2004 WJC

Round-robin play concluded today. The US beat defending champion Russia 4-1 and finished in first place in Pool A with a 4-0 record. Canada beat the Czech Republic 5-2 to finish 4-0 in Pool B. On Saturday, the US plays the winner of Friday's Russia-Finland quarterfinal, and Canada plays the winner of Friday's Czech Republic-Slovakia game.

Zach Parise leads all scorers with six goals, five assists, and eleven points.

TSN will broadcast the Czech Republic-Solvakia game at 8:30 am EST on Friday and the semifinal involving Canada, which will be broadcast at 7:30 or 11:30 am on Saturday (Canada will play the late game unless Finland reaches the semifinal against the US). TSN will also broadcast the gold-medal game at noon EST on Monday. For those of us living in the United States, where the WJC is being ignored yet again, the NHL Center Ice package plans to carry the games broadcast on TSN.

TSN does a great job covering these games and Center Ice rules for broadcasting them. I've watched the last 2 Canadian games on it -(the first 2 I watched at home in Canada - it is a HUGE part of X-mas in Canada) but have wondered about the broadcasts of upcoming games. Last year there was an issue with broadcasting rights for games from the semifinals onward. Does anyone know if the broadcast of the upcoming games on Center Ice is definite?

In the quarterfinals, the Czech Republic beat Slovakia 4-2, and Finland beat Russia 4-3.

The Czech Republic-Canada semifinal will be broadcast on the TSN and the Center Ice package at 7:30 am EST. Although TSN will broadcast the US-Finland semifinal at noon EST, I don't know if the Center Ice package will broadcast it. The Center Ice package will show the championship game at noon EST on Monday. Dish Network has been broadcasting WJC games on channel 465.

I agree that TSN's WJC coverage is great. I also love Pierre McGuire's color commentary.

Last year, the problem with the semifinals and finals being unavailable on the Center Ice package was that the YES Network acquired exclusive rights to show the games in the United States. Fortunately, that didn't happen this year.

Are you sure Craig? I'm not seeing the USA game listed anywhere on Center Ice or on any other sports channel in the Albany area (it should be starting at ~noon eastern time) - tho I just enjoyed a complete annihilation of the Czechs by Canada on Center Ice.

If the USA games can be televised, BRING on the US! I'd love to see our 2 teams battle it out for Gold - there is no one I'd rather lose to (or beat!)

Otherwise I have to be greedy and say bring on the Fins - I want to see Canada play for Gold and know that the game will definitely be on Center Ice if the Fins are the opponent.

I hope someone in this country realizes that there is an audience in the US for world junior hockey and that it would be wise to televise USA medal round games - heck your future Olympians are on that team!



Post Edited (01-03-04 10:47)

ok. so at 11am the USA game wasn't on (accoring to any tv schedule i could find) but now that i've just finished watching the first period on center ice i figured i'd take back my complaints and let anyone interested know that the tourney is on center ice now with USA facing Finland for the right to play in the Gold medal game.

USA roster is filled with college players.



Post Edited (01-03-04 12:54)

The United States beat Finland 2-1. Unfortunately, Dish Network didn't show that game.

I just finished watching the tape of the 7-1 Canada-Czech Republic semifinal (the 4:30 am PST start doesn't make great live viewing), and I am awed by Team Canada. The physical play and the aggressive forecheck are fun to watch. The Dawes-Richards-Stewart line especially impressed me. Dion Phaneuf's hit on Rostislav Olesz was phenomenal and appeared perfectly clean to me.

At noon EST on Monday, the United States plays Canada. According to the following link on Dish Network's web site, the Center Ice package will air the game.

[www.dishnetwork.com]

It's great to see the North American teams dominate the tournament. I can't wait for the gold-medal game.

A gold might help spur future coverage (a little). Best US finish was silver in '97 (the last year Canada got the gold). US also bronzed in '86 and '92.

Craig Buckser '94 wrote:
The Dawes-Richards-Stewart line especially impressed me.

I wonder how close Dawes will get to wearing a Rangers jersey before they trade him away for an overpaid, washed-up loser...

