwhile in Toronto, Group B features the hosts Canada, Latvia, Russia, Slovakia and the United States.

Montreal's Bell Centre will host the Gold Medal Final

The tournament kicks off at 1 PM local time with the Sweden facing Denmark in Group A play. Two and a half hours later, the United States and Latvia begin play in Group B. The Czech Republic will attempt to defeat the defending champion Finland at 5 PM Eastern and the day ends with a heavyweight bout between Canada and Russia at 8 PM Eastern.

Other highlights on the schedule arrive on Thursday the 29th with Russia vs. the USA and Nordic rivals Finland battling Sweden. So, what did the organizers save for the final day of the Preliminary Round on New Year's Eve? The Swedes will face the Czechs and the seemingly annual New Year's Eve game between the United States and Canada happens at 3:30 PM. The final games to set the playoff seedings are between Finland and Switzerland at 5:30 PM and Russia and Slovakia at 8 PM.

The tournament takes it's traditional break on New Year's Day before the Quarterfinals on Monday,  January 2nd followed by the Semifinals on Wednesday, January 4th with the bronze and gold medal games on Thursday, January 5th.

Finland celebrating last year's championship

The Relegation battle will almost certainly come down to Denmark vs. Latvia to be decided in a best-of-three series on January 2nd, 3rd and 5th. Key games will be Denmark vs. Switzerland in Group A and Latvia vs. Slovakia in Group B with both games taking place on December 30th.

Sweden is favored in Group A, while the experts are divided between the United States and Canada in Group B. Canada brings great depth as always and has an experienced roster of returning players including ten first round NHL draft picks on its roster, highlighted by captain Dylan Strome (Arizona Coyotes) and alternates Mathew Barzal (New York Islanders) and  Thomas Chabot (Ottawa Senators). Their goaltending also looks strong with CHL Goaltender of the Year Carter Hart and Connor Ingram, which should improve on the issues they had in goal last year when they were a very un-Canadian 9th out of 10 in save percentage and 5th in goals against.

Dylan Strome

The United States, coached by St. Cloud State head coach Bob Motzko, lacks the highlight player they had last year in Auston Matthews, but has great depth and plenty of speed. First round draft pick by the Minnesota Wild Luke Kunin is the team captain of a squad that features plenty of talent from Boston, as the Boston University Terriers have no less than six players on the roster plus two more from Boston College. Other first round NHL picks on the American roster include Clayton Keller and Charlie McAvoy, both of BU, and Colin White of BC.

Luke Kunin

Russia is not to be overlooked and has a recent history of big games when it matters most. Ilya Samsonov returns in goal and is among four first round draft picks on the roster along with defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and forwards German Rubtsov and Denis Gurianov.

In Group A, Sweden is led by first round NHL draft picks Joel Eriksson Ek and OHL and CHL Rookie of the Year Alexander Nylander at forward. Defensemen Gabriel Carlsson and Jacob Larsson are among 18 Swedish NHL draft picks that include 8 second and third rounders among a very strong squad that has gold medal aspirations.

Joel Eriksson Ek

Finland's hopes to repeat rest on forward Eeli Tolvanen to lead a young group that includes NHL draft picks Kristian Vesalainen and Henrik Borgstrom.

Viewers in the United States can watch 16 Preliminary Round games on the NHL Network, including all the Group B games which includes all the United States, Canada and Russia preliminary round games, as well as all 8 Playoff Round contests.

In Canada, coverage has already begun on TSN with the airing of all three of Canada's exhibition games and will continue with all of the Preliminary Round games as well as all 8 of the Playoff Round games.

Today's featured jersey is a 2015 Canada National Team Connor McDavid jersey as worn the last time this year's host Canada would go on to win the gold medal.

Canada introduced new jerseys with a throwback feel for 2015 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their governing body, Hockey Canada. The jerseys are loosely based on those worn by Team Canada at the lesser known 1974 Summit Series of 42 years ago, where the stars of the WHA took on the Soviet Union following the success of the 1972 Summit Series.

