WJC Today - Final Day Recap

The 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship is over and here are the medal round results.

Canada 4, Finland 0: Summary

Canada shutout the Finns 4-0 to capture a bronze medal. Quinton Howden had two goals for Canada in the win. Barrie Colts forwards Tanner Pearson and Mark Scheifele picked up a goal and an assist each. Niagara IceDogs forward Freddie Hamilton added two assists for Canada.

Mark Visentin had an outstanding game in net, including an amazing behind the back catch to keep the game at 3-0 in the third.

Wildcats Defenseman Brandon Gormley was named Top Defenceman of the tournament and was also part of the Tournament All-Star team.

Sweden 1, Russia 0 OT: Summary

Sweden captured its first gold medal in 31 years over Russia in overtime. The winning goal came at 10:08 of overtime when Senators prospect Mika Zibanejad stole the puck from a Russian defender and went in alone on Andrei Makarov before beating him with a backhand deke.

Russian captain Yevgeni Kuznetsov was named Top Forward of the tournament. The Czechs Petr Mrazek was the Top Goaltender of the tournament.

All-Star Team:

G- Petr Mrazek

D- Brandon Gormley, Oscar Klefbom

F - Max Friberg, Yevgeni Kuznetsov, Mikeal Granland

Comments or questions can be sent to bryer@theQspot.ca .

WJC Today - Day 9 Preview

The 2012 World Junior Championship ends today with two games on the schedule.

Bronze Medal Game

The first game of the day is the Bronze Medal Game between Canada and Finland starting at 4 p.m. Canada defeated Finland 8-1 in the first game of the preliminary round.

Canada, after playing in 10 straight gold medal games, will play for bronze after losing to the Russians in the semi-final 6-5. Canada scored four goals in the third period and almost completed a comeback for the ages. They fell just short after hitting the goal post in the dying seconds of the third period.

Finland also suffered a heart breaking loss to Sweden in the other semi-final. Finland was leading the Swedes 2-1 in the third, when Finnish goaltender Sami Aittokallio turned the puck over behind the net to give Max Friberg an open net to tie the game. Sweden went on to win in overtime with a goal from Joel Armia.

Gold Medal Game

The final game of the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship sees the Russians taking on the Swedes in a showdown for gold at 9PM. The Swedes will look to capture there first World Junior since 1981. Russian, meanwhile, looks to win a second consecutive World Junior gold medal.

Tournament Scoring Leaders

Current tournament scoring leaders can be found HERE.

Both games can be seen on TSN, TSN.ca and TSN Mobile TV.

WJC Today - Day 8 Recap

World Junior Hockey Championship action continued yesterday in Calgary, Alta. with three games on the schedule. There was a relegation-round game and two semi-final games.

Semi-Finals: Russia 6, Canada 5 - Summary
It was too little too late for Team Canada, as they scored four goals in the third period to erase a 6-1 deficit but came up short losing 6-5 to the Russians.

For the first time in 10 years, Canada will not be playing for gold.

Dougie Hamilton, Jaden Schwartz, Brendan Gallagher and Brandon Gormley scored in the third period to start the comeback as Brett Connolly added a goal in the second period.

Russia was led by captain Yevgeni Kuznetsov's three goals and four points along with Nail Yakupov's four assists. Alexander Khokhlachev (1-1), Nikita Kucherov and Nikita Nesterov also added goals for the Russians.

Scott Wedgewood started for Canada and allowed four goals on 13 shots and was pulled after the fourth goal after being run into by Russia's Khokhlachev. Mark Visentin came in to replace Wedgewood and made nine saves on 11 shots.

In an interview with TSN.ca, Visentin said he believed in the team the whole time.

"I think we did a great job regrouping in the second intermission. As we started taking it, I don't even think they entered our zone once in the third period. It shows how good we played. That's the type of hockey we need to play for three periods if we want to win. To see us rally like that is incredible."

Meanwhile, Russia's Yakupov didn't really have much to say after the win.

"We Win. We're pretty excited. We beat Canada. Russia's better than Canada.

Russia started goaltender Andrei Vasilevski and made 43 saves but was pulled after the the fifth Canadian goal. Andrei Makarov made eight saves in less than six minutes played.

Russia will play Sweden in the gold medal round, as Canada will battle Finland for bronze.

Semi-Finals: Sweden 3, Finland 2 (SO) - Summary
Max Friberg scored the shootout winner for Sweden as they edged Finland 3-2 to advance to the gold medal game for the first time since 2009.

William Karlsson and Friberg scored third goals to snap a 2-0 Finland lead.

Alexander Ruutu and Joel Armia scored for the Finns.

Johan Gustafsson made 22 saves for Sweden for the win as Finland netminder Sami Aittokallio made 55 saves.

