2012 WJC Journal – Day Four

Day Four of the 2012 World Junior Championships featured just two games. But the number of goals scored by just two of the teams involved in those two games would have been enough for a four-game slate. In the early game, Canada continued its impressive run to the medal round with a 10-2 pounding of Denmark. Eight different Canadians lit the lamp, with forward Mark Stone and defenseman Brandon Gormley turning in two-goal efforts. Canadian goaltender Mark Visentin faced 24 shots while Danish goaltender Sebastian Feuk stopped 31 of 41 shots fired his way. You can get a more thorough rundown of the game from the Pipeline Show gents here…

Coming Down the Pipe!: Denmark No Contest for Canada

thepipelineshow.blogspot.com12/30/11

Thursday's contest was anything but; Canada dominated Denmark in every facet of the game right from the outset. The score after the first period was 4-0, the shots 15-3. By the middle of the second frame it became painful to …

A couple of the Danish players seemed to take the loss in stride, having some fun at the postgame press conference…

Danish players act like coaches after game vs. Canada

Jonas Jensen (toque) and members Team Denmark have some fun at the podium at Rexall Place following the Canada-Denmark game at the 2012 IIHF under-20 hockey championship.

Globe and Mail writer James Mirtle put things in perspective with a couple of tweets when comparing the Canadian and Danish hockey programs… Not to be outdone, the Russians won by two touchdowns over Latvia, taking the second game of the day, 14-0. Russian forward Yevgeni Kuznetsov was a one-man wrecking crew for the Russians, turning in a 9-point game that included three goals and six assists. The point total fell just one shy of Peter Forsberg’s tournament record, 10-point effort back in 1992. It looked like Latvia might put a scare into Russia, with the Latvians behind just 1-0 after one period of play. But a string of penalties in the second period doomed the Latvians and opened the scoring floodgates for the Russians. Here’s a video recap of Kuznetsov’s big night…

Russia vs. Latvia – 29 December 2011 – 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship

Russian captain Yevgeni Kuznetsov dazzled with three goals and six assists as Russia pulverized Latvia 14-0 for its third straight win. The defending champions tightened their grip on first place in Group A, while the Latvians head for the Relegation…

One tweeter appears to have a catchy little name for Kuznetsov’s big performance… Even rugby fans were getting into the act, commenting on the blowout Russian win… We’re getting down to the nitty gritty in the preliminary round, with eight games left over the next two days. As this is being written, the USA and Czech Republic are locked in a 2-2 battle in the third period of today’s first game, a game that is a must-win for the U.S. Regardless of who you are rooting for, enjoy the games!