WJC History: 1990 - Helsinki, Finland

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Canada: 5 W - 1 T - 1 L, Gold Medal

With one game left to play, Canada looked like a lock for silver at the 1990 World Junior Championships in Helsinki, Finland.

A 5-4 loss to Sweden in their second-last game had put Canada behind the stacked Soviets in the standings. Sweden had scored three goals in 96 seconds to stun the Canadians and and put the Russians in the driver's seat.

Russia had lost to Canada earlier in the round-robin, but led the standings at 5-1-0 while Canada was 4-1-1. All the Soviets needed was a win over Sweden in their final game and the gold was theirs. Canada had to beat Czechoslovakia and hope the Swedes could get at least a tie against Russia. That would give Canada the gold based on their head-to-head win over the Russians.

But that was a tall order. Russia had a ton of future NHL talent, including Pavel Bure, Alexei Zhamnov, Sergei Zubov and Andrei Kovalenko. And the Czechs had Robert Reichel, Bobby Holik, Jiri Slegr and a big kid named Jaromir Jagr.

Canada countered with its own stars like Eric Lindros and Dave Chyzowski, not to mention the usual Grade-A grinders like Kris Draper and Mike Ricci. It was perhaps the most well-balanced team Canada had ever iced at the tournament. They also had an ace in the hole in Stephane Fiset, who would be named the tournament's top goaltender.

On the tournament's final day, all looked lost. Canada was beating the Czechs 2-1 behind Fiset's brilliance, but was struggling to hold the lead. Russia, meanwhile, was ahead of the Swedes 5-4 late in their game.

But the Swedes did Canada a huge favour, scoring with one second left on the clock to tie the Soviets 5-5, opening the door for Canada. Word of the Swedish miracle hit the Canadian bench with 2:37 left in their match with Czechoslovakia. They rallied to hold off Jagr and company, winning 2-1 to claim a miracle gold medal. 

Team Canada Roster (GP - G - A - Pts)

David Chyzowski (7 - 9 - 4 - 13)
Mike Needham (7 - 3 - 4 - 7)
Dwayne Norris (7 - 2 - 4 - 6)
Stu Barnes (7 - 2 - 4 - 6)
Wes Walz (7 - 2 - 3 - 5)
Eric Lindros (7 - 4 - 0 - 4)
Dan Ratushny (7 - 2 - 2 - 4)
Patrice Brisebois (7 - 2 - 2 - 4)
Kevin Haller (7 - 2 - 2 - 4)
Mike Ricci (5 - 0 - 4 - 4)
Mike Craig (7 - 3 - 0 - 3)
Kent Manderville (7 - 1 - 2 - 3)
Scott Pellerin (7 - 2 - 0 - 2)
Steven Rice (7 - 2 - 0 - 2)
Kris Draper (7 - 0 - 2 - 2)
Stewart Malgunas (7 - 0 - 1 - 1)
Jason Herter (7 - 0 - 1 - 1)
Adrien Plavsic (7 - 0 - 1 - 1) 

Team Canada Goaltending (W-L-T - GAA - SO)

Stephane Fiset (5-1-1 - 2.57 - 1)
Trevor Kidd (0-0-0 - 0.00 - 0)