December 27, 2020. Madison, Mississippi. IIHF.

Every year, The International Ice Hockey Federation runs a world championship for junior hockey. Ken and I pay no attention to junior hockey but years ago, we discovered the tournament and we watched it every year after that. Juniors are aged 16 to 21. Several countries field their national team. The teams are divided into groups, where they play a round robin. The top two teams in each group get into the playoffs, which are single elimination. The tournament is competitive. Every kid wants to win for their country. Many of the players have already been drafted by NHL teams so when you watch, you get to see future stars. Ken and I have always enjoyed the tournaments. I am enjoying it this year This year is being held in Edmonton. All the teams live in the bubble. Germany had 6 players test positive after they arrived so their team had only 14 players dress for their games. After the isolation, the 6 players will be able to join the tournament. In the meantime, Cnada beat Germany 16 to 1. Canada has 19 players on their team who were in the first draft. In other words, they have a stacked team. Canada won the gold last year and want to win again. But repeated gold medals have rare. This afternoon, Cadada beat Slovakia 3 to 1. And one goal was into the empty net. In other words, it was a nail biter. Mexico is not much interestednin cold weather sports so I suspect I will not be able to watch the end of the tournament, which ends after I leave Mississippi. But at the moment, I am enjoying watching these kids play their hearts out. The US beat Austria 11 to 0. But they lost their first game to the Russians. The teams to look for are from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the US. I will be interested to see if I am right.