WJC Countdown: Tavares’ MVP showing and Eberle’s clutch goal lead Canada to fifth-straight gold

Over the next 10 days, I’m going to count down to the 2018 World Juniors in Buffalo with some great moments and performances from past tournaments. 

Canada had a stacked team playing in front of their hometown crowd in Ottawa in 2009. 

This team featured talents like P.K. Subban, Cody Hodgson, and Jordan Eberle who had been top picks in the 2008 NHL draft, and prospects like Ryan Ellis and Evander Kane, set to go in the first round of the spending 2009 draft. But at the forefront of that group was John Tavares, a stud prospect who had been lighting up the Ontario Hockey League since being given exceptional status to join the league as a 15-year-old. 

In his pre-draft tournament, Tavares lived up to the hype that had labelled him as a potentially franchise-changing talent. 

After manhandling the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, and Germany, Canada faced its first challenge of tournament in a New Year’s Eve game against the United States. The Americans jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first period, but then Tavares started to take over. 

He scored a power play goal to bring the Canadians back into the game, then, immediately after, Tavares intercepted a breakout pass and buried a goal to make the game 3-2. Canada pulled ahead in the third and Tavares completed the hat trick performance by scoring an empty net goal to seal the game. 

Canada plowed through the group stage, going 4-0 with a whopping +29 goal differential. They got a bye through to the semifinal where they met Russia for one of the most memorable games in tournament history. While John Tavares was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, Jordan Eberle also became a star for team Canada. 

Russia and Canada battled back and forth all game. Canada would take a lead, Russia would answer. It went back and forth until the third period when Russia pulled ahead 5-4 with under three minutes to go. 

In the dying seconds, Nikita Filatov tried to clear the puck out of the zone, but Ryan Ellis jumped up to keep it in. Tavares grabbed the puck and flubbed a backhander towards the net, the Russian defender tried to block it, but it slid over to Eberle who dragged a backhand by Vadim Zhelobnyuk to tie the game. 

Pierre McGuire had a hilarious call, cutting into Gord Miller yelling “Can you believe it?” rhetorically with “Yes I can” and an explanation of what had happened through the pandemonium in Ottawa.

The game would end up going to a shootout with Eberle and Tavares both scoring and goalie Dustin Tokarski stopping both Russian tries to push Canada to the gold medal game. The Canadians would go on to beat Sweden 5-1 to capture their fifth-straight gold medal. 

Tavares, like I said, was awarded MVP after recording eight goals and 15 points in six games and Eberle ended up solidifying his legacy as Mr. Clutch for his timely goals. Now the two of them are playing together with the New York Islanders, helping drive one of the most dynamic attacks in the NHL. 

@cooom

CANADA’S GOLD-WINNING TEAM IN 2009