*sigh* No Center Ice, audio stream seems swamped, so if anyone would care to provide updates, it would be appreciated

ditto, ditto, ditto

I'm getting them here:

[board.uscho.com]

and here's the live boxscore:

[195.162.151.17]

This audio link seems to be working well:

[www.insinc.com]

game tied 1:1 after 1st period. shots 12:12. very evenly matched. i keep cursing at the tv while sitting at the edge of my seat
(yes - i'm playing hookey from work for 3 hrs - but did anyone expect any less?)

will try and keep updates - but can;t promise that i won't get mesmerized by the tv.

woah. 12 sec into second. 2-1 canada. whoo hoo. i know - the only one hoping for this outcome.

hopefully - if he has any say about it - not very close!

USA on pp

successful kill by Canada.

Crikey!

the ECAC just got dissed. TSN commentators were talking about Howard's injury. They said he stepped on a puck during practice before a Dartmouth game and injured his knee. "It wasn't even an important game for them. It was HE vs. an ECAC team." Grrr. I love my country and am quite proud of TSN but DUDE! There's no need to diss the ECAC!

DAMN. Canadian player hit hard (Brent) by Stewart. grrrr. Brent leaves game injured. No penalty on a definite elbow. grrr.

wait. Stewart did get a pen. Then Eaves joined him. ~30 sec of a 5 on 3 for Canada. Stewart's pen expired. CAN still on a pp.



Post Edited (01-05-04 13:12)

Wow. Not cool, TSN dude. I would imagine a ton of prep hockey players in Canada are watching that broadcast, right?

Yay. Brent back in the game!

likely. USA going on PP.

successful kill by CAN. Lots of USA chances. yikes!

whooo hooo! CAN 3-1! yes!

The 3rd CAN goal was a 5 hole goal on Montoya by Anthony Stewart.

Final minute of 2nd period. Still 3-1 CAN.

2nd intermission. Can 3-1. Lots of presssure by the Canadians in the final minute of the period. Game is still far from over. Definitely a nail biter.

3rd period underway

US scores. now 3-2. grrrrr.

goal 4:39 into 3rd.

Melissa wrote:

the ECAC just got dissed. TSN commentators were talking about Howard's injury. They said he stepped on a puck during practice before a Dartmouth game and injured his knee. "It wasn't even an important game for them. It was HE vs. an ECAC team." Grrr. I love my country and am quite proud of TSN but DUDE! There's no need to diss the ECAC!

Chill, Melissa (and Adam). I don't understand why you think this was an insult. Dartmouth wasn't an important game for Maine. It was an OOC game against a decent team that will have a middling RPI. The WMU games and (especially) the Mercyhurst game were not all that important to Cornell. (Yes, I am considering the penalty we will take in PWR from losing/tying those games). The tOSU games and Notre Dame were less important to me than either Vermont game will be.

Maine doesn't even have the SOS concerns that we do, so they don't have to pretend that their OOC games are particularly important. Not every negative evaluation of the ECAC is a dis; sometimes they are just fact.

FRig. frig. frig. 3-3

Tie game!

Melissa wrote:

FRig. frig. frig. 3-3

Let's Go Red. And White. And Blue.

BRA. i agree. wasn't really worked up about it. no need to chill. it was forgotten as soon as it was posted.

no offense but i now have much more pressing concerns. eeegads.



Post Edited (01-05-04 14:02)

anybody know of a radio webcast besides usahockey.com? It seems to have crashed.

Go USA!!! I wish I was watching the game! Next years Christmas list: DirectTV and the Center Ice package

there are a few others. check the score update thread on USCHO. from what i know most of them are overloaded and not streaming well.



Post Edited (01-05-04 14:04)

Oh, I'm chilled out! Snow and Freezing rain here in upstate NY...yuck! I just like flipping people off...

4-3 US

GOAL!!!

Fleury hit it off a d-man and back into the net.

Wow...this is getting crazy!

USA! USA!

4-3 Final.

Not that I particularly care that much, but it's nice to win something...

