It was a pretty uneventful day on Saturday at the World Junior Hockey Championships, as two uneven matchups gave us two expected beatdowns: Sweden beat Latvia 5-1, and the Russians stomped Germany 7-0.
With tomorrow's huge USA-Canada game upcoming, the big news of the day was that Canadian forward J.C. Lipon was suspended for one game for his ejection for a hit to the head of a Slovakian player on Friday. With Boone Jenner still suspended from his pre-tournament ejection, Canada will be down two forwards for tomorrow's game.
I highly recommend an early wakeup for this one, as the US and Canada seem almost incapable of playing anything other than intense, dramatic games at World Juniors.
Enjoy these highlights from the US's last win over Canada - the 2010 gold medal game in Saskatoon.
2010 Canada vs USA Gold Medal Game Extended Highlights (via thehockeysite)
Group A Standings
Sweden - 2-0-1-0, 8 pts., +8 GD (Clinched spot in either semifinals or quarterfinals)
Switzerland - 1-0-0-1, 4 pts., +4 GD
Czech Republic - 1-1-0-0, 3 pts., -1 GD
Finland - 1-1-0-0, 3 pts., +2 GD
Latvia - 0-3-0-0, 0 pts., -13 GD
Group B Standings
Russia - 2-0-1-0, 8 pts., +9 GD
Canada, 2-0-0-0, 6 pts., +9 GD
USA, 1-1-0-0, 3 pts., +7 GD
Slovakia 0-1-0-1, 1 pt., -4 GD
Germany, 0-3-0-0, 0 pts., -19 GD, eliminated from medal rounds
Tomorrow's Games
2:30 AM - Switzerland vs. Finland
4:30 AM - USA vs. Canada - Live on NHL Network
7:00 AM - Latvia vs. Czech Republic
9:00 AM - Germany vs. Slovakia - Live on NHL Network