Legends Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull during the 1974 Summit Series

Perhaps the nicest part of the package was the attractive 100th Anniversary logo patch, which featured a large maple leaf similar to the one worn back in 1924 as well as the enduring red and black Hockey Canada logo surrounded by the dates 1914 and 2014.

The Canadian appetite for hockey sees the Canadians introducing new jerseys more frequently than most countries and special one off jerseys on occasion, many of which are auctioned off, as is the case with this jersey from anticipated NHL star Connor McDavid, which sold for $19,600 Canadian dollars.

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 2005 Canada National Team Sidney Crosby jersey as worn during the 2005 World Junior Championships. His actual game worn jersey was stolen following the tournament by an Air Canada baggage handler in Montreal. It was later recovered in a mailbox in Quebec.

Canada's win in 2005 was their first since a run of five consecutive gold medals from 1993 to 1997 and began another five year run of dominance that saw them take gold from 2005 to 2009.

Since that run of Canadian domination, the United States (twice 2010 and 2013), Russia (2011), Sweden (2012), Finland (2014 and 2016) and Canada (2015) have all won championships, five different nations in seven years. The Czech Republic faces long odds to to become the sixth, but hold the best chance of the remaining five nations.

Today's video segment begins with highlights of the 2015 gold medal game between Canada and Russia.

Next are highlights of last years gold medal game between Finland and Russia.

Finally, here are highlights of last year's entire tournament.

2007-08 Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby Winter Classic Jersey

Following the inspiration of the Heritage Classic played when the Edmonton Oilers hosted the Montreal Canadiens, on this day in 2008 the NHL Winter Classic made it's debut with the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium, normally home of the Buffalo Bills of the NFL.

The game was played on a temporary rink built in the center of the football field and was attended by an NHL record 71,217 fans and televised by NBC in the United States and the CBC and RDS in Canada.

The construction of the rink began on December 24th and was completed in plenty of time for the game. One unique rule change instituted for the game required the teams to change ends at the halfway mark of the third period, giving each team and equal amount of time to skate into the wind.

The Penguins wore powder blue throwback jerseys for the first time since 1973, while the Sabres went back to their original look, complete with tie-neck collars. Following the lead of Jose Theodore, who wore a toque during the Heritage Classic, Ryan Miller wore a hockey sock as a stocking cap while tending goal for the Sabres while Ty Conklin, who also played in 2003's Heritage Classic, wore a winter themed mask created specifically for the outdoor event.

Colby Armstrong opened the scoring for the Penguins just 21 seconds into the game with an assist from Sidney Crosby and Brian Campbell replied for Buffalo at 1:25 of the second period to tie the score at 1-1. The third period, played amidst falling snow, was scoreless, as was the resulting overtime period.

The shootout featured goals by Ales Kotalik for Buffalo and Kris Letang for Pittsburgh before the game was won by Crosby for Pittsburgh.

Today's game will take place in Foxboro, Massachusetts in Gillette Stadium and will pit the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens.

Today's featured jersey is a Reebok 2007-08 Pittsburgh Pengins Sidney Crosby jersey as worn during the 2008 NHLWinter Classic when Crosby scored the game winning goal in a shootout.

Today's featured jersey was based on their 1968-69 design with it's circular crest and single white stripe on the arms and waist, which replaced the previous season's dizzying five stripe design with "PITTSBURGH" diagonally across the front like the New York Rangers.

The Penguins adopted today's featured jersey as their alternate jersey for the following 2008-09 season based on it's immediate popularity when worn in the 2008 NHL Winter Classic and continued to wear it frequently for three seasons through the 2010-11 schedule.

Here are highlights of the first NHL Winter Classic from January 1, 2008.

2005 Russian National Team Alexander Ovechkin Jersey

The final entry in "The Lockout Collection" highlights the 2005 World Junior Championships.

With the NHL Lockout in full force, the highlight of the North American hockey calendar was the 2005 World Junior Championships, held primarily in Grand Forks, North Dakota with some games taking place in nearby Thief River Falls, Minnesota.

