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On Friday, the United States continued their dominance in junior hockey as they won the IIHF World Under-18 Champions as they defeated Sweden 3-1. On the other end of the spectrum and I mean the other end of the spectrum, Canada wasn’t even in the medal round. They finished in seventh place.

The question came up on the internet should the tournament be held after the CHL Playoffs are over? This type question has come from Canadians. I don’t think they should just move the tournament to please one nation. Although the argument can be made having it after the CHL Playoffs will increase the coverage of the tournament because then it can be held in Canada.

This is first time Canada has done this bad in this tournament, it’s not a trend. I thought the selection of the Canadian roster left me scratching my head. They left a potential first round draft Mark Pysyk off the roster. The players didn’t do their part and thought they had the tournament won before it even started.

The other question that came up was the United States plays as a team throughout the season. There’s nothing in the IIHF rulebook that says USA Hockey can’t do that. Lately they have been taking talent from outside the program for this tournament. They had two players from outside the program and had a couple of players from the Under-17 program.

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