Game 2 of World Juniors

Game 2 for Canada in the World Juniors was held in Mora.
We spent the day of Dec 27 wandering from Leksand to Mora and then headed into the arena an hour early to watch the warm up. Again we sat in a corner in the 4th row. Right beside us was a large group of Canadian fans who turned out to be family members of the Canadian players. We talked with Mrs. and Mr. Parent (parents of #4 Ryan Parent - defenseman) for a bit and and they suggested we could stick around after the game to meet the players and get autographs. Then the game was underway.
The rivalry between the USA and Canada was obvious from the beginning - this was a whole different type of hockey than what we had seen in game 1 when Canada played Sweden. The cheering from the fans was also very different. Swedish fans have a number of songs and clap to any music and have their own clapping rhythms - generally very positive cheering. Canadian fans were less organized and often far
more negative in their cheering. For example any time Jack Johnson stepped on the ice for the USA, there was booing from the Canadians and there were also some jibes for Gerbe"gerbil". But in general, the Canadian fans were loud and proud in supporting their team.
The Game itself was a good one. The 3rd picture shows Canada scoring on a penalty shot after one of the US defensemen threw his stick to stop a shot on goal. Note the waterbottle flying up in the air! The game was close for the first 2 periods and then the Canadians pulled ahead in the 3rd. The final score was 6 - 3.













After the game was over, we waited, and waited until the team trickled in after showering for their 10 minutes of visiting with family and friends before being whisked away again. We felt a little badly about taking some of their precious time, but the players seemed happy to sign M and D's team Canada hats. Our boys were pretty impressed with the whole thing and we headed back home an hour late, but happy.