Our Canadian Arrogance: Smashed by Classless Sweden

There comes a time when your "superiority" must be tested, and if need be, destroyed. For the Canadian world juniors, that time came last night on New Years Eve vs Sweden. This game was a heartbreaker of a loss, with the Swedes winning 6-5 in a shootout. In that shootout, NONE of the Canadian shooters could score any goals. Ryan Ellis and Brayden Schenn were among the shooters in the deciding shootout for Canada. In the regular portion of the game, there were 5 lead changes, with Sean Courturier giving Canada the game's first goal and whipping up the Canadian crowd in Buffalo, New York. The scoring, however, was fast and furious throughout portions of the game, with Max Friberg of Sweden tieing it up soon after at 1-1. The Canadian goaltender was starter Ollivier Roy, and he once again looked amateurish on the ice, missing key save opportunities early on that could have given team Canada the win. The second and thrid Swedish goals especially exemplify that point most accurately. Needless to say, Swedish goaltender Robin Lehner was off his game as well, also letting in 5 goals in the regular 3 periods. Other Canadian contributers were Quintin Howden, Curtis Hamilton with 2 goals, and Brayden Schenn (who was visibly upset after missing a key scoring opportunity later on in the shootout). After the game-winning goal was scored by Sweden in the shootout, I was notably upset myself with both the goaltending of Ollivier Roy for Canada and the post-game reaction of Sweden: jumping up and down, hugging each other, and generally acting as though they had won the whole tournament. Bunch of sore, pathetic winners! If you had been in my family home's living room, you would have seen and heard me scream the following words at the TV screen, "Yeah, why the poor sportsmanship, huh? You're all poor sports! Bunch of jerks!" However, there are two good things that came out of this tragedy: Zach Kassien's suspension is done, and the arrogant pride of the Canadian fans was smashed to bits with the defeat. As a result of this loss, Canada will now have to play in the extra quarter-final game vs Switzerland on Sunday. The game will start at 3 PM on TSN. Let's hope that the coach for Canada does the right thing and goes with backup Mark Visentin the rest of the way in the tournament! Until Sunday, have a good night! Here's the recap: Canada Bounced by Swedes