Team Canada cruised to gold in 2005 thanks to a 6-1 beating of Russia in the gold medal game.

BY JIM LANG
sportsnet.ca

I usually like to answer a variety of inquiries in my mail bag, but sometimes I receive a question that is so good, it deserves to be sole the focus of the blog. This is that kind of question.

Name: Brent

Question:

Hey Jim! I'm a big World Junior fan and I've been thinking about this for quite some time. The team of 2005 was utterly dominant; going undefeated and scoring 41 goals in the process. About five years later, most players on that team have gone on to great careers. Think about these numbers: Nine wearing the C or an A, six Cup winners, 10 have been in the finals and seven that played on Canada's Olympic team in 2010. Do you think we will see that kind of impact again?

Clubber says:

Hi Brent, good question. Because of the NHL lock out, Hockey Canada was able to assemble what is arguably the greatest collection of talent we have ever seen on one junior hockey team. Assuming we won’t have anymore lockouts, then it is safe to say we will never again see a collection of junior players like Team Canada was able to assemble in 2005. Don’t forget, Team Canada was trying to win their first gold medal at the world juniors since 1997. Led by Sidney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf and Patrice Bergeron, Team Canada not only won the gold in 2005, they obliterated every team they faced in the tournament.

To understand just how dominant Team Canada was in Grand Forks, ND, in the 2005 tournament, just take a look at the final scores:

Round Robin:

* Canada 7-3 over Slovakia

* Canada 8-1 over Sweden

* Canada 9-0 over Germany

* Canada 9-1 over Finland

Team Canada beat the Czech Republic 3-1 in the semi-finals than capped off its incredible performance in the tournament by embarrassing the Russians 6-1 in the gold medal game. Add it all up and Team Canada scored 41 goals in the tournament while only giving up seven. In fact, after beating Slovakia, Team Canada only gave up four goals in its last five games.

I had a chance to speak with Brent Sutter about his experience coaching Team Canada that year. As we all know, the Flames coach is not a man that is easily impressed, but even he was in awe of his team that year.

“To be honest, there wasn’t a game that was close in the tournament. It was a junior hockey dream team.”

As Sutter points out, the fact the tournament was held during the lockout was a huge advantage for Team Canada.

“No one was being held back by their clubs, we had the pick of the top players in the country and Sidney Crosby was in his draft year.”

I thought the most interesting thing Sutter told me about that team was the logic in choosing the goaltenders. Sutter said the reason Jeff Glass made the team was that Kootenay was a defensive team and he was used to not facing a lot of shots. Sutter and the rest of Team Canada’s coaching staff estimated that its goalie would only face 12 to 17 shots a game because the rest of the team was so good.

One of the things Sutter said he is most proud of from that team was the special bond that developed between the players and their mindset to, “Set egos aside and let’s go win this.”

Nashville Predators defenceman Shea Weber was a plus-10 for Team Canada in 2005. He told me that he didn’t think there was anything special about the team at first.

“I didn’t really realize the magnitude, how much the tournament was going to be mean until we actually got there and got to play with each and play the way we did.”

Now that he has had time to reflect on that team and what they accomplished in Grand Forks, Weber understands he was a part of a once in a lifetime experience.

“That’s definitely one of the best teams I have ever been a part of. It was pretty special just to go to into the U.S. and have a team like that and go through the tournament and play with guys that are All Stars in the NHL, it was something I will never forget.”

Danny Syvret was the captain of the London Knights team that won the Memorial Cup that year. But since Team Canada was so deep at the 2005 World Juniors, he was considered a seventh defenceman. Syvret takes a more philosophical view when asked if the team that went to Grand Forks, ND, in 2005 was the best world junior team of all time:

“I get asked that a lot about being on the greatest team (Memorial Cup team and World Juniors). It’s hard to compare teams who never play each other. But I do know the 2005 year was very deep in talent, looking at all the game breakers (from that year) in the NHL now. I don't think I'll ever know if it was the greatest, I'll leave that up to the speculators, but it sure was the time of my life.”

The 2005 “Dream Team” won the first of five straight gold medals for Team Canada at the world juniors. Of course, this year in Buffalo, Canada will be on a mission to take back the gold from the USA.

Please keep the questions rolling in.