A stacked lineup sucked most of the drama out of the 2005 World Junior showdown, finishing the job with a 6-1 win over Russia in the gold medal game. It is Canada's first World Junior title since 1997, and particularly satisfying considering the team lost the championship game by one goal in each of the last three years.
Ryan Getzlaf, Danny Syvret, Jeff Carter, Patrice Bergeron, Anthony Stewart and Dion Phaneuf scored for Canada before a sellout crowd of 11,862 at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The vast majority of the crowd were Canadian fans.
The gold medal game followed a similar pattern to other Canadian victories, as the Russians kept it close for 20 minutes before folding under the pressure.
The first period was reasonably competitive: Getzlaf scored 51 seconds into the game to give Canada the early lead, taking a slap shot off a drop pass from Carter. A few minutes later, Syvret scored a power play goal from behind the net, banking the puck off Russian goalie Anton Khudobin. The Russians closed the period with a power play goal by defenseman Alexei Emelin.
But the game wrapped up quickly in the second period, as the Canadians scored four unanswered goals in 14 minutes. The third period was uneventful.
Everything went wrong for the Russians. Replacing the goaltender after the third Canadian goal didn't help. Captain and star forward Alexander Ovechkin played little in the second half of the game because of a shoulder injury. But given that Russia managed just two even-strength shots on goal through the first 30 minutes, it's doubtful whether a healthy Ovechkin would have made much difference. Like all the key Russian players, he was subjected to relentless physical punishment throughout.
The NHL lockout benefited Canada more than any other team. In a normal hockey year, top 19-year-olds like Bergeron and Carter would have been playing in the NHL and unavailable for the junior tournament. The powerhouse roster put on quite a show, but its series of one-sided victories did not always make for exciting hockey. Canada's closest game was a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic in the semifinals. The low score was the result of a great performance by Czech goalie Marek Schwarz and several open-net chances squandered by Canadian forwards.
Over the course of the tournament, Canada outscored the opposition by a total of 41-7, giving up just three even-strength goals in six games. The team allowed an average of 12 shots on goal per game.
Bergeron was the tournament's leading scorer with five goals and eight assists. He was named tournament MVP and joined team mates Carter and Phaneuf on the All Star team.