Relegation: U.S.A. 12, Latvia 2 - Summary
Austin Watson (3-4) and Nick Bjugstad (3-2) both had hattricks as the United States went on the dominate Latvia 12-2 in a relegation-round match.

Kyle Rau (1-2), Jason Zucker (1-1), Adam Clendening (1-1), JT Miller, Bill Arnold and Austin Czarnik all scored for U.S.A.

Teodors Blugers (1-1) and Zemgus Girgensuns scored for Latvia.

U.S.A.'s Jack Campbell made 27 saves.

Kristers Gudlevskis made 22 saves on 29 shots and Rihards Cimermanis made 24 saves for Latvia.

WJC Today - Day 8 Preview

It's semi-final day at the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship. Here are quick previews of both games.

Semi-Final 1: Sweden vs Finland
The first game on the night is the Swedes taking on the Finns in an All-Scandinavian match-up. Sweden received a by to the semi-finals after finishing first in Group A. Finland, on the other hand, had to play the Slovaks in a quarter-final showdown last night. The Finns came out on top, winning 8-5 and advancing to tonight's first semi-final.

Semi-Final 2: Canada vs Russia
The final game of the day has Canada up against the Russians in a rematch of last year's Gold Medal game. Canada also received a by to the semi-final round. The Russians had a harder time getting to the semis after gutting out a 2-1 overtime win over the Czechs in an exciting quarter-final last night.

Both games can be seen on TSN, TSN.ca and TSN Mobile TV.

Relegation
As for the relegation bracket, USA and Latvia face-off in game 2 of the relegation round.

TQS will have a full recap of all games tomorrow.

WJC Today - Day 7 Recap

Russia 2 , Czech Republic 1 - Summary

The Russians were victorious Monday night as they defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 in overtime to advance to the semi-finals. Zheldakov scored at 1:03 of overtime, as the Czechs suffered a devastating loss.

Daniil Apalkov and Grigori Zheldakov were the scorers for Team Russia. 17-year-old Andrei Vasilevski stopped 43 shots for the Russians.

Oceanic forward Jakub Culek scored the lone goal for the Czech Republic.

The Russians are set to face Team Canada tonight, the first time they’ve met since they upset Canada last year in the finals, capturing the gold medal.

Finland 8 , Slovakia 5 - Summary

Led by Mikael and Markus Granlund, Team Finland advances to the semi-finalsafter a 8-5 victory over Slovakia. Temmu Pulkkinen had a goal and an assist, while Joel Armia, Roope Hamalainen, Alexsander Barkov and Joonas Donskoialso scored.

Barkov, 16, is the youngest player to ever score in tournament history, passing Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby by 21 days .

Richard Mraz had a goal and two helpers, while Matus Chovan and Marko Dano each had a goal and an assist for Team Slovakia. Marerk Tverdon and Martin Daloga also scored.

Sami Aittokallio stopped 24 shots for Finland, while Juraj Simboch made 30 saves for the Slovaks.

Switzerland 4 , Denmark 3 - Summary

Tanner Richard scored in overtime as Team Switzerland defeated Denmark in a Relegation match-up.

Cedric Schneuwly, Alessio Bertaggia and Gregory Hofmannalso scored for the Swiss.

Nicklas Jensen and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored for Team Denmark.

WJC Today - Day 7 Preview

It's day seven of the World Junior Hockey Championships and there are three games on the clock.

Round robin is now over and team's will now be competing in either the relegation round or the quarter finals.

The scene will now shift to the Pengrowth Saddledom in Calgary, Alta.

Switzerland and Denmark will battle in a relegation-round match at 1 p.m. EST. Switzerland finished round robin with a 1-2-1 record. Denmark lost all four of their games in round robin.

At 5 p.m EST, Slovakia and Finland will battle against each other to earn a spot in tomorrow night's semi-finals match up against Sweden. The loser will play on Wednesday Jan. 4 to qualify for the Bronze medal game.

Slovakia finished the round robin with a 2-2 record for a third place finish in Pool A. They were led by Saint John Sea Dogs forward Tomas Jurco with a goal and six points.

Finland finished second in Pool B with a 3-1 record and were led by Teemu Pulkkinen's five goals and eight points.

Goaltender Christopher Gibson of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens has appeared in two games recording a 4.50 goals-against-average.

Last but not least, is the Czech Republic battling Russia in the second quarter final game of the night at 9 p.m. EST.

Russia finished second place in Pool A with a 3-0-1 record. The Russians are led by Nikita Gusev and Yevgeni Kuznetsov with three goals and nine points each.

Quebec Remparts forward Mikhail Grigorenko has two goals and four points.

The Czech Republic finished third place in Pool B with a 2-2 record and were led by Petr Mrazek's solid goaltending.

The winner will advance to play Canada tomorrow night in the semi-finals. The loser will play on Wednesday Jan. 4 to qualify for the Bronze medal game.

