Gold Medal Showdown

In a rematch of last year's World Junior Final in which Team Canada easily handled an Alexander Ovechkin-led Russia squad, the two hockey powerhouses will collide once again for the gold medal.

This is meeting of two teams who have played very different styles in order to get to the gold medal dance.

This year Russia is the offensive dynamo led by the best player not playing in the NHL this year- Pittsburgh Penguins first rounder Evgeni Malkin. The Russian squad has had little difficutly this far in the tournament, and that includes the semifinal matchup against the gold medal-favorite Americans.

But that game against the US was a match up of 2 identical teams and the Russians, with more rest, and what seemed like a lot more fire in their bellies, easily eliminated the US.

The Russians have yet to face a team that plays with the physicality that this years Canadian squad plays with. No where as offensively gifted as last year's Canadian squad (probably the best Canadian junior team ever), this year's team has relied on timely goals and rock solid team defence.

This team, perhaps even more than last year's squad, is truely molded in the image of their head coach, Brent Sutter.

The Canadians possess the team speed to be able to stick with the Russians and my feeling is that we'll see a very similar game to the one the Canadians played against the Russians in last year's final.

Canadian fans will not soon forget the beating that Ovechkin suffered every time he touched the puck. It was an all-out physical attack and it simply wore out the Russians before they could get any sort of flow.

This year will be the same. I fully expect our boys to come out hitting, and hitting hard.

The only way Canada loses tonight is if the officiating robs them of their physical play. If the game is called in a European fashion then the Russians will cruise. However, if the game is called as it should be, from a North American viewpoint (where hitting is allowed AND encouraged) then give team Canada the decided edge.

Let's not forget that they'll also be playing in front of 17,000 Canadian hockey lunatics who will definitely be an intimidating 7th man from start to finish.

Canada needs to get pucks on the Russian net. Having watched Russian goaltender Anton Khudobin 3 times this year (he plays for the WHL's Saskatoon Blades) you know that you never know what you're going to get with this kid. He's the type of goalie who can make the most unbelievable saves and yet he is also susceptible to letting the routine shots get through. He's little, but he's lightning quick so the shots have to be up, and there has to be traffic in front. I expect big games from Western League boys such as Moose Jaw Warrior (and now International Hockey celebrity) Dustin Boyd, Kyle Chipchura, Blake Comeau, Cam Barker and Kris Russell. Boyd and Chipchura will especially be familiar with Khudobin as they all play in the same division.

At 12:35 in the afternoon I find myself anxiously awaiting the puck drop for this game. Like last night's classic Rose Bowl game, I fully anticipate this one to be a beauty.

Go Canada GO!