:17 to go, faceoff in Canada's zone

...and that's it. USA wins 4-3

North Dakota's Zach Parise was named the top forward and Michigan goaltender Al Montoya (NOT overrated #1 draft pick Fleury) was named the top goalie of the tournament

no offense Jordan but that "not that I care much" had me ready to give you a swift kick in the butt. you are lucky you were out of reach. i had tears rolling down my cheeks so upset was I at the defeat. pathetic? perhaps.

oh well. you can't win them all. I grudgingly say congrats to all you USA fans (tho how many of you actually care about the outcome of this tourney is unkown) - yes. i am bitter and being unfair. forgive me. the pain has not yet ebbed.

Well, Melissa...which would you rather have? The 2002 Olympic medal, or this WJC?

I for one am thrilled about the win! This is biggest win for USA hockey since the '96 World Cup. And it's a crying shame that the WJC is completely ignored south of the border. Had this been given a remote amount of coverage, it would've been great publicity for USA Hockey, and maybe gotten more youth interested. I don't even know who to blame. Any regional sports network would've been an improvement. At least I got to watch last year.

Well, at least it's currently the front page of the ESPN.com NHL page.

Woohoo! I really care about this win! The USA has looked awesome the entire tournament! Please email ESPN and let them know you want to see the highlights on sportscenter! [sports.espn.go.com]

[q]pathetic? perhaps.[/q]

Not in the least. To each his (or her) own.

But I can't sit here and pretend like this game changes anything about my week, my day, etc. Heck, I'm much more intrigued by the big Knicks trade....

Don't know if this counts as caring, but the WJC does more to make me contemplate getting Center Ice than a whole season of NHL games.

[Q] But I can't sit here and pretend like this game changes anything about my week, my day, etc. Heck, I'm much more intrigued by the big Knicks trade....
[/Q]

Understood and respected. Since I was a bit upset at the time I was of the mindframe that "Ok. Fine. You really don't care. Do you have to rub it in?" Everyone is entitled to an opinion though and the right to voice it. I'm just but touchy when it comes to Canada and hockey. Heck - to grasp how big it is in Canada my mom called me 4 times during the game and my dad took the day off work just to watch it on tv. No excuse for my witchiness but there rarely is!

Rich - you are definitely right about the lack of recognition that the tourney gets in the USA. With this win hopefully some networks will take notice - esp since the tourney next year is being held in Minnesota.

melissa'01 wrote:
With this win hopefully some networks will take notice - esp since the tourney next year is being held in Minnesota.

Hope so, but hopefully they'll take notice that it's actually in Grand Forks, too.

ok. Where is Grand Forks? Apparently not Minnesota - Indiana? Illinois? Ohio? Have a feeling it is in one of thesestates but I'm admittedly too lazy to look it up and quite willing to admit I don't know squat about US geography.

It's okay, most Americans know squat about North Dakota too...

The WJC will be in Grand Forks at the spiffy new Engelstad Arena, home of the UND Fighting Sioux (by the strict terms of the grant).

damn! just read on the TSN game recap that Grand Forks is in ND and was about to edit my post so I didn't look completely clueless - oh well. you win some, you lose some - guess I'm just losing them all today!

ESPN woke up! They posted the AP article as a headline on their main page! [espn.go.com]

Sportscenter just showed highlights from the WJC for those wondering if they ever would. It was brief, but there.

I consider it part of College Hockey Geography, like Houghton and Big Rapids (not Grand Rapids, which is a neutral site). My dream house will include a map of the Northern US (edit--plus Alabama and Alaska) with pins in every D1 hockey city (color-coded by conference).



Post Edited (01-06-04 00:31)

This may deserve another thread but I decided against it...I really enjoyed Adam W's article on USCHO [www.uscho.com] especially the line, "Hello America. It's the week after New Year's. Do you know where your World Junior team is?" I was just happy to see a snippet of a highlight on Sportscenter...Adam, if you're reading this, and you probably are, I have gone far beyond my biasness of enjoying your work just because you call Cornell games.