Photo courtesy of TSN.ca

WJC Today - Day 6 Preview

On the final day of the preliminary round, there are four games on the World Junior Championship schedule. Here are some quick previews of all games.

The first game on the schedule is the Czechs taking on Team Finland at 5 p.m. at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Atla. This game can be watched on TSN.

The second game of the night is Switzerland taking on the Slovakia at 7 p.m. in Calgary. This game will not be broadcasted on TSN.

Next up is the Canada - U.S.A. showdown. The Americans, who have already been eliminated from medal contention after a 5-2 loss to Czech Republic last night, will look to get back on the winning track after losing two straight. This game can also be watched on TSN and TSN.ca.

The final game of the night is the Russians taking on Sweden at the Saddledome in Calgary. Gametime is set for 11 p.m.

Standings

Group A

Team	GP	W	L	OTW	OTL	PTS
RUS	3	3	0	0	0	9
SWE	3	2	0	1	0	8
SUI	3	1	1	0	1	4
SVK	3	1	2	0	0	3
LAT	4	0	4	0	0	0

Group B

Team	GP	W	L	OTW	OTL	PTS
CAN	3	3	0	0	0	9
CZE	3	2	1	0	0	6
FIN	3	2	1	0	0	6
USA	3	1	2	0	0	3
DEN	4	0	4	0	0	0

Scoring leaders for the tournament can be found HERE.

Photo: Hockey Canada

WJC Today - Day 4 Recap

There were only two games on the World Junior Hockey Championship schedule last night. Here are quick recaps of both games.

Canada 10, Denmark 2: Summary
The first game of the day was the Canadians taking on Denmark in Edmonton, Alta. Brandon Gormley and Mark Stone led the way for Canada with a pair of goals and an assist each. Quinton Howden, Brett Connolly, Ryan Strome, Scott Harrington, Freddie Hamilton and Brendan Gallagher picked up singles for Canada. Nicolai Meyer and Emil Kristensen scored for Denmark. Gormley was Canada's Player of the Game while Nicklas Jensen picked up the prize for the Danes.

Russia 14, Latvia 0: Summary
Game two of the day was the Russians against Latvia. Russia dominated the game with a 14-0 win. Yevgeni Kuznetsov led the Russians with 9 points tying him for the all-time WJC record of most points in a single game with Peter Forsberg.

Remparts forward Mikhail Grigorenko scored the Russians first goal before leaving the game in the second period with a foot injury. He would not return. He had an X-Ray and it showed no fractures in his leg.

Standings

Group A

Team	GP	W	L	OTW	OTL	PTS
SWE	2	1	0	1	0	5
RUS	2	1	0	0	0	3
SVK	2	1	1	0	0	3
SUI	2	0	1	0	1	1
LAT	2	0	2	0	0	0

Group B

Team	GP	W	L	OTW	OTL	PTS
CAN	2	2	0	0	0	6
CZE	2	1	1	0	0	3
FIN	2	1	1	0	0	3
USA	2	1	1	0	0	3
DEN	2	0	2	0	0	0

Scoring leaders can be seen Here.

Photo: Hockey Canada

WJC Today - Day 4 Preview

There are two games on the schedule tonight as we are set for day number four at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Alberta.

Canada is set to take on Denmark at 8 p.m. EST in Edmonton, Alta. Canada sits in first place in Pool B with two wins for six points. They also have a tremendous 13 goals-for and just one-goal-against so far in the tournament.

Canada is coming off a 5-0 blanking over the Czechs last night and will look to continue their quest for gold tonight. Denmark is coming off a 7-0 blanking to the Czechs on Tuesday.

Denmark sits in last place in Pool B with two losses in two games. They have only found the back of the net three times and have 18 goals-against.

Jonathan Huberdeau (1-5) and Ryan Strome (2-4) lead the way for Canada with six points each. Mark Stone (4-0) and Tanner Pearson (4-0) have also been chipping in for Canada.

It was announced yesterday during the game against the Czech Republic, that Mark Vistenin will get the start tonight against Denmark.

Leading scorer for Denmark is Nicklas Jensen with three assists in two games. It is unclear of the starting goaltender for Denmark tonight.

The game will be broadcasted live on TSN.

The other tilt tonight is Russia battling Latvia in Calgary, Alta. Russia tops Pool A with two wins and six points.

Latvia sits at the bottom of Pool A with no wins in their two games.

Russia is coming off a 3-1 win over Slovakia last night as Latvia is coming off a 3-1 loss to Slovakia on Tuesday night.

Leading the way for Russia is Quebec Remparts forward Mikhail Grigorenko with a goal and three points in two games.

Leading the way for Latvia are Roberts Lipsbergs (2-0) and Juris Ziemins (1-1) with two points each.

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