It was certainly not the result the young men representing the country had hoped for when they began their quest for a second-straight gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship.
Team Canada fell to the United States 2-0 in Tuesday evening’s gold medal game. It was a good fight by the team in red, but the Americans are deserving winners.
It was a world juniors like no other. All teams had to contend with staying in a bubble in host city Edmonton and enduring multiple quarantines.
Still, the hockey was excellent and Team Canada gave people coast-to-coast a reason to celebrate.
The tournament Dave Sandford / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Despite lacking the star power of the 2005 squad (eight players who suited up for Canada at the 2010 or 2014 Olympics anchored that team), the 2006 edition of Team Canada was nearly just as dominant, even with just one future Olympian in Jonathan Toews - who was still 17 and draft-eligible - on its roster.
Canada went 4-0-0 in the round robin, defeating Finland 5-1, Switzerland 4-3, Norway 4-0, and the United States 3-2 (although Canada s game-winning goal against the USA was an empty-netter because the Americans needed a win to earn first in Group A).