As far as hockey collapses go, the five-goal-third-period-meltdown game between Canada and Russia in the gold medal game of the World Juniors will be remembered for a long time, but only in a very narrow context, and only by a small group of people.
See, for as much as we Canadians were following the tournament and the gold medal game closely, it’s tough to believe that anyone else anywhere in the world was paying much attention, or even cared.
That doesn’t make Wednesday’s loss hurt any less for the 18-year-old kids who have probably never played in a bigger game than that one, but it does provide some important context for a nation that so heavily relies on hockey for its collective sense of identity. Because of this, that last Wednesday’s outcome seemed a national crisis.
The tournament was in Buffalo, and the attendance was about 80 per cent Canadian. When Minnesota hosted in 2005, it was a Canadian invasion as well, but from the prairie provinces. Each time the tournament is hosted outside of an easy driving distance from Canada, attendance is dramatically lower.
Not a lot of people outside of the players, their immediate families, and the Hockey Canada officials who assembled the team should care. Sure, Russia will know they beat us (and badly), but outside of that, it’s tough to point to a future international hockey event where the context will be Canada’s epic collapse against Russia.
The New York Times ran an article before the Canada-US semi-final which gave the tournament the highest-profile coverage it’s likely to get in the US. The article explained very basic concepts and rivalries to a readership that doesn’t know anything about the World Juniors. It wasn’t exactly a substantive hockey analysis.
None of us know the outcome of the international U-17 tournament, so it’s tough to fathom why the U-20 tournament is such a big deal. Granted, it has older players and probably better hockey, but is that alone really enough to whip us into near-Olympic level frenzy? I don’t think it should be.
The tournament certainly has its advantages. If you’re truly obsessed with hockey, seeing the best young players in the world at the same time makes the tourney well worth it. It also serves its purpose if you’re just looking to go eat some wings, drink some beer, and then play the slots across the border, all while draped in the Canadian flag.
But if you’re a patriotic Canadian citizen and hockey fan living and dying with every shot in this tournament thinking it holds some kind of great consequence? Pinch yourself.
