FanHouse is keeping hockey fans updated on the happenings at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa.One of the more controversial moments of this years IIHF World Junior Championships happened during the United States-Canada game Wednesday.
John Tavares (2009 draft-eligible) scored his second goal in like five seconds (OK, it was close to a minute) to close Canada to within 3-2. As the hyped-up Canadians were celebrating Tavares' awesome goal, they skated right by the United States bench.
Taunting the Americans all the way by, Canadian forward Chris DiDomenico (NHL rights: Toronto) didn't see the stick of Team USA forward Eric Tangradi (Anaheim) hanging off the bench. DiDomenico ate a chunk of Tangradi's stick blade, and the rest of the celebrating Canadian players took exception to what they thought was a dirty play.
At the same time, United States forward James vanRiemsdyk (Philadelphia) was skating toward the bench. He had his head down, and ended up in the middle of the celebration line. After some shoves were exchanged, Stefan Della Rovere (Washington) of Canada suckerpunched vanRiemsdyk from behind.
As you watch the video, note that there is a linesman right in the middle of the fray, and yet Della Rovere was not penalized for his "hit". Video after the jump.
I highlight this now because of something I noticed in Saturday's Canada-Russia semifinal. Jordan Eberle scored the go-ahead goal in the second period. He celebrated at the Canadian bench, and then skated down the boards as if he was going to skate past the Russian bench. He instead was met and knocked to the ice (inadvertently) by the two linesmen working the game.
Eberle's intent is irrelevant, and I'm not trying to imply that he was going to taunt the Russian players. He simply wasn't going to be allowed near the Russian bench.
TSN broadcasters Gord Miller and Pierre Maguire noted that there has been more effort made by game officials to stop the taunting after goals. It has been going on throughout the tournament, and it's too bad it took a scrum like this one to highlight the issue.
Emotions tend to run high in tournaments like this, as you have young kids proud to play for their country. Of course, there's also the added pressure of this being a heavily-scouted event. Wednesday night, the Americans did a terrible job of controlling their emotions, taking too many penalties and not responding well to Canada's physicality. Contrary to what I thought, they did then let that negativity carry over to Friday's quarterfinal game against Slovakia.
That said, part of the learning process is making sure the kids know how to control their emotions. For the most part, everyone has done a good job of this, but hopefully coaches for all the teams can use Wednesday's fracas as a teaching tool.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-03-2009 @ 10:08PM
Sean Leahy said...
Jimmy Hayes kicked things off
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFnMjWXXqyE
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1-04-2009 @ 1:07AM
uatgsports said...
biased much? There were two teams playing, both equally responsible. It's a shame cause the game that actually occurred was amazing.
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1-03-2009 @ 10:56PM
Willmore2000 said...
They are hockey players, not croquet players.
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1-04-2009 @ 2:08AM
Colonial said...
I wish Stefan Della Rovere was not on this team. His shot on van Reimsdyck was dirty and his reckless play may just cost Canada at a bad time.
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1-04-2009 @ 4:34AM
jvwalt said...
Not only did you miss the fact that the USA's Jimmy Hayes started the whole thing by taunting the Canadian bench earlier in the game, you also absolve Tangradi of any blame for a clearly unsportsmanlike move. His blade was "hanging off the bench" and DiDomenico ran into it? Ha.
Given the chippiness of the game, there is every reason to believe that Tangradi knew exactly what he was doing. But even if he didn't, what's the rule on highsticking? A player must always be in control of his stick. Even if it was inadvertent, Tangradi was nonetheless responsible for a play that could have resulted in serious injury.
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1-04-2009 @ 5:18AM
desdemona said...
Holy cow, way to see a situation only one way. Did you notice the US players celebrations for their goals prior to this mess? Did you notice that the stick was not 'hanging' off of the US bench, but was placed in the face of a Canadian player? I have no excuse for Della Rovere, and you are right in suggesting that he deserved a penalty. However, since the US player on the bench wasn't called for his stick in the face either, I considered that situation even.
Taunting seems to be redefined IMO. One Slovakian player did during their game vs. USA - he shushed the bench - that is taunting. Looking directly at the other bench making that fist pump is taunting. Celebrating with your teammates without paying attention to the other bench is entirely different matter. Why is it suddenly the fault of the player passing the opposing team's bench when it comes to a stick in his face? Is it ever anyone else's fault when it comes to a stick in someone's face but the owner of the stick?
I suggest that you watch the first period of that game again and try to see that equal blame is deserved and that the US players are no angels.
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1-04-2009 @ 10:58AM
slutnuts said...
wow. you need to re-evaluate your journalism ability. the u.s started the taunting by skating past the cdn bench after their second goal, the player was holding his glove to his ear (exactly what tavares did later) and talking smack.
this cant be your excuse for losing to slovakia can it? canada is dirty, and thats why we lost to the mighty slovaks.
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1-04-2009 @ 11:28AM
Not Canadian Don't You Know said...
The US started it by just existing, can you imagine being Canadian and having to live with the fact that you're just a poor imitation of an American every day, poor bastards
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1-04-2009 @ 3:34PM
muchu said...
After watching the replay you can see the American player moved his stick out, it wasn't just 'hanging there.' So it was a dirty play, sorry.
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1-06-2009 @ 12:00AM
Cat said...
Wow...
You are the most ridiculous writer I have ever stumbled across. Your judgment dumbfounds me! It makes me sick admitting I read this. Honestly, judging by this article you probably don't believe in dinosaurs. The earth is probably flat...Bonds isn't on steroids...
Congratulations on being an idiot.
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1-06-2009 @ 9:47AM
cindy crysby said...
wow ,, home calls in canada ,, the armpit of north america .. pierre is a doosch bag , canada enjoy your cheap win ,, its all you can do , not like you have a culture or anything ,, sorry eh ,!
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