Thank God I have the World Junior Hockey Championships to distract me from the mess that is the Montreal Canadiens.  While I have almost lost all hope for my beloved Habs I am filled with it for our Junior team.  The Canadian Junior team has produced such elite players as Sidney Crosby, Carey Price, Taylor Hall, PK Subban, Jonathan Tavares, Jordan Eberle, and Jonathan Toews.  We will see together who will be the stars to come out of this year’s team.

Each year the Canadian Junior team competes in this holiday period Junior tournament and each year they are one of the favourites to win it all.  Last year in crushing fashion Canada famously collapsed in the 3rd period of a game which they were comfortably leading and lost to Russia.  For most nations winning the silver would be celebrated, but not here in Canada.  Hockey is our sport and we expect to dominate on the international level.  This is a lot of pressure to put on a team made up mostly of teenagers.

We can take pride in the fact that most years these young men not only deal with the pressure they excel.  This year the tournament is happening on home soil in Edmonton, Alberta.  It will not be easy for Canada to regain the gold medal as Russia, Sweden and the United States all bring strong teams to the tournament.  Even the Finnish team is being touted as a dark horse for the gold.  It is definitely crowded at the top.

The Canadian roster is made up of all different kinds of players.  Four players are returning from last year’s squad including goaltender Mark Visentin and forward Jaden Schwartz, who was recently named the team’s captain by coach Doug Hay.  The other returning players are forwards Brett Connolly and Quinton Howden (Florida Panthers).  Two players have been loaned to the team by their NHL squads - forwards Devante Smith-Pelly (Anaheim Ducks) and Brett Connolly (Tampa Bay Lightening).  For Habs’ fans there is something to feel good about and that is the fact that three players from the team’s fold have made the Canadian squad.  Forwards Brendan Gallagher and Mikael Bournival and defenceman Nathan Beaulieu will be followed closely by Montrealers.  There are only two undrafted (because of age) on the team and they are forwards Tanner Pearson and defenceman Ryan Murray.  A couple of other players to keep your eyes on are Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida Panthers) and Ryan Strome (New York Islanders).

Canada’s first game is against Finland on Boxing Day at 3 p.m.  Do some shopping then return home to watch some high quality hockey, which is something that Montreal Canadiens’ fans have not seen in quite a while.

Additional Information:
-Website:  www.hockeycanada.ca