2019 World Juniors Report (Medal Day)
The World Juniors are over and the medals have been handed out with the latest medal winners forming a bit of an unexpected pattern.
The Juniors have always been a tournament of the big teams against the smaller teams and usually, the big teams win.
There are the specific teams who are always great and always find their way to the top and that had been the pattern for years.
Those two teams were the Canadians and the Russians, who took almost every gold medal for the first few decades of the tournament.
That was the pattern as every other team was just playing catch up but that has happened with teams getting better every year.
Now there is a new pattern as the Canadians and Russians are struggling with consistency from year to year while other teams are throwing their names into being the best.
It has shifted the power in the juniors and every year seems slightly more unpredictable than the next.
Although the Russians remain one of the best teams in the tournament every year they have gone through an extended drought when it comes to the gold medal.
This year would mark the eighth tournament that the Russians wouldn’t win the gold as a loss to the USA forced them into the bronze medal game.
They would have to try to avoid a let down after a big loss as they took on Switzerland, a team looking for their first ever junior medal.
Switzerland had already upset the Swedes in the quarterfinals and were looking for another upset to finish off a successful tournament.
The Russians were able to avoid that upset though as they took care of the Swiss to leave the tournament wit ha medal.
It was a small victory and one that continues their collection of medals that is more than any other team in the tournament.
The medal wasn’t gold though and for the Russians, it is a small victory to come away with bronze but a bigger disaster that they couldn’t win gold.
The Russians continue to struggle for the biggest medal and while the Canadians weren’t even a part of the conversation this year.
It left two teams who have both been successful in recent years to continue their pattern of success.
The USA, Finland and Canada have been the winners of every gold medal since 2013 all without the ability to sustain their success.
They have all been able to take wins over that stretch and for another year the Finns or the Americans were going to take the gold.
It is an unusual pattern as the Americans have never been the biggest hockey nation and the Finns are a small country that should never be able to compete with the level of talent that they compete with in the Juniors.
The USA has only been getting better though as their development system continues to produce high-level talent year after year.
They are a hockey power with the resources to compete at every level and the Juniors is just the latest where they have consistently put together strong teams.
Finland does not have these resources or the athletes to choose from and yet they have been able to produce NHL-level talent on a regular basis.
That talent continues to come through the junior level and in the past few years they have had some of the more talented teams in the tournament.
It has led to plenty of success and for the second time in four years, it led to the gold medal.
The Americans and Finns were facing off for the second time this year with the first time coming in the group stage.
That first game saw the Finns struggle to keep up with the USA in a bad game for Finland but a win for the USA.
The rematch went differently as the Finns had come not their own in the playoffs and were firing on all cylinders heading into the final game.
The Finns got out to an early lead scoring in the second and adding on another goal in the third for the 2-0 lead.
That wasn’t enough tough as the Americans climbed back in the third to tie the game and give them a real chance of taking home gold.
Then inside the final two minutes, the Finns got another to go ahead for good and take another gold medal.
It continues the pattern as the Finns continue to hang around while the Americans pick up another medal, albeit not gold.
The tournament has shown that the Juniors is growing and that the new era involved three teams that continue to put on a show for the fans.
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