World Juniors start today in Saskatoon

One of my favorite parts of the holidays every year is the World Junior Championships.  The Canadians have been the favorites for as long as I can remember, and will continue that trend this year as they look to win their record 6th straight gold medal.  Their gold medal defense kicked off at 3:30 this afternoon against Latvia, and the young Canucks look great so far. Leafs’ prospect Nazem Kadri actually just scored to give the Canadians a 2-0 lead early in the first. Update – Kadri got a minor penalty and a 10 minute misconduct for a hit to the head.  Canada leads 5-0 after the first period.

Russia also has what should be an easy matchup to start the tourney, facing off with Austria later tonight.  The Czechs are currently playing Sweden, while Team USA will take on Slovakia later tonight.  The Leafs will be watching that game as well, as young Jerry D’Amigo was a surprise addition to the American roster.

I’ll try to keep some regular updates on the tournament scores, as well as the performances of Kadri and D’Amigo.  Go Canada!