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Why losing gold was a good thing

I may lose my citizenship over this, but Tuesday night’s gold-medal win by the U.S. in the World Junior Hockey Championships was a good thing.

I may lose my citizenship over this, but Tuesday night’s gold-medal win by the U.S. in the World Junior Hockey Championships was a good thing.

Feels wrong even typing it.

But the loss for Canada actually gave credibility to the tournament.

While everyone loves to debate about dynasties and which ones were the best ­— especially in hockey where Oilers fans still hang on to the 80s and those loyal to the Canadiens every decade before then — the truth of the matter is a dynasty is only good for the dynastic team, or in this case country.

The timing couldn’t have been better for Canada’s streak to end. With traditional powers Finland, Czech Republic and Slovakia clearly on a down cycle and even Russia in a reloading stage, this tournament lacked drama — save for the New Year’s Eve game between Canada and the U.S. — until the playoff rounds. Uncompetitive blowouts were the norm as close games were few and far between.

It was very much like watching a Women’s World Hockey Championship where there are only two true contenders — the world juniors appeared to be down to just three, despite Switzerland’s impressive run.

The loss also validates what had been accomplished.

While it is easy to look at the Canadian junior’s overall record during this stretch and think they barely broke a sweat, it is easy to forget the five golds in a row were far from a walk in the park. The streak could have come to an end many times but due to many heroics it was continued.

The already legendary Jordan Eberle did his best to make it six straight gold medals, but even arguably the most clutch performer in the team’s history couldn’t stop the inevitable that eventually the streak would end.

It is a reminder of how much pressure these kids are under and how incredible a feat this was.

In Canada’s defeat came the acknowledgement by American coach Dean Blais, that it came down to a matter of if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. He said they won by “playing Canadian hockey.” For the first time ever they actually held a training camp where jobs were on the line, something they openly copied from the Canadians.

It has barely been 10 years since Canada held a soul-searching summit on how to fix the direction our nation was taking in hockey after a number of international disappointments. The fact other hockey powers are now having to copy what we are doing to compete is an affirmation in what has taken place over the last decade, certainly over the last five years, that we are doing something right.

Give full credit to the U.S., they proved they were the better team. It was different than last year after they collapsed in the New Year’s eve game then went into a full out melt down. This time around, they showed a Canadian resolve that was hard not to admire.

This will set up a perfect storm at next year’s event in Buffalo.

As TSN broke all kinds of ratings records in Canada, there were even whispers that people actually watched the gold medal game in the U.S. — a huge step forward itself. The loss almost guarantees those numbers will continue to grow. In this ADD world that we live in, the norm is not a good thing. However, you throw in a revenge angle, a growing rivalry, and a high degree of uncertainty and you add to your captive audience. I have a feeling the Red Deer Rebels will have a strong influence on whether or not Canada can recapture the championship.

It is easy to forget that these types of tournaments are about more than our dogged pursuit of another gold medal. They are about so much more than that.

They are about the growth of the game of hockey and a true contender to our dictatorship is never a bad thing.

jaldrich@www.reddeeradvocate.com