The gold medal game at last year’s WJC was one of the best hockey games you’ll ever see, at any level. A true classic.
While many hoped for a rematch this year, it wasn’t meant to be – as things didn’t fall into place in the preliminary rounds to set that up. Instead, they met in the semi-finals on Monday, with Canada advancing to the gold medal game later tonight.
Defenseman Derek Forbort (Kings first round selection at last year’s NHL Draft) and his U.S. teammates were sent on to play for the bronze, where they just defeated Sweden 4-2. This marks the first time in tournament history where the U.S. has medaled in back-to-back years.
Eleven current Kings have represented four different countries at past WJCs – Canada, USA, Germany and Slovakia. Seven of those players have medals, all with Canada and the U.S. –
Canada
Jonathan Bernier, Drew Doughty and Wayne Simmonds – gold 2008
Ryan Smyth – gold 1995
Jarret Stoll – bronze 2001 and silver 2002
USA
Jack Johnson and Trevor Lewis – bronze 2007
Other Kings’ prospects with medals include Thomas Hickey, Colten Teubert, Martin Jones (all with Canada); Oscar Moller (two silvers with Sweden) and Viatcheslav Voynov (who won three medals for Russia – silver 2007, bronze in 2008 and 2009).
Still to come – Russia vs. Canada for the gold medal at 4:30pm PST.
Brayden Schenn (Canada) and Maxim Kitsyn (Russia), the other two Kings’ prospects playing in the WJC this year, are guaranteed medals. But, who’s going home with the gold?
[UPDATE: Russia was down 3-0 after two periods. They came back to score five goals in the third – including one from Kitsyn – and stole the gold medal from Canada. It was an absolutely awesome game. Record the replay on the NHL Network if you missed it. Plus, Schenn may have playing hurt, apparently he separated his shoulder in the quarter-finals on Sunday. I’ll have more game notes up tomorrow.]
The Mayor
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WJC Memories with – Ryan Smyth * Drew Doughty * Jack Johnson
Interview with Derek Forbort – Kings 2010 first round draft pick, bronze medal with USA
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Interview with Charlie Coyle – third star of the tournament for USA
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