2007-Super-Series IIHF World Junior Championship

#5
1982 IIHF World Junior Championship, Round Robin
December 26, 1982 – Winnipeg, MB

- CANADA 7, USSR 0 -

After three years of disappointment at the IIHF World Junior Championship – 5th in 1979, 5th in 1980 and 7th in 1981 – the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association created the Program of Excellence, bringing together the best Junior-aged players in the country to represent Canada at the World Juniors.

The 1982 tournament was the first for the PoE, and the results were immediate. Not only did Canada win its first-ever gold medal, it beat the Soviets – the winners of the first seven World Juniors – for the first time, and in a big way.

Bruce Eakin (1G 2A), Mark Morrison (1G 2A), Mike Moller (1G 2A), Scott Arniel (1G 1A), Paul Boutilier (1G 1A), Marc Habscheid (1G 1A) and Randy Moller (2A) all had multiple-point games as Canada hammered the Soviets 7-0, outshooting them 36-21 in the process.

The Canadians outscored their opponents 45-14 in their seven games, and only a 3-3 tie with Czechoslovakia prevented them from becoming the first Canadian team to go 7-0 at the World Juniors.

With no recording of O’ Canada in the tiny Graham Arena in Rochester, Minnesota following the final game, and the gold medal presentation, Canadian players standing on the blueline sang the national anthem, sans music, starting a tradition that continues to this day.

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