Canada and Russia are set to face off Tuesday night for the Gold Medal of the 2005 IIHF World Junior Championship. Russia downed the U.S. 7-2 Sunday night with a barrage of goals in the third period. Also, Canada finally had some competition on the ice winning their semifinal 3-1 over the Czech Republic Sunday afternoon. What do you think about the tournament?

-Ron

Here, i think thats a good overview of the history of teh Junior tournament (from the tournament's official website):

The origins of the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Hockey Championship began in 1974 as a six-team individual tournament involving the Soviet Union, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Czechoslovakia and the United States. International competition continued in popularity following the tremendous success of the 1972 Summit Series between Team Canada and the Soviet Union, and the presence of professional players representing Canada at the World Championships. Since its inception as a world championship event, the World Juniors now feature ten junior (U-20) teams and the best junior players in the world.



The success of the event can be seen in the number of hockey superstars who have taken part in the World Juniors. For example, Wayne Gretzky, Mike Modano, Jeremy Roenick, Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Peter Forsberg all have parti***ted in the event. More recent players include: Ed Jovanovski and Jarome Iginla, not to mention former Fighting Sioux players Brad Berry, Greg Johnson, James Patrick, Brad Bombadir, and last year's Team USA gold medal winners Zach Parise, Brady Murray and Drew Stafford.



The World Junior Hockey Championship has become the Stanley Cup of junior hockey. For many players, it is the beginning of a brilliant career, for others, the pinnacle. It is a tournament of emotion, desire and pride.

-Ron