Canadian Karma

Is Canada god's hockey team? Nikita Filatov seems to think so.

As long as the players are under the age of 20, it's hard to argue the point. Canada mounted a heart-stopping comeback against Filatov's Russian team on Saturday, and beat heavily favoured Sweden Monday night to win its fifth straight World Junior Hockey Championship.

The previous titles in that streak include a sudden-death win against the Swedes last year, and an epic shootout victory over the USA in 2007.

Not to take anything away from those championship teams - winners don't need excuses - but clearly someone wearing the red-and-white has bartered their soul for junior hockey glory. One of these days, the debt will be called in.

Whatever the price, Sweden would love to buy a little of that puck luck. Since winning the World Junior gold medal in 1981, the Swedes have regularly come up short, winning silver and agonizing seven times.

Photo: Dustin Tokarski shuts down the Swedes.(Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)