World Junior Semifinals Produce Another Canada-Russia Showdown

Canada will play Russia Tuesday night for the gold medal at the 2005 World Junior Hockey Championship. The USA will face the Czech Republic for bronze.

Canada advanced Sunday with a 3-1 win over the Czechs in the semifinal, outshooting the Czech team 42-11. The Russians beat the U.S. 7-2 in a game with a nasty finish: Russian stars Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin taunted the American crowd and bench after scoring empty net goals, which led the the usual shoving matches.

This is Canada's fourth straight trip to the gold medal game, but the Canadians have settled for silver in the previous three years, losing to Russia twice and the Americans last year.

Quarterfinal Results (Saturday, Janury 1/04):

The USA and the Czech Republic prevailed in a pair of one-sided quarterfinal games on Saturday, setting up Sunday's semifinals at the 2005 World Junior Hockey Championship.

American winger Phil Kessel is the emerging star of the tournament, scoring a pair of highlight-reel goals in the USA's 8-2 win over Sweden. The Czechs defeated Finland 3-0.

The Americans meet Russia in Sunday's semifinal game, while the Czechs play Canada. The winners move on to Tuesday night's gold medal game.