IIHF World Junior Championship Diary from Eric Nystrom
12/27/2002 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
| | Nystrom |
Nystrom, who is playing for Team USA for the second straight year and is serving as team captain, is joined on the American squad by Wolverine teammate Dwight Helminen, who is also in his second year on the squad. Both players are products of the U.S. National Team Development Program.
A first-round NHL draft pick of the Calgary Flames in 2002, Nystrom will be sharing his experiences at the World Junior Championship with a series of diary entries on MGoBlue.com.
MONDAY, JANUARY 6 In a game I will never forget, we fell one goal short, losing to Team Canada in a great game, 3-2. Bobby Goepfert was outstanding in goal and received a standing ovation from the Canadian crowd. This was by far the loudest arena I have ever played in and the atmosphere was especially electric for the USA-Canada battle. Despite the loss, we still had a shot at the bronze medal. We recuperated as a team and tried to recharge the batteries after such an emotional game against Canada. We came out flat and spotted Team Finland a 2-0 lead after one period. We tried to fight back the entire game but again we fell short, losing 3-2. This was a great tournament with a great team. Every night the guys showed up to play. Off the ice we created a special bond of friendships that can never be taken away from us. I know I will remember this for the rest of my life.
Well, we were so close but so far away. After we won the crossover against the Czechs, 4-3, in a game that went to the buzzer, we had a shot to play Canada on their home ice for a chance at the gold medal.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1 The crossover round is when the tournament really begins. One single loss means elimination from medal contention, but one win ensures us a shot at one of the medals. The tournament is shaping up nicely because as a team we are peaking at the right time. We have yet to play our best hockey, but we keep getting better each game. In Halifax, the city is absolutely insane for the World Junior Championships, more specifically for Canada. The media here makes it seem like they are the only team in the tournament. Everywhere we look, whether it's on TV or in the newspaper, Team Canada is the main story. The kids on that team are under a great deal of pressure to win. Hopefully we can knock off the Czechs and get a crack at the home team in their own backyard and earn ourselves a spot in the gold medal championship game.
We have successfully clinched second place in our division after our 3-1 win over Team Slovakia. This win also clinched us a spot in the crossover round, keeping our medal hopes alive. After our game with the Slovaks we took a short flight back to Halifax, where the crossover round is being held. Upon our arrival we found out that our opponent would be the Czech Republic. The winner of our game against the Czechs plays Canada in the semifinals since the Canadians earned a bye into the semis by winning their division.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29 With practice being the only event on our day off, we had a good amount of free time, so we developed a mock TV talk show, which has drawn quite an audience of both players and staff members. We call it "One on One with Chuck Carr." The show brings a good comedic relief to the guys, which is great because the hockey is so intense. One of our goalies, Bobby Goepfert, plays the role of Chuck Carr and is absolutely hilarious. We're not really sure what he's doing here with us in Nova Scotia, since his true calling seems to be Hollywood and the big screen! Just kidding! After our day off on Friday, hockey was back in high gear. We were in a must-win situation against the Swiss, and we delivered. We topped a real strong, hard-working Swiss team. My fellow Wolverine, Dwight Helminen, set up two Chris Higgins' shorthanded goals. For anyone who follows Michigan Hockey, Dwight's shorthanded offense is nothing uncommon. The final score was USA 3, Switzerland 1. Tomorrow we face off aginst Belarus, which is still looking for its first win of the tournament. With a win tomorrow we are almost guaranteed, pending some other games, a ticket back to Halifax for the crossover series. The people of Canada have yet to see our best hockey and hopefully we will peak at the right time!
After our defeat to the Russians on Thursday we had a day to recuperate and get back on track on our quest for a gold medal. We worked on fine-tuning our game in practice and began focusing on our next opponent, Team Switzerland. Over the past few years, USA Hockey and the Swiss Hockey Federation have developed an extremely intense rivalry. The Swiss are always underrated and come up with some big wins in tournaments like the World Juniors.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27 The road began on the 20th when we had our first official practices and started to become accustomed to our surroundings. We skated twice that day and learned the team systems and a little more about each other. On the 21st we again skated twice and began to realize how much this tournament means to the population of Canada. Everywhere we turned, and everything on television, seemed to be related to the World Junior Championship. The publicity and interest this tournament receives here is absolutely astonishing. The 22nd came along and we skated just once in preparation for our only exhibition game, against Team Sweden the following day. On that day we were able to walk around Halifax and learn a little bit about the area, but for the most part the team was more excited for the day to come because we would finally be able to put on our Team USA jerseys. On the 23rd we had a light pregame skate and then boarded the bus for New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, which was about two hours from Halifax. Here we played for the first time as a team in a jam-packed arena of Canadian hockey fans. A good show is what they got as we played a great game and dominated the Swedes with a 6-2 victory. From New Glasgow we bussed to our final destination of Sydney, Nova Scotia, where our division's games are being held. Our Division includes the defending champion and always-strong Team Russia, as well as Team Slovakia, Team Switzerland and Team Belarus. On Christmas Eve we skated once and enjoyed our team Christmas party, which was great for the players since it is always difficult to be away from family and friends during the holidays. There we exchanged gifts and enjoyed a nice Christmas dinner. On Christmas we skated and began focusing on our first game of the tournament against Russia. December 26th, or Boxing Day as they call it here in Canada, brought the highly anticipated matchup of USA vs. Russia. A capacity crowd was on hand for the game but unfortunately for us we came up with the short end of the stick as we were defeated handily by a strong Russian squad, 5-1. The road to the gold medal will no doubt have some bumps along the way, with Russia being one of them and a tournament-ending injury to one of our top defensemen, Tim Gleason, being another. In order to be successful we must be able to respond in a long tournament like this. Hopefully we will get our first win against the Swiss tomorrow, the 28th, in order to keep our medal hopes alive.
The journey begins. We arrived in Halifax on the 19th of December with a team full of players from all the different college leagues as well as major junior hockey and one from the U.S. National Under-18 Team. A great mix of guys with one common goal in mind: the gold medal.
WJC Coverage: Official Site | Team USA
Contact: Paul Thomas (734) 763-4423
