Every single year, Canada comes into the World Juniors with the most loaded roster.
As a result, they are always heavy favorites to win the tournament every year.
Especially in years that are hosting the tournament.
The Latvian national junior team has two kids on the roster who was drafted to an NHL organization.
The national team has had a good amount of relative success over the past 10 years or so.
They made it to the quarterfinals at the 2014 Olympics.
They won the bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships.
So they’re getting there for sure.
But this is a national hockey program whose best ever finish was a bronze medal at the World Championships.
Make no mistake about this, Canada is the current Soviet Red Army.
And here come a rag tag group of Latvian kids ready to shock the world.
But 20 minutes down, no score.
Latvia keeps sticking around, sticking around, and before you know it….BANG.
But once again, they didn’t put Latvia away when they had the chance.
Here comes captainPeteris Bulans (undrafted)to make every single asshole in Canada as tight as humanly possible.
Bulans plays for Chicoutimi in the QMJHL.
He’s not known as being an offensive defenseman.
He’s had 11 total goals over the past 3 seasons in the QMJHL.
But he scored the biggest goal of his life when his team needed him the most last night.
Tie game against the the favorites to win it all, on their home ice.
But the Latvians weren’t done just yet.
Canada was already shell shocked.
They had no idea what was going on.
No idea what had just hit them.
And they just forget how to put the puck in the back of the net.
The entire overtime period goes by, and no goals were scored.
What a performance out of that kid, by the way.
Easily one of the greatest performances between the pipes in this tournament’s history.
Finally, Eriks Mateiko has the game on his stick and absolutely rifles one past Jack Ivankovic.
He had scored the biggest goal of his career about 30 minutes ago at that point.
And then followed it up with an even bigger one in the shootout.
Easily the most shocking result in the history of the World Juniors.
But that’s why games are played on the ice and not on paper.
Latvia plays Canada 10 times, the Canadians win 9 of them.
But not last night.
Because last night, Latvia was the greatest national junior team in the world.
They skated with them and they shut them down.
That was their time, and they went out there and took it.
– Can’t wait for Team USA to completely steamroll the fuck out of Latvia today at 3:30.
Bring them back down to life a little bit with a good ol' fashioned shit pumping.
