2.ª divisão - Post Milenio

Stadium Suplemento Desportivo
9 a 15 de Janeiro de 2009
17
John Tavares
Portuguese-Canadian Hockey Star
The 2009 World Junior Hockey
Championship finale was billed as a rematch
of last year's gold-medal contest. But for
those with an eye towards the future of hockey,
this contest pitted the two prohibitive
favorites to hear their name called at the top
of this year's NHL entry draft in Montreal.
John Tavares versus Victor Hedman. Former
undisputed top 2009 draft prospect versus the
current consensus number-one. World Junior
gold was at stake -- but so to was the opportunity
to carve a clear path to the NHL draft
podium in June.
Tournament MVP, all-star forward, and a share of the
scoring lead with teammate Cody Hodgson. It's safe to say
that Tavares has staked his claim to reclaim the top prospect
crown. And in doing so he powered his Team Canada squad
to a 5-1 victory in the gold-medal rematch before a tournament
record 20,380 spectators.
"Obviously the draft's there and people are going to talk
about it," Tavares said. "It's just like last year, I came in and
just wanted to be part of a team and be successful and bring
home a gold for all of Canada.
"Obviously my role was a lot bigger and I wanted to
take upon extra leadership and play a bigger offensive role
and that's what I tried to do."
Understanding the underlying story between him and
Hedman, Tavares said he preferred to focus on the here and
now -- not what may happen in June.
"I'm not really thinking about that because you just
want to enjoy this experience. Our thing was let's just play
in the moment and enjoy the moment," he said. "That's the
way we were coached every day. My focus really was to
stay loose, have fun, make sure I enjoyed the experience
and had no regrets."
Tavares led the Canadians into action, entering the
game with eight goals and six assists in five games. He
would go on to add another assist to that tournament-leading
total. Leading the Swedes on the ice was Victor
Hedman, who entered the game a plus-five with two assists.
Entering the tournament, Hedman was the hotter of the two
-- at least in the eyes of draftniks around the world. ISS had
him ranked No. 1 for the upcoming draft, and most pundits
have placed the hulking Swedish blueliner above Tavares in
their rankings.
Conversely, Tavares appears to be suffering from paralysis
by overanalysis. For three solid seasons, the young forward
has been touted as the Next One and during that time
the sheen has worn off. Although not the first -- and certainly
not the last -- Tavares appears to be suffering from
the phenomenon which sees the longer one's in the spotlight,
the more observers stop looking for the good and
search for the bad.
Hedman said that while the draft talk was present, he
was focused on his team. "I was here with my team and I
wanted to play as good as I can and I tried to make my best
every game," Hedman said. "I'm proud to be a part of this
team and we worked really hard. I thought we had a really
good game in this final."
Hedman and Tavares were matched up early and often
in this game. Four minutes into the period, Hedman was
pinching in towards an open spot in the crease when
Tavares turned his head, saw the play, and filled the passing
lane. On the ensuing rush into the Swedish zone, Hedman
shadowed Tavares all the way to the front of the net, anticipating
a pass that never came.
Later that same period -- on another Canadian power
play -- Hedman intercepted a Tavares pass into the slot to
break up a scoring chance. This after aggressively throwing
his weight around to disrupt the establishment of the
Canadian power play.
In fact, Hedman seemed to be making up for a lackluster
tournament with his dominant play in the first period.
The burly Swede combined physical play with an ability to
keep the puck on a string, engaging in a pair of dramatic
rushes that resulted in quality scoring chances. Alas, it was
all for naught in the first as the Canadian squad ended the
first period up one goal.
In the second, Hedman stood up for his goaltender as
Angelo Esposito collided with netminder Jacob Markstrom
three-and-a-half minutes into the period. Hedman put
Esposito in a headlock as a minor scrum took place. No
penalties were called either way. And that inaction allowed
Esposito to walk out in front of the Swedish goal a few
short moments later and backhand his third goal of the tournament,
on a second assist from Tavares. From that point
on, every time Hedman touched the the crowd booed vociferously.
