Lofty expectations for Canada

The weight of expectations in this country can be enormous.

Each holiday season, hockey fans turn their attention towards a junior tournament where only one outcome is acceptable: gold.

The hype and notoriety surrounding the World Junior Hockey Championships hit a fever pitch in the late 1990s, which seemingly built each year that followed. There's not a player who will don the Maple Leaf who can't recount tales of huddling around the television on Boxing Day, cheering on the home side with friends and family.

The world junior tournament is hardly an 11-day event, in the minds and hearts of a proud, hockey-loving nation. The tournament is a national past time, one which dominates the headlines and transcends the simple nature of sport.

The world junior tournament means a lot to Canadians, and it's gaining in popularity in all other hockey-playing countries.

With a nation so transfixed on the outcome of a hockey tournament, the pressure can be downright debilitating for the players who wear the Canadian colours. Capturing gold is almost secondary to the thought of not losing it. Nothing stings more than losing in the gold-medal game to rivals from Russia or the United States -- two countries who beat Canada in the finals the last two tournaments.

The Canadian contingent will have the third opportunity in four years to win gold on home soil (or fourth in as many years, if one considers the large gathering of Canadian fans in Buffalo last year made it a pro-Canada crowd). Canada played for gold in all three tournaments, which is only three in a line of 10 consecutive appearances in the final.

While most countries would marvel at the thought of playing in 10 straight gold-medal games, it's but a mere footnote to Canadians, whose record in getting there isn't as impressive as its record in the game. Yes, there was the streak of five-straight gold medals (twice achieved by Canada), but the more recent streak of two gold-medal losses looms larger in the minds of fans.

The tournament ditched the round robin format in 1996 for a more exciting medal round. With the possibility of three-straight elimination games, Canada's run to 10-straight finals is nothing short of spectacular. In fact, since this format was adopted 16 years ago, Canada reached the final 13 times.

Canadian hockey fans can flex their muscles at that stat, but it only tells part of the story. How many would venture to say Hockey Canada's record when reaching the gold-medal game during that stretch is a game above .500? Their record in gold-medal finals is 7-6, hardly anything to scoff at, but a little too close for comfort.

While their record has more wins than losses, the stat shifts where home ice is concerned. Of those 13 tournaments where they reached the final, five were played on Canadian soil. There was gold in Ottawa in 2009 and in Vancouver in 2006, but three silvers in Saskatoon (2010), Halifax (2003) and Winnipeg (1999).

If the weight of expectation is big every year, one can only imagine how much bigger it gets when the tournament is on home soil. Canada's record seemingly indicates a divide where pressure and expectations may overcome the cliché of "just another hockey game."

The truth is Canadian hockey fans have been blessed with three of four tournaments within the country's borders. The tournament returns to Europe next year, when Ufa, Russia hosts, and may not be back until 2015, at the earliest.

How's that for added expectations?

There's a difference between the pressures these players feel while playing in a foreign country, knowing their every move on the ice is being watched closely from a distance. It's not the same to receive a congratulatory text message or email while playing in another continent than it is to have a nation celebrating each victory, as if it were the gold-medal game.

It's much easier for these players to escape and focus simply on hockey when playing the final game abroad. Their record indicates it: five gold-medal victories compared to three defeats.

There's no doubt a huge burden is placed on these players each year. Few will remember the brave efforts, the injuries they overcame and the adversities faced. When we look back on these tournaments in the years that follow, there's only one question fans will ask: did they win gold?

Perhaps in no other tournament is the bottom line so simply defined. Win the gold, and a nation loves you. Fail to stand atop that podium and quickly you're forgotten.

Pressure and expectations can be good in sport. Where this tournament is concerned, one can't help but wonder if it's a burden where there's so little to gain and so much to lose.