June 26 2010
JUNE 26/10 VILLACH, AUT – The last of the trio of events that combine to be the World Junior Championships was completed with splendid backdrop of the Alps.
Every championship has a unique memory and adds to our history. The U20 round-robin brought us our first dead-even tie that required a special shoot-out after the final game was played. The Czechs and Slovaks after 5 games were tied in points and plus-minus but only one of them could advance to the gold medal game, with Canada finishing at the top of the table, claiming the first position in the final match. The shoot-out was high drama, with many players from other nations returning to the arena and spectators of the CAN-USA match remaining for the spectacle.
5-minutes of warm-up for the goaltenders and shooters added to the build-up. With the sound of the buzzer the teams and referees readied themselves. Five shooters each would be featured in the first stage, then single shooters if necessary to break a tie. Incredibly the Czech marksmen were a perfect 4-for-4 and a fifth was not required due to Slovakia only posting two scores on their four.
I was mightily impressed with the event overall. Helmut Falle and his organizing committee deserve much credit for the high quality of ceremony, presentation, and delivery. The tournament was well supported by local spectators, and the various levels of government were gracious in hospitality and genuine pleasure of our selecting Villach. Honestly, we were the fortunate ones having a beautiful city such as Villach chose to welcome us.
The Austrian team, although in final standings they finished 5th, their quality of play in the round-robin could easily had them place as high as 3rd, only losing by one goal to both the Americans and Slovakians. A sign of a bright future for this Alpine nation? Let’s hope so. The Corinthians are big hockey lovers. No reason they cannot be great ball hockey aficionados too.
And so, the triumvirate tally results in 2-Gold (U18) and 1-Silver (U16) for CAN, 1-Gold (U16), 1-Silver (U18) and 1-Bronze (U20) for SVK, 1-Silver (U20) and 2-Bronze (U16/18) for CZE.
President's note
Domenic Di Gironimo
ISBHF president
JUNE 26/10 VILLACH, AUT – The last of the trio of events that combine to be the World Junior Championships was completed with splendid backdrop of the Alps.
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