"I don't really care about that. I wasn't there to make any
new friends. It's hard to take. The refs had rules for the other
games and they changed the rules for this one," Hedman
said. "Somebody needed to stand up for my goalie and I did
it. If they want to boo my they can boo me. I care about my
goalie, I don't really care about the people around."
Tavares continued to wreak havoc on the Swedish
defense, at one point generating two scoring chances on the
same shift, which were only quelled by Markstrom's allworld
play. And he showed a little defensive awareness,
saving a sure goal on a Swedish power play by getting
down on hands and knees to rescue an out-of-position
Dustin Tokarski.
Tokarski, Tampa Bay's 2008 fifth-round selection, quieted
those critics who questioned his continued presence in
the Canadian net. His performance in the gold medal game
was reminiscent of his run in last year's Memorial Cup tournament
-- a run that was highlighted by a 53-save performance
against the host Kitchener Rangers in the Cup-clinching
game and his naming as the tournament's top goaltender
and MVP.
"It's an unbelievable feeling. The Memorial Cup was
something special -- an unbelievable group of guys
throughout the whole season who came together as one," he
said. "And here's another unbelievable group of guys that in
a little under a month came together and accomplished
something amazing. They're both separate pages of a similar
book."
Although similar accolades were not forthcoming in
this tournament, Tokarski played the game of his tournament
in the final -- outplaying his counterpart Jacob
Markstrom. The Swedish second-round selection of the
Florida Panthers was frequently agitated by the Canadian
play -- imploring the refs for penalties, receiving and instigating
contract, and even fighting a couple of Canadian
players at the bench area (leading to a penalty).
That lack of discipline cost the Swedes dearly in this
game. Another Backlund penalty (he was in the box on the
first Canadian power play goal) resulted in another
Canadian score, this time by Cody Hodgson, which put the
team up 3-0. And instrumental in that play was Tavares,
who picked up his second assist -- and 15th point of the
tournament.
After two periods, the Swedes were outshooting the
Canadian squad 28-21. The final tally was 40-31. Tokarski
was perfect until the 8:30 mark of the third period when the
Swedes 34th shot by Joakim Andersson eluded his glove
hand. Throughout the tournament -- and even leading up to
it -- the netminding situation was a frequent topic of conversation
across Canada. The young goaltender said he felt
vindicated by the performance.
"Yeah, a little bit. The only thing that matters is winning
and we went 6-0 in this tournament," he said. "If anyone
says anything that's their own opinion. I'm just going to
keep working hard and believing, and once again we got a
gold medal."
Whether the World Junior performance changes anyone's
rankings for the upcoming draft, Hedman admitted to
mixed emotions about his play and the need to apply these
lessons learned to his future.
"I don't know. Maybe I played more of a defensive role
in this tournament, it's not like a role that I play back with
my club team where I play a more offensive role. What I
take from me is all the fighting we did as a team, the good
team spirit that we had through all the tournament,"
Hedman said. "I think I learned a lot from this tournament
and I'm going to take it back to my club team and try to win
and hopefully get to the playoffs and win the gold back
home.
"I played well. It's hard to say, but we wanted to win a
gold and it doesn't matter if I played good or bad. We came
here to win a gold medal and it doesn't matter whether I
played good or not -- we didn't win. I tried to play my best
and make my best every game. It's not every day you can
play at the top, but I tried to do that the whole tournament.
I'm very proud of what I did at this tournament and playing
for the gold, but maybe Canada played very well as a team
too, so it was hard but they won the game."
At the end of the game, with just over three minutes
remaining, Hedman crossed paths with Tavares in the
crease, learning forward to give him a little bump from
behind with his shoulder. It was symbolic of one small battle
by the Swede, but the greater war was taken by the
Canadian. And now we wait as they wage campaigns on
separate fronts -- coming together one more time in la belle
province.
Name: John Tavares
Position: C
Shoots: Left
Height: 6-0
Weight: 198 lbs
Birthdate: 1990-09-20
Eligible for Draft: 2009
Drafted:
Hometown: Mississauga, Ontario
Acquired: Eligible for the 2009 NHL Draft
Playing In: CHL
By: Jason’s Manard in Hockey’sfuture.com