Monday, December 31, 2007

Mission Accomplished at Davos


While the tournament may be the hockey equivalent of an off Broadway play (taking place as it does in the relative anonymity that seems to be the trademark of Switzerland) it was centre stage accolades for Team Canada on Monday.

The Canadian squad which was made up of mostly European based mercenaries toiling away for club teams on the continent, proved to be a dominant group over the course of the hectic six day tournament.

The Canadians went undefeated in Davos with a record of 5 and 0, taking the final match against the Russian Salavat Yulaev Ufa squad by a score of 2-1, their success was built on the stellar goal tending of last moment draftee Curtis Joseph, who seems to have shown that there may be a little life left in those pads after all.

Joseph held down the fort in the Canadian goal allowing only one second period goal to get behind him, while Kirby Law and Ryan Keller scored the necessary Canadian goals to secure the win. All the scoring took place in a frantic second period of play in which lucky breaks and a few bounces proved to be the difference on the scoreboard for Canada.

It was Canada's 11th victory in the 81 years of the Spengler Cup, their first since 2003. All of Canada's achievements have come since 1984 the first year that a Canadian team competed for the Christmas week tournament.

For some it's a chance to remind the folks back home that they're still playing hockey, sometimes lost in the shadows of the European leagues, for others like Joseph it's the opportunity to regain a profile for NHL GM"s, considering Cujo's run of success in Davos, somewhere in the 30 team NHL you would think is a team willing to give him another look and shore up a shaky goal tending situation.

Some might even suggest that he might not even have to take off that Maple leaf from the front of his chest, just change the colour of the sweater to be of assistance!

Hockey Canada site--Canada at the Spengler Cup

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