The 2005 edition is widely regarded as having the the deepest talent pool of any World Juniors ever held due to the number of great young players who would have, in any ordinary year, been otherwise employed in the NHL.

Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins had already played a a full season in the NHL and certainly would have not been made available by the Bruins mid-season under normal circumstances.

Patrice Bergeron would have remained with

the Bruins had there not been a lockout

Other players who likely would have been in the NHL at the time include 2003 draft picks Ryan Suter and Patrick Eaves of the United States, Dion Phaneuf, Jeff Carter, Brent Seabrook, Ryan Getzlaf, Mike Richards and Corey Perry of Canada, Dan Fritsche of the United States and Andrei Kostitsyn of Belarus.

2004 draft picks Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin of Russia, Canadian Andrew Ladd and Czech Rotislav Olesz all spent time in the NHL during the 2005-06 season and had their debuts delayed by the lockout.

Malkin consoles a distraught Ovechkin following the Russian loss in the finals, a game where Ovechkin was knocked out early with an injury

Other notable players who participated in the 2005 World Junior Championships include Sergei Kostitsyn of Belarus, Ladislav Smid, David Krejci and Michael Frolik of the Czech Republic, Lauri Korpikoski and Tukka Rask of Finland, Andrei Meszaros and Jaroslav Halak of Slovakia, Johan Fransson, Nicklas Grossmann, and Loui Ericksson of Sweden, Alexander Radulov of Russia and Drew Stafford, Ryan Callahan, Phil Kessel and Corey Schneider of the United States.

Phil Kessel impressed for the United States

In addition to those players already mentioned, the assemblage of talent on Team Canada was beyond impressive, and was demonstrated by their march through the tournament, finishing with a perfect 6-0 record to capture the gold medal and a 41-7 margin in goals. Also taking the ice for Canada in Grand Forks were future NHLers Brent Seabrook, Shea Weber, Colin Fraser, Cam Barker, Nigel Dawes, Braydon Colburn and one Sidney Crosby.

Crosby and Ovechkin squaring off at the stellar 2005 World Junior Championships

Bergeron, Crosby and Perry celebrate Canada's 2005 World Junior Championship

Today's featured jersey is a 2005 Russia National Team Alexander Ovechkin jersey. Ovechkin was the captain of Russia at the 2005 World Juniors and his jersey sports the captains "C" as well as the original International Ice Hockey Federation logo patch on the lower back of the jersey, as worn by all the players in the tournament, with the exception of the United States 1932 throwback jerseys.

Ovechkin would finish the tournament third in scoring with 11 points from 7 goals and 4 assists in 6 games, leading Russia to the gold medal game, but was forced out of the contest with a shoulder injury that would keep him out of action for Moscow Dynamo for two months following the tournament.

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 2005 Canada National Team Sidney Crosby jersey as worn during the 2005 World Junior Championships. His actual game worn jersey was stolen following the tournament by an Air Canada baggage handler in Montreal. It was later recovered in a mailbox in Quebec.

Unfortunately, video of Ovechkin at the 2005 World Juniors is disappointingly limited on YouTube, but here is a brief look at the skills put on display during the tournament.

Here is a profile of Ovechkin aired during the 2004 World Juniors. It's a bit short of game footage, but does have an interview with the then 17 year old.

Finally, a compliation of highlights of Ovechkin prior to joining the NHL, which includes some clips of him in his Russian National Team jersey.

2010 Team Canada Sidney Crosby Jersey

After their failure to medal at the 2006 Olympics, there could not have been more pressure on Canada to win gold as hosts of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

The 12 teams in the tournament were divided into three groups of four teams each based on their IIHF World Rankings. Following the completion of group play, the group winners, plus the fourth ranked team, were given byes into the quarterfinals where they would await the winners of elimination games among the eight remaining teams.

Group A was won by the United States following an exciting 5-3 win for the Americans what was in doubt until the final minute before an empty net goal provided the final margin.

Hard fought Group B belonged to Russia while defending gold medalists Sweden went undefeated in Group C. Finland advanced as the fourth ranked team with 6 points in their group, the same as the Czech Republic, but earned the bye thanks to a better goal differential thanks to big wins over Belarus and Germany.