Post Edited (01-06-04 00:45)

John T. Whelan '91 wrote:

I consider it part of College Hockey Geography, like Houghton and Big Rapids (not Grand Rapids, which is a neutral site). My dream house will include a map of the Northern US (edit--plus Alabama and Alaska) with pins in every D1 hockey city (color-coded by conference).

And so you will buy this dream house when you are still single? (And you need to add Colorado.)

melissa'01 wrote:

[Q] But I can't sit here and pretend like this game changes anything about my week, my day, etc. Heck, I'm much more intrigued by the big Knicks trade....
[/Q]

Understood and respected. Since I was a bit upset at the time I was of the mindframe that "Ok. Fine. You really don't care. Do you have to rub it in?" Everyone is entitled to an opinion though and the right to voice it. I'm just but touchy when it comes to Canada and hockey. Heck - to grasp how big it is in Canada my mom called me 4 times during the game and my dad took the day off work just to watch it on tv. No excuse for my witchiness but there rarely is!

Rich - you are definitely right about the lack of recognition that the tourney gets in the USA. With this win hopefully some networks will take notice - esp since the tourney next year is being held in Minnesota.

Fark's blurb for the link to an article on the WJC is "USA beats Canada 4-3 for junior hockey gold medal. Canadians throw themselves off bridges while Americans watch Sugar Bowl highlights"

This was a huge win for the USA Hockey program, but I thought the United States was fortunate to win the game. Team USA finished their scoring chances better than Team Canada, though the game-winning goal was a Steve Smith-like fluke. I thought Team USA had better team speed, which helped overcome what I expected to be Team Canada's edge in physical play. Team USA had a small defense, which I think would have worn down over the course of a long series. In addition, Team Canada had much better depth than Team USA. After the second period of the gold-medal game, Team Canada was undoubtedly the best team in the tournament. It's perplexing how Team Canada has failed to hold third-period leads in three straight gold-medal games.

I think Team Canada should be the overwhelming favorite next year. The core of this year's team will be eligible for next year's tournament.

It will be interesting to see if there is better television coverage next year in the United States.

For those, like me, who didn't see the games live, the following comes from USCHO:

Team USA Tape-Delay Television Schedule

Sat., Jan. 10 1 p.m. CST USA vs. Finland (semifinal) FSNN (MN, ND, SD, IA)
Sat., Jan. 10 5 p.m. CT USA vs. Finland (semifinal) FSNN (WI)
Sun., Jan. 11 2 p.m. ET USA vs. Canada (gold-medal) NESN
Mon., Jan. 12 1 p.m. CT USA vs. Canada (gold-medal) FSNN
Mon., Jan. 12 8 p.m. ET USA vs. Finland (semifinal) CSTV
Tue., Jan. 13 9 p.m. ET USA vs. Canada (gold-medal) CSTV
Sat., Feb. 7 6 p.m. ET USA vs. Canada (gold-medal) ESPN Classic

Not sure why it wasn't listed, but it appears that the WJC is on ESPN2 right now as of 6:10pm EST. Game is currently in the 2nd intermission.

If you missed the ESPN2 rebroadcast like I did, ESPN Classic will re-air it on 2/7. Go to the webpage below for details.

[www.usahockey.com]

More rebroadcasts this weekend (all times CENTRAL):

Date         Start Time Title                                           Ch# Channel
Saturday, 24 11:00 AM   Ice Hockey: U.S. vs. Finland                    610 CSTV
Saturday, 24  1:00 PM   Ice Hockey: U.S. vs. Canada                     610 CSTV
Saturday, 24  5:00 PM   Ice Hockey: World Junior Championship semifinal 636 FOXDET                                                          
Saturday, 24 11:00 PM Ice Hockey: U.S. vs. Finland                      610 CSTV
Sunday, 25    1:00 AM Ice Hockey: U.S. vs. Canada                       610 CSTV
Sunday, 25    2:30 PM Ice Hockey: U.S. vs. Canada                       636 FOXDET

Some of the time slots seem to be 2 hours, others 3, and TV Guide and DirecTV disagree about this, so I don't know which broadcasts are edited.