ScottM Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 A pretty decent article on the WJC, US hockey and some college and MJ hockey comparisons. New York Times January 11, 2004. Youth Brings U.S. Hockey Dreams of Gold By JOE LAPOINTE Published: January 11, 2004 Coach Mike Eaves did not receive the attention and admiration showered upon Pete Carroll and Nick Saban recently. But the championship won by Eaves's team might have been more significant to his sport. Carroll's Southern California Trojans and Saban's Louisiana State Tigers shared the nation's college football championship after winning bowl games. Eaves's United States team bested the world, going 6-0 to win the gold medal at the junior hockey championship in Helsinki, Finland. With a third-period comeback and a 4-3 victory over Canada on Monday, the United States won its first title in the 28-year history of the tournament, which is for players 20 and under. The victory brought the optimism of youth to an American program that has relied for a decade on the same core group of aging professional players for Olympic and World Cup tournaments. "I think this is one of those groups that is special," Eaves said Thursday in a conference call with reporters. The most valuable player of the tournament was Zach Parise, a first-round selection of the Devils in the N.H.L. draft last June. Parise tied for the tournament lead with 11 points on 5 goals and 6 assists. Born in Minnesota, he plays in college for North Dakota and is the son of J. P. Parise, who played in the N.H.L. for the Islanders and the Minnesota North Stars. "You could see it coming, but you didn't want to look too far ahead," Parise, 19, said of the first United States gold in the tournament. "Three-quarters of the team had played together before." Other stars included defensemen Mark Stuart of Colorado College, who has been drafted by the Boston Bruins, and Ryan Suter of Wisconsin, drafted by the Nashville Predators. The goalie was Al Montoya of Michigan, who will be eligible for the draft this year. "We'll be around for a long time," said Suter, 18, whose father, Bob, played for the 1980 Olympic team that won the gold medal at Lake Placid, N.Y. "Whenever they call, I'm definitely going to be right there, waiting." Suter is also the nephew of Gary Suter, who played 17 seasons in the N.H.L. Before this season, the United States national junior team had won one silver medal, in 1997, and two bronze medals, in 1986 and 1992. Canada and Russia have each won the tournament 10 times. The winning goal Monday came when Marc-Andr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoteauRinkRat Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 Nice to see Parise getting some ink in the NY Times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmidtdoggydog Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 Yeah, it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMT Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 Yes, it is definitely good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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