In the Elimination Round, Switzerland defeated Belarus 3-2 in overtime, the Czech Republic downed feisty Latvia 3-2, also in overtime, Slovakia beat plucky Norway 4-3 and Canada dominated Germany 8-2.

The Quarterfinals had the United States advancing with a 2-0 win over the Swiss, Finland shutout the Czechs 2-0, Slovakia upset Sweden 4-3 to end their hopes of a repeat and Canada dominated Russia 7-3.

The Semifinals paired the United States with Finland and Canada and Slovakia. In the first game, the United States streaked out to a shocking 6-0 lead a little over half way through the first period on their way to a 6-1 win and a place in the final.

Canada got two first period goals by Patrick Marleau and Brendan Morrow and then at 16:54 of the second period Ryan Getzlaf's goal gave the Canadians a 3-0 lead, which was enough to defeat the Slovaks, who scored two goals three and a half minutes apart midway through the third period to make for a tense finish. Canada was able to hold on to earn a rematch with the United States in the final with gold on the line at home and on an NHL sized ice sheet.

The dream matchup between the two North American rivals was a tense affair with both teams getting their chances to score until Jonathan Toews beat US goalie Ryan Miller on the short side to take a 1-0 lead at 12:50 of the first, the only goal of the period and the first time the United States had trailed in a game the entire tournament.

Jonathan Toews opens the scoring for Canada

The second period was more of the same, with hard hits, great saves and little scoring as the tension in the arena rose. Finally Corey Perry coming down the slot fired a loose puck past Miller for a 2-0 Canadian lead at 7:13.

Corey Perry puts Canada up by two

The Americans responded with a goal from Ryan Kesler that squeaked between Roberto Lunogo's body and arm at 12:44. The remainder of the second period was played even, as the shots on goal finished at 15-15.

Ryan Kesler's goal gets the US on the board

Again, the third period wore on as the two teams punched and counterpunched, yet both failed to yield a goal. With no penalties called, waiting for a power play proved futile. With time running out and desperation setting in, the United States pulled Miller from their goal with 1:27 remaining for an extra attacker. With time now running out on the Americans, Patrick Kane hurled the puck at the Vancouver goal. It bounced off of Lunongo and was banged in by Zach Parise with 25 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.

Parise's late goal puts the party on hold and
gives the US hope of stealing the gold

After seven minutes of play, during which many hoped someone, anyone, would score as to avoid having the gold medal decided by a shootout, Canada was leading 6-4 in shots, Jarome Iginla passed the puck off the boards to Sidney Crosby, who had a clear path to the goal. He took a few strides before shooting the puck, which went under Miller's pads before he could close the gap, ending one of the most memorable games in the history of the sport.

Crosby beats Miller to win gold

The goal sent the arena, and all of Canada, into a delirious celebration.

Crosby begins the celebration of his golden goal

The gold medal was the eighth for Canada and their second in three tries after a 50 year drought.

Canada poses for a team picture after receiving their gold medals

Today's featured jersey is a 2010 Team Canada Sidney Crosby jersey as worn during the gold medal final in which Crosby scored the gold medal winning goal in overtime. Crosby had worn the assistant captain's "A" earlier in the tournament but for the final it was worn by Iginla and Chris Pronger.

With the ruling that countries could not carry the logos of their national organizations as their main crest, the usual Hockey Canada logo was replaced by a maple leaf which contained an intricate design full of symbols of Canadian culture and heritage, including an eagle, thunderbird, moose, beaver, maple leafs representing past gold medals and fleur-de-lis as well as a hockey player.

This jersey was a big improvement over the Nike Swift jerseys introduced in 2006 where each team wore essentially the exact same jersey only with their countries colors changed. By 2010, the designs began to diverge, with each country having it's own unique designs once again, although with certain elements shared, which is natural when they all come from the same source.

