It all comes down to this evening in Buffalo at the World Junior Hockey Championship.
The HSBC Arena, a haven for Canadian hockey fans for the past 10 days, will welcome another pro-Canadian throng this evening as Team Canada meets Russia for the Gold medal.
The Russians advanced with a 4-3 shootout win Monday afternoon over Sweden, a game in which they grabbed a 2-0 lead, blew it, tied it late and then won it in the shootout.
For Canada, after a blip against Sweden losing in a shootout, they sucked it up and got the job done against Switzerland in the quarterfinals, and then put on a dominating performance in a 4-1 semifinal win over the host American entry.
To me, Canada has to be the favourite tonight.
They’ve already beaten the Russians once, winning on Boxing Day 6-3.
While the players have changed through the years, the Hockey Canada entry has been to 10 straight finals, winning most of them, and a budget like theirs generally buys a lot of knowledge and expertise for exactly this kind of game.
It will be emotional, and generally in an emotional game, Canada trumps Russia
And finally, while the game is on American soil, the packed house will be solidly behind ” our boys “
Canada-Russia tonight in Buffalo for the World Junior Hockey Championship
I’m Fred Wallace