World Junior tourney has provided countless memories

I couldn’t even begin to name my favourite moment at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships over the years. I’m at a bad age for it. My younger colleagues don’t remember tapedelayed tournaments and the older ones know it first became popular because of a shameful incident. The 2018 tournament starts on Boxing Day in Buffalo and all I know is that no matter how jaded I become, I’ll always love the World Juniors.

In a Western Hockey League city like Lethbridge, however, it’s mattered since the early ’80s when Mike and Randy Moller represented Canada. They left the Lethbridge Broncos to attend the first World Junior team camp, something sports networks and radio hosts rely on to get through the slow days of fall today.

The World Junior tournament made TSN. It cemented their voices as the grassroots, rural station that you had to pay to get sent to you from Toronto. But for a young kid in Picture Butte, that tournament was the only place to see Western Hockey League and other young stars.

The tournament is the only reason anybody knows where Piestany is, although thanks to hoser accents we also think it’s pronounced “Pistany.”

Piestany, of then-Czechoslovakia, hosted “The Punch Up in Piestany,” a brawl that resulted in officials briefly turning out the lights and eventually eliminating the Canadian and Russian World Junior teams. That event is also the reason we all know Pierre Turgeon is a gutless coward, but I digress.

The World Junior put an end to the “emotionless Russians” argument. You could say Vladimir Konstantinov headbutted an end to it in Piestany.

For World Junior hockey fans, it’s the greatest tournament every year. Whether you gnash your teeth at the injustice of an eastern coach leaving western players off the roster or delight in Brent Sutter’s coaching dominance, the tournament gives you best and worst of hockey in one short event. I remember interviewing Brent Seabrook after he won gold in 2005 and Zach Boychuk once told a group of us that P.K. Subban never stops talking. Ever.

From the moment the Lethbridge Hurricanes drafted Stuart Skinner, the talk and the hope was that he would be Canada’s goaltender at this event. Imagine being a 15year-old kid and hearing men speculate on your success or failure because of one tournament consisting of a very small field.

Aside from NHL stars like Jonathan “Effing” Toews, Sidney Crosby and Seabrook, plenty of big names from the World Juniors saw that event as their career highlight. Tyler Bouck is one of my all-time favourites. He won a silver and a bronze as a member of Canada’s team, reuniting on those squads with Prince George linemate Blair Betts. Bouck played less than 100 NHL games but was an all-around force as a World Junior player. He hit, scored, blocked shots and generally represented what Canadians want in their hockey players.

Maybe that’s why some of these junior champs never make it. Too many Kent Mandervilles or Betts in the group. They take a back seat, do whatever their NHL coaches ask. When you need a defensive shift or a stop, Alex Ovechkin say “No thanks.” These Canadian kids, short of Eric Lindros? They do what they’re told.

No matter what, this year’s tournament will have us all slaved to the TV. Canadians revel in the event whether it’s hosted in a big Canadian city or a dump in Slovakia.

For us in Lethbridge, there’s no Hurricanes, but for a couple of weeks we’ll cheer for Carter Hart, Jake Bean, Brett Howden and Kale Clague (maybe not Sam Steel). We’ll back Canada, even if we think there’s too many French players, or too much OHL influence. We’ll watch the games because it’s the best, purest hockey we’ll see and it provides too many moments to pick a favourite.

That being said, I’ll put $20 on the Americans.