This jersey is adorned with several logos, including the Vancouver 2010 Olympic logo on the left sleeve, the controversial Hockey Canada logo on the right sleeve and finally the Canadian Olympic Committee logo on the bottom right of the back of the jersey in the location formerly occupied by the IIHF logo.

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Today's video selections begin with the Top 10 plays of the tournament, followed by highlights from the gold medal final.

2005 Russian National Team Alexander Ovechkin Jersey

The final entry in "The Lockout Collection" highlights the 2005 World Junior Championships.

With the NHL Lockout in full force, the highlight of the North American hockey calendar was the 2005 World Junior Championships, held primarily in Grand Forks, North Dakota with some games taking place in nearby Thief River Falls, Minnesota.

The 2005 edition is widely regarded as having the the deepest talent pool of any World Juniors ever held due to the number of great young players who would have, in any ordinary year, been otherwise employed in the NHL.

Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins had already played a a full season in the NHL and certainly would have not been made available by the Bruins mid-season under normal circumstances.

Patrice Bergeron would have remained with

the Bruins had there not been a lockout

Other players who likely would have been in the NHL at the time include 2003 draft picks Ryan Suter and Patrick Eaves of the United States, Dion Phaneuf, Jeff Carter, Brent Seabrook, Ryan Getzlaf, Mike Richards and Corey Perry of Canada, Dan Fritsche of the United States and Andrei Kostitsyn of Belarus.

2004 draft picks Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin of Russia, Canadian Andrew Ladd and Czech Rotislav Olesz all spent time in the NHL during the 2005-06 season and had their debuts delayed by the lockout.

Malkin consoles a distraught Ovechkin following the Russian loss in the finals, a game where Ovechkin was knocked out early with an injury

Other notable players who participated in the 2005 World Junior Championships include Sergei Kostitsyn of Belarus, Ladislav Smid, David Krejci and Michael Frolik of the Czech Republic, Lauri Korpikoski and Tukka Rask of Finland, Andrei Meszaros and Jaroslav Halak of Slovakia, Johan Fransson, Nicklas Grossmann, and Loui Ericksson of Sweden, Alexander Radulov of Russia and Drew Stafford, Ryan Callahan, Phil Kessel and Corey Schneider of the United States.

Phil Kessel impressed for the United States

In addition to those players already mentioned, the assemblage of talent on Team Canada was beyond impressive, and was demonstrated by their march through the tournament, finishing with a perfect 6-0 record to capture the gold medal and a 41-7 margin in goals. Also taking the ice for Canada in Grand Forks were future NHLers Brent Seabrook, Shea Weber, Colin Fraser, Cam Barker, Nigel Dawes, Braydon Colburn and one Sidney Crosby.

Crosby and Ovechkin squaring off at the stellar 2005 World Junior Championships

Bergeron, Crosby and Perry celebrate Canada's 2005 World Junior Championship

Today's featured jersey is a 2005 Russia National Team Alexander Ovechkin jersey. Ovechkin was the captain of Russia at the 2005 World Juniors and his jersey sports the captains "C" as well as the original International Ice Hockey Federation logo patch on the lower back of the jersey, as worn by all the players in the tournament, with the exception of the United States 1932 throwback jerseys.

Ovechkin would finish the tournament third in scoring with 11 points from 7 goals and 4 assists in 6 games, leading Russia to the gold medal game, but was forced out of the contest with a shoulder injury that would keep him out of action for Moscow Dynamo for two months following the tournament.

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 2005 Canada National Team Sidney Crosby jersey as worn during the 2005 World Junior Championships. His actual game worn jersey was stolen following the tournament by an Air Canada baggage handler in Montreal. It was later recovered in a mailbox in Quebec.

Unfortunately, video of Ovechkin at the 2005 World Juniors is disappointingly limited on YouTube, but here is a brief look at the skills put on display during the tournament.

Here is a profile of Ovechkin aired during the 2004 World Juniors. It's a bit short of game footage, but does have an interview with the then 17 year old.

Finally, a compliation of highlights of Ovechkin prior to joining the NHL, which includes some clips of him in his Russian National Team jersey.