In case you weren't aware, the World Juniors are on! Yeah, in August, weird right? The Covid-19 pandemic robbed us of the traditional January tournament for the world's best U20 players, but gave us a silver lining. Hockey in August! How cool is that! The tournament kicked off on Tuesday, with Leafs prospect Roni Hirvonen lighting it up against Latvia with 3 points in a 6-1 win for Finland.
Team Canada started their tournament on Wednesday, also against Latvia. It was here that Senators prospect Ridley Greig scored an absolutely ridiculous goal in the second period. Connor Bedard had opened the scoring but Rainers Darzins managed to even the score before the end of the first period. Team Canada would storm back in the second, scoring 3 unanswered. Grieg's goal to make it 4-1 was an absolute beauty.
Sprung on a partial break, Grieg used his body to protect the puck and went from forehand to backhand with one hand on his stick. It looked like he would try to extend around Latvian goalie Patriks Berzins in the style that Peter Forsberg and Kari Lethonen made famous. Instead, with one hand on his stick, he pulled it back to his forehand and flipped the puck through the five hole. An incredible goal that only got better after another look.
Canada would go on to win the game 5-2. Honestly, Latvia played a much better game than expected. Berzins was named player of the game for Team Latvia, making 33 saves in a losing effort, while Grieg was named player of the Game for Team Canada. The Canadian kids will face off against the Slovaks tomorrow, puck drop will be at 4PM Local time, 6PM Eastern time.
