While the World Juniors may be capturing all of the headlines in international hockey right now, there has been some serious action going on at the Spengler Cup in Switzerland as well. Canada was playing for its fourth consecutive Spengler title, and Finnish club KalPa Kuopio was the last hurdle to clear in Monday’s gold medal game.
This one went all the way down to the wire, ending in a thrilling shootout. After allowing two goals each in the first three rounds, both goalies clamped down in sudden death, and it wasn’t until the eighth round that Canadian goalie Zach Fucale was beat by Jaakko Rissanen.
KalPa became the first Finnish club to win the Spengler Cup, while Canada fell just short of tying its previous run of four consecutive Spengler titles from 1995 to 1998.
While it may not have ended the way that the team would’ve liked, it was certainly an exciting ride for Canadian fans who tuned in to the team’s run to the gold medal game, and this vintage hit by Kevin Bieksa was as good a highlight as any.
