By Aaron Bell
Several media outlets billed the 2009 World Junior Championships as a showdown between the top two rated players for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, but by the time John Tavares and Victor Hedman met up in the gold medal game, it had clearly become the John Tavares show.
Tavares, the Oshawa Generals captain and sniper at every level he’s played at, took control of the tournament early for Team Canada and after helping his country to a 5-1 win in the final over Hedman and Team Sweden, Tavares was named the MVP of the tournament.
Tavares tied for the tournament lead with eight goals and finished one point behind teammate Cody Hodgson of the Brampton Battalion as the top scorer in the tournament. In short, it was a dominant performance that the scouts won’t soon forget.
In evaluating his golden performance, Tavares was humble, as usual.
“It was just part of being a team that wanted to be successful and bring home the gold for Canada,” Tavares said after the gold medal game.
Tavares’ most compelling performance came against the United States on New Year’s Eve. After Canada spotted the Americans to a quick three-goal lead, Tavares revived the Canadian squad – and a capacity crowd of more than 20,000 fans at ScotiaBank Place - with a pair of goals 48 seconds apart. Those goals put Canada back in the driver’s seat and they went on to a 7-4 win that the Americans never recovered from. Instead of a potential gold medal rematch, the U.S. lost their quarter final game to Slovakia and red-hot goaltender Jaroslav Janus of the Erie Otters. That left the U.S. playing for fifth place while Canada went on to the semi-finals.
Tavares was at it again against Russia with a berth in the championship game on the line. After the game went back and forth for the first 57 minutes, the Russians scored what looked like would be the game-winner late in the third period. But Tavares grabbed a loose puck in the Russian zone in the dying seconds and shovelled a pass that Jordan Eberle of the Regina Pats corralled and deposited into the Russian net with just five seconds left on the clock. After a scoreless overtime period, Tavares and Eberle scored in the shootout to give Canada its eighth straight berth in the gold medal game.
In the championship game, Tavares picked up an assist on Angelo Esposito’s goal in the second period that proved to be the game-winner.
“Obviously my role was a lot bigger this year so I wanted to take on a greater leadership role and contribute and be counted on out there,” Tavares said. “My focus really was just staying loose, having fun enjoying the experience and making sure I had no regrets.”
Tavares made a new fan in Canadian coach Pat Quinn.
“I’m having the pleasure of watching him live for the first time and he’s a good player and part of this team,” Quinn said. “He was big when it counted.”
Tavares was one of four Canadian skaters that also won the gold medal last year in the Czech Republic. He is eligible to play in the tournament again next year when Canada goes for a record-breaking sixth straight gold medal in Saskatoon and Regina, SK although his status as a top NHL draft pick may put a hamper on those plans.
