Thursday, January 01, 2009

Repeat denied in Davos


"every time you represent Canada you want to win, I'm awful proud of the effort the guys put forth"-- Team Canada head coach Sean Simpson, after Canada's loss to Moscow Dynamo at the Spengler Cup

Defending your championships is always the hardest task of a hockey team, you're always the one that all others want to knock off and you can never suffer a lapse during play, lest someone take advantage of it and make you pay.

Canada's entry at the Spengler Cup looked ready to pick up one of our much vaunted comeback victories on Wednesday as they battled back from a three goal deficit to come close, but not close enough to securing yet another Spengler victory.

While they pulled up close to Dynamo, in the end they were two goals short of the gold medal, making for an exciting finish to the final game of the Swiss tournament which routinely highlights some of the best of club hockey in Europe.

And while they did not claim the championship this year, they still have a pretty remarkable record for the tournament, having secured a place in the final eight out of the last nine years and winners of three of those, adding eight more championships over the last twenty four years that they have participated in the Christmas event.

From those early days of obscurity, the Canadian presence has grown to be watched closely not only in DAvos but back home in Canada with all of Canada's games broadcast back home, a timely reminder for hockey fans that there's a strong contingent of Canadians showing the flage in the European cities of hockey.

No comments: