Once Santa is sitting cozy back at the North Pole with a hot mug of cocoa, it’s game time.
Boxing Day means the puck drops on the World Junior hockey tournament.
The Chronicle Herald’s Willy Palov said he thinks Canada could take gold this year.
“They’ve got Curtis Lazar, he’s the captain, he’s going to be a huge help with the leadership and everything else he does,” said Palov. “Anthony Duclair will help with the scoring, those have been two areas that have been a little bit weak the last few years.”
Canada has not claimed the top spot in five years, and they’ve been kept off the podium in the last two tournaments.
This year, they are off to a good start, having outscored opponents 12-4 in three pre-tournament exhibition matches.
As for who will be between the pipes, Palov thinks we’ll see a familiar face, former Mooseheads goalie Zach Fucale.
“He played last year as a starter for Canada, he’s won a Memorial Cup, he’s statistically one of the best goalies to ever play in the Quebec league,” he said. “The head coach Benoit Groulx is familiar with him, there just seems to be too many factors there to keep him out of the net.”
Fucale was also in net last night for the exhibition game against the Swiss, meaning he’s likely to get the nod over Eric Comrie.
Canada has home ice this year, with games being played in both Toronto and Montreal, so this year it’s Europe’s turn to get up in the middle of the night to watch the games.
The tournament starts at 2 p.m. on the December 26th when Russia takes on Denmark.
Canada’s first game is at 9 p.m. that night when they play Slovakia.
You can listen to that game right here on News 95.7.