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(hockey) 미국대신 캐나다를 응원하다 |
하키, 그렇게 좋아하는 경기는 아니지만 국가대항전은 열심히 본다. 특히, 캐나다는 하키의 본고장이 아닌가. 요즘 Jr. World 경기가 열리고 있어 운동을 하며 가끔씩 본다. 오늘(31일) 저녁은 미국과의 경기가 있어 많이 기다렸다. 설겆이를 하고 있는데 미국이 3:0으로 앞서고 있다는 소식에 얼른 마치고 1층 운동실로 내려갔다. 우리 집 케이블에선 캐나다 sports channel TSN이 나오지 않기 때문. 가자마자 캐나다가 점수를 따기 시작해 금새 3:3까지 따라갔다. 그리고 4:3으로 역전. 분위기를 완전 장악하는 가 싶었는데 미국이 다시 한점을 만회 4:4 동점. 2 피어리드가 끝나기 전 다시 캐나다가 한 골을 넣어 5:4로 앞섰다. 마지막 3 period는 캐나다의 우세속에서도 추가 득점에 실패해 종료 1분전까지 치열한 공방을 계속했다. 하키를 이렇게 마음 졸이며 본 적은 없었는데 이게 바로 국가대항전의 묘미가 아닐까 싶었다. 그러다 오늘의 hero John Tavares가 골키퍼까지 빼고 전원공격에 나선 미국의 텅빈 골문에 결정타를 날렸다. 다시 한골을 추가 7:4로 승리를 했지만 John Tavares의 추가골 전까진 언제 동점이 될지 모르는 정말 박빙의 승부였다. 언제 수상직에서 물러날지도 모르는 현 수상 Stephen Harper를 비롯한 2만여 관중이 미국을 깼다는 사실에 환호했다. 하키는 미국보다 한 수위라고 자부하지만 미국을 깨는 것은 언제나 즐거운 일이다. 경기가 끝나고 승리팀 국가를 연주하는데 정말 가슴이 뭉클했다. 한국과 미국이 붙어도 혼자 열심히 미국을 응원하던 골수 애미주의자. 이제 가슴속 짝사랑 대상이 미국에서 캐나다로 바뀌는 순간이었다.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA -- John Tavares of the Oshawa Generals scored a hat trick in Canada's come-from-behind 7-4 win over the U.S. at the world junior hockey championship Wednesday.
Canada (4-0) finished first in Pool A with the victory and earned a bye to Saturday's semifinal round with the victory.
Tavares, the projected possible No. 1 pick in the NHL entry draft, sparked Canada's comeback by scoring his team's first two goals and added an empty netter.
Jordan Eberle of the Regina Pats, Zach Boychuk of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Tyler Ennis of the Medicine Hat Tigers and Cody Hodgson of the Brampton Battalion also scored for the defending champs. Belleville Bulls defenceman P.K. Subban added two assists
Dustin Tokarski of the Spokane Chiefs recovered from a shaky first period and earned the win by stopping 22 of 26 shots.
Boston College's Kevin Shattenkirk and Jimmy Hayes, plus Seattle Thunderbirds forward Jim O'Brien and Vancouver Giants defenceman Jonathan Blum scored for the U.S. (3-1) who will face Slovakia in a quarter-final Friday.
American goaltender Thomas McCollum of the Guelph Storm made 24 saves on 29 shots.
Sweden also went undefeated in Pool B to earn a semifinal bye with a 5-0 win over Russia (3-1). The Russians meet the Czech Republic (2-2) in Friday's other quarter-final.
The Czechs thumped Kazakhstan 10-2 to finish third in Pool A. The Slovaks beat the Finland 3-2 in a shootout to secure a berth in the medal round.
The Canada-U.S. matchup was the highly-anticipated game of the round robin by players from both countries and the fans at Scotiabank Place. The 20,223 in attendance set another single-game tournament record and bested the previous mark set in Canada's first game of the tournament.
Canada and the U.S. had fairly easy rides until Wednesday, outshooting their opposition 28-2 and 24-5 in their first three games respectively.
Their meeting lived up to its billing in a see-saw, albeit penalty-filled, battle. Canada fell behind 3-0, but recovered to tie the game before the end of the first period.
It started badly for Canada as the U.S. scored on their first shot of the game on Tokarski and were up 3-0 by 12:35.
The Canadians, trailing for the first time in the tournament, pulled themselves together to tie it up before period's end on the strength of two goals by Tavares, who leads the tournament in goals with eight.
Canada's tournament-leading power play was the difference with four goals on seven opportunities, while the U.S. were good on two of five.
Tokarski redeemed himself for a mediocre first period by robbing Colin Wilson's backhand attempt with less than two minutes to go in the second period and a stopping Wilson's other attempt from close range late in the third.
Tavares, from Oakville, Ont., then sealed the win with his empty-netter. Ennis scored with 10 seconds remaining.
Hodgson scored the go-head goal at 6:56 of the second period, deflecting a shot off a U.S. player in front of the net.
That avenged a similar goal scored by the Americans to tie it at 3:40. Blum's pass from the corner bounced off Brett Sonne's skate and across the goal-line..
Boychuk gave Canada the lead for the first time in the game 37 seconds into the second period with a power-play goal.
Quick cycling of the puck gave Eberle enough time to chip the puck over McCollum for a power-play goal at 18:10 of the opening period.
Tavares sidestepped a sprawling U.S. defenceman to wire the puck upstairs at 15:43. Just 48 seconds earlier, Tavares started the comeback by tucking a rebound past McCollum's skate.
O'Brien, a teammate of Canadian captain Thomas Hickey on the Thunderbirds, fooled Tokarski with a shot from the top of the faceoff circle at 12:35.
Hayes made the most of a two-man advantage for the U.S., scoring from the slot at 7:15. Shattenkirk beat Tokarski five-hole at 3:49.
An enormous Canadian flag that was introduced in the tournament opener for the home team circled the lower bowl prior to puck drop.
According to USA Hockey's game notes, U.S. players who attended Christmas Eve church service in downtown Ottawa were asked by people in the congregation if they were going to finish second in the tournament.
. Notes: Canada is 26-5-3 all-time versus the U.S. in world junior hockey championship history... . The U.S. has eight first-round NHL draft picks on its roster compared to Canada's 10... . Eight U.S. players are out of the Canadian Hockey League, including five from the WHL.
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