It is getting to the point when radio broadcasters say 'Canada has come up short at the world junior championship,' they are going to have to follow it up with 'this is not a recording.'
This year Canada took it to a new level. They not only didn't win gold, but they also couldn't even finish in the tournament's top three, returning from Ufa without a medal.
Canada started the tournament off strong with a 4-0 record throughout their preliminary games against USA, Russia, Germany, and Slovakia. It seemed as though with their impressive 2-1 win over USA and 4-1 victory over Russia that they were poised to break their three-year gold medal drought.
However, their potential faded into failure as soon as the do-or-die games came around.
The States dropped Canada 5-1 in their first playoff game to shatter their gold medal dreams.
Some people love to put the sole blame on one person. As a rule, they blame either the coach or the goaltender. In this scenario, it is easy for them to blame puck-stopper Malcolm Subban after he let in four goals on just 16 shots.
Although Subban definitely didn't play as good as Canada needed him to, it is unfair to throw the Boston Bruins first-round pick under the bus.
Subban's teammates didn't exactly help him out as much as he needed them to. The States dominated Canada from start to finish, forcing them to turn the puck over eight times in the first period.
States netminder John Gibson, who is an Anaheim Ducks prospect, also added to Subban's below-average performance sticking out as a thorn in Canada's side because of his outstanding showing at the other end of the ice. Gibson only let one of 34 pucks he faced get past him in the contest, outplaying Subban and Canada's other goaltender, Jordan Binnington, by a country mile.
The arguably worst part of the whole tournament was when Canadian hockey fans started tweeting racist comments towards Subban on Twitter. The Belleville Bull, who is the brother of Montreal Canadiens star P.K. Subban, was called every racist name in the book from a monkey to much worse.
It is pathetic to see these Canadians go from praising Subban after his outstanding effort in Canada's preliminary 4-1 win over Russia to see them bash him after an off night.
It was essentially their immature way of releasing anger from the loss.
Some have went to the extent of saying, 'they aren't true hockey fans.'
Although they are the black sheep among hockey fans, it is unfair to say someone can't be a hockey fan because of their racism. They are hockey fans; they're just the stupid ones who probably couldn't tell the difference between an offside and a two for instigating penalty.
Russian sniper Valeri Nishushkin scored the game winner in overtime to drop Canada 6-5 in the bronze medal game.
Canada got off to a terrible start against Russia, letting two pucks find the back of their net on just three shots.
This time Subban wasn't to blame. Binnington was the man between the pipes. Obviously, the sloppy performance of the St. Louis Blues prospect quickly shut up those who said Canada would have beaten the States with him in net rather than Subban.
Canada did at least show some character by battling back, outshooting Russia 45-25. Their solid effort came up short, though.
Third place is just another term for losing, but it would have better for Canada to leave Ufa with bronze than nothing at all.
In hindsight, it is easy to question whether Steve Spott made the right decisions in piecing together this team.
With their goaltending problems, one has wonder if Edmonton Oil Kings star Laurent Brossoit could have changed the outcome. He was unbelievable for the Oil Kings in their MasterCard Memorial Cup run last year, maintaining a 2.04 average and a .933 save percentage.
Nevertheless, one has to keep in mind Subban looked just as strong as Brossoit with his junior club in last year's CHL playoffs.
It seems Medicine Hat Tigers forward Hunter Shinkaruk could have also been useful. The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder, who scored 49 goals and 91 points in 66 games last year, brings heart, energy, and a boatload of raw skill to the ice.
Shinkaruk's age worked against him at the tryout. As an 18-year-old, he wasn't given a fair shake because for the most part Spott chose to go with older players. Some also went as far as believing being a Western Canadian boy also worked against Shinkaruk. They believed Spott, the head coach of the Kitchener Rangers, appeared to want to build a team around players he was familiar with in the Ontario Hockey League.
Although it seems tough to believe the addition of Shinkaruk alone could have hurdled Canada over USA, it is undoubtedly possible the Calgary, Alta., native could have gave Canada that extra goal to clinch bronze against Russia.
Some have wondered whether Spott was the right man for the job as Canada's head coach.
Canada did come out flat against USA in their semi-final match up. Coaching has to be held partially responsible for this.
Nevertheless, everything can be picked a part in the rear-view mirror. Prior to the tournament, it seemed Spott's track record was undoubtedly strong enough to earn him the spot behind Canada's bench.
CBC hockey analyst Don Cherry went as far as blaming the CHL for giving spots to European players over Canadian players for the loss. This theory makes little to no sense at all.
Each CHL team is allowed to have two European players on their roster. Therefore, a maximum of 124 overseas born players are allowed to play in the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL.
Considering point-per-game CHL players don't even receive invites to Team Canada's tryout camp, it seems unlikely the 124 Canadian-born players that would be in the CHL if it wasn't for the European players would have a shot at making the team.
Cherry probably wasn't making that point, though. He was likely meaning Canada would be better if they spent more time developing their own players and gave more ice time to them as well.
Cherry did put his money where his mouth is with this theory when he coached the OHL's Mississauga IceDogs in 2001-02. He didn't allow any European players on his squad, going with all Ontario boys. An 11-47-6-4 record later, Cherry was let go and European players were added to the team the following year.
If the CHL didn't allow European players in their league the development for Canadian-born players would slightly improve. But the CHL has become the No. 1 development league in the world. They became the pinnacle junior league because they recruit the top European and American teenagers in the world. It would make no sense for them to wreck their model that has made them a success.
Cherry went on to knock the other countries in the tournament, not giving credit where credit is due.
Frankly, the days of Canada dominating other countries are over. Countries such as Russia, Sweden, USA, and Finland have produced too many NHL stars to take them lightly. It will be a dogfight for Canada in every world junior championship from here on in.
Canada will now set their sights on next year to break their four-year gold medal drought. Hopefully they find a way to fix the broken record.
