Mikey DiPietro’s eyes were as big as saucers. The only thing keeping his jaw from hitting the blue paint in front of him was his chin strap. Minutes earlier, the raucous 18,000 rocking the red rose to their feet and chanted “Di-Pi-etro” in unison after a string of saves appeared to lift Team Canada to the semifinal. Tears were running down his mom’s face in the stands.
Suddenly, those same fans were holding their hands over their faces in utter shock.
If all of Canada remembers Jordan Eberle’s goal with 5.4 seconds left in 2009, the timestamp of 46.4 will be seared on this tournament’s memory. Team Canada nursed a one-goal lead for much of the game, only for it to unravel with 46.4 seconds remaining.
“A World Junior game, it’s a fine line between winning and losing,” captain Maxime Comtois said. “We were on the bad side at the end.”
Nashville Predators prospect Eeli Tolvanen shovelled a last ditch prayer toward the net from behind the goal line. It ricocheted off the back of the net, then ran up DiPietro’s sweater and into the net to send it to overtime, commencing a nightmarish series of unfortunate happenstance for Team Canada.
“The hockey gods, I knew they would help us,” Finland coach Jussi Ahokas said. “We trusted the whole way. To win a game like this, you need bounces. That’s the only way.”
Captain Comtois failed to convert on a penalty shot. The Finns thought it was over. Tolvanen said he couldn’t even watch on the bench. They survived.
Then Noah Dobson’s stick exploded on a one-timer staring down a gaping cage, a sequence that will haunt his dreams for years. The puck squirted the other way, leading to an odd-man rush where Toni Utunen then Finnished off Canada. It was Utunen’s first goal of the season – at any level. Seriously.
Finland 2, Canada 1. Overtime heartbreak in Van City.
“It’s a game of inches, seconds, sometimes even milliseconds,” DiPietro said. “To lose like that is a tough pill to swallow. A loss for words right now. Definitely not the way I pictured this tournament going.”
It’s not the way any Canadian pictured this tournament going because no one has ever seen it go that way. For the first time in history, Team Canada failed to medal in a World Junior Championship on home soil. Canada will now finish sixth after being knocked out by Finland in the quarterfinal for the second time in four years.
Suddenly, those same fans were holding their hands over their faces in utter shock.
If all of Canada remembers Jordan Eberle’s goal with 5.4 seconds left in 2009, the timestamp of 46.4 will be seared on this tournament’s memory. Team Canada nursed a one-goal lead for much of the game, only for it to unravel with 46.4 seconds remaining.
“A World Junior game, it’s a fine line between winning and losing,” captain Maxime Comtois said. “We were on the bad side at the end.”
Nashville Predators prospect Eeli Tolvanen shovelled a last ditch prayer toward the net from behind the goal line. It ricocheted off the back of the net, then ran up DiPietro’s sweater and into the net to send it to overtime, commencing a nightmarish series of unfortunate happenstance for Team Canada.
“The hockey gods, I knew they would help us,” Finland coach Jussi Ahokas said. “We trusted the whole way. To win a game like this, you need bounces. That’s the only way.”
Captain Comtois failed to convert on a penalty shot. The Finns thought it was over. Tolvanen said he couldn’t even watch on the bench. They survived.
Then Noah Dobson’s stick exploded on a one-timer staring down a gaping cage, a sequence that will haunt his dreams for years. The puck squirted the other way, leading to an odd-man rush where Toni Utunen then Finnished off Canada. It was Utunen’s first goal of the season – at any level. Seriously.
Finland 2, Canada 1. Overtime heartbreak in Van City.
“It’s a game of inches, seconds, sometimes even milliseconds,” DiPietro said. “To lose like that is a tough pill to swallow. A loss for words right now. Definitely not the way I pictured this tournament going.”
It’s not the way any Canadian pictured this tournament going because no one has ever seen it go that way. For the first time in history, Team Canada failed to medal in a World Junior Championship on home soil. Canada will now finish sixth after being knocked out by Finland in the quarterfinal for the second time in four years.