In the lead-up to the 2021 World Junior Championship, we're taking a look back at each of the 18 Canadian teams to capture the gold medal, culminating Dec. 25 with the start of the latest edition of the tournament.
Canada iced its best-ever world junior roster at the 2005 tournament, which took place in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in the midst of an NHL lockout.
The Canadian program was coming off a crushing loss to the United States in the gold-medal game in Finland one year prior. In that matchup, the Americans wiped out a two-goal deficit with three third-period tallies en route to a 4-3 win.
It had been a long time since Canada tasted victory at the tournament, as the team hadn't won gold since 1997, settling for four silvers and two bronzes in the seven years following that triumph.
With the 2005 tourney taking place on U.S. soil, Canada was under even more pressure to prevent the hosts from repeating as champions. However, with a whopping 12 returning players thanks in large part to the NHL work stoppage, the Canadians were perfectly positioned to steamroll the field and reclaim the crown.
The roster
| Player | Position | Age |
|---|---|---|
| Patrice Bergeron | F | 19 |
| Jeff Carter* | F | 19 |
| Jeremy Colliton* | F | 19 |
| Sidney Crosby* | F | 17 |
| Nigel Dawes* | F | 19 |
| Stephen Dixon* | F | 19 |
| Colin Fraser | F | 19 |
| Ryan Getzlaf* | F | 19 |
| Andrew Ladd | F | 19 |
| Clarke MacArthur | F | 19 |
| Corey Perry | F | 19 |
| Mike Richards* | F | 19 |
| Anthony Stewart* | F | 19 |
| Cam Barker | D | 18 |
| Shawn Belle* | D | 19 |
| Braydon Coburn* | D | 19 |
| Dion Phaneuf* | D | 19 |
| Brent Seabrook* | D | 19 |
| Danny Syvret | D | 19 |
| Shea Weber | D | 19 |
| Rejean Beauchemin | G | 19 |
| Jeff Glass | G | 19 |
*Denotes returning player
All ages are as of the start of the tournament
The tournament
Team Canada didn't mess around in the round-robin stage, dominating all four opponents by a combined margin of 32-5. The four-goal differential in the squad's tournament-opening 7-3 win over Slovakia was the smallest of those four contests, as the Canadians then walloped Sweden 8-1, demolished Germany 9-1, and thumped Finland 8-1.
After earning a bye through the quarterfinals, Canada defeated the Czech Republic 3-1 in the semifinals and coasted to a 6-1 win over Russia in the gold-medal game.
The stars
Bergeron earned tournament MVP honors after leading all skaters with 13 points in six games, while Carter tied Alex Ovechkin and the Czech Republic's Rostislav Olesz with a tourney-best seven goals.
Crosby's youth didn't deter him from producing against older players as he netted six goals, and Getzlaf collected three tallies and nine assists of his own.
Bergeron, Carter, and Phaneuf were named to the event's All-Star team.
Perry and Ladd both registered seven points in six games, while Phaneuf and Dawes each posted a point per contest. MacArthur buried four goals.
The key moment
Considering how utterly dominant Canada was in this tournament, there was no one play that truly tipped the scales. However, Bergeron's goal in the gold-medal game, which gave his team a 4-1 lead, was the dagger and also perfectly illustrated how the squad was far too skilled for its opponents.
With Team Canada on the power play, Phaneuf created a turnover in his defensive zone by bulldozing a pair of Russian attackers in one fell swoop. Perry then flipped it up to Crosby, who flew into the offensive zone and unleashed a blistering slap shot from the left circle.
Russian goaltender Andrei Kuznetsov made the save but gave up a juicy rebound in front and soon found himself out of position. Perry quickly pounced on the loose puck and shoveled it to Bergeron, who deposited it into a wide-open net.
The fallout
Crosby returned to the QMJHL's Rimouski Oceanic after the tournament and finished the 2004-05 season with 168 points in 62 games. He earned league MVP honors for the second straight campaign and helped the Oceanic reach the Memorial Cup final. The Pittsburgh Penguins selected him first overall at the NHL draft that June, and the rest is history.
Bergeron had already played his rookie season with the Boston Bruins before this world junior tournament. Due to the lockout, the gifted center suited up for Providence, the Bruins' AHL affiliate, before and after the tourney in 2004-05. He fully arrived as an NHL star the following campaign.
Getzlaf and Perry - both of whom were selected by the then-Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the first round of the 2003 draft - played their rookie seasons with the franchise in 2005-06. They helped transform the team into conference finalists and then Stanley Cup champions in 2007.
Several other players on this Canadian squad ultimately achieved NHL success and stardom, including Carter and Richards. Ladd and Seabrook won the Cup together with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, and Seabrook was a key part of three titles. Weber was held off the score sheet entirely in six games at this tourney, but he made his Nashville Predators debut the following season and quickly became one of the best defensemen in the NHL.
Barker was the only player on Canada's 2005 world junior team to return for 2006, but he was joined by a new crop of talent that included the likes of Jonathan Toews and Kris Letang. The 2006 squad didn't boast as many future NHL game-breakers as the previous year's edition, but it would prove to be nearly as dominant as its predecessor.
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