In this week's 'Beauties' podcast, James Duthie looks back at the 2009 World Junior Hockey Championship with Jordan Eberle, who became a household name in the tournament with a monumental goal against Russia in the semifinals. Also, enjoy this excerpt on Eberle's heroics from James' 'Beauties: Hockey’s Greatest Untold Stories' - available now where books are sold.
Can You Believe It?!' Jordan Eberle and Canada’s World Junior Miracle
Before Jordan Eberle becomes one of Canada’s best World Junior Championship players ever, he is the worst.
“I am terrible, the worst player at the 2008 summer training camp,” he says. “They put me on a line with John Tavares, so I fig- ure I’m going to get a good shot at making the team. But I am trying out these brand-new skates and they are awful. So the skates suck, I suck, and the whole camp is a nightmare. Even JT says to me, ‘What’s going on with you?’ And in my exit meeting with the coach, Benoît Groulx, he tells me I was dead last in their evaluations. I leave thinking, ‘I may have just blown my chance.’”