2014 WJC Review: USA finishes disappointing fifth after winning gold in 2013

[HF Article]

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A year after capturing the gold medal at the 2013 World Junior Championship in Russia, the Americans finished out of medal contention this year with a fifth-place finish. Although Team USA as a whole played well in the tournament, the team couldn’t quite find the same magic at this year's WJC.



One reason was penalties. In their quarterfinal game versus Russia, Team USA surrendered two five-on-three power-play goals and was never able to recover. Unlike in last year’s run to claiming the gold medal, Team USA struggled to regroup and bounce back after untimely penalties or falling behind against the top teams they played against in this year’s tournament.… read more



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[ToewsGretzky*]

You can't expect just because you won the year prior that the next year is going to be the same, at the junior level there are going to be ups and downs, Canada won 5 straight from 1993 to 1997 then went 7 years with no gold only to win another 5 straight from 2005 to 2009, Canada historically wins this tournament in spurts and I'm positive they win again considering Canada still by far drafts the most players into the NHL every year. There is no reason to be disappointed with a hot goalie any team at the junior level is capable of winning it all these days.