Norwegian Wood

OK, so I didn't pick a very good title. I was trying to find something clever with a reference to Norway and the great Beatles song is the only thing that came to mind.

Over to Riga for a IIHF World Championships update.

Team Canada, who now has a full complement of players and a veteran captain, walked all over Norway in a 7 - 1 victory earlier today. It could have been worse had they not let up slightly in the 3rd period. All of their goals were scored in the first two periods (7 goals on only 24 shots!).

As expected, the young trio of Sidney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Boyes is leading the Canadians offensively. Adding Brendan Shanahan was a brilliant move and he will be the undisputed leader of this team. Make no mistake, however, the offence will be dictated by the youngsters. When the Crosby - Bergeron duo is followed up by the Carter - Richards duo, you know that scoring won't be an issue.

Now, of course, Canada has only played Denmark and Norway. The real challenge will begin in earnest on Tuesday when the Canadians play Team USA.

The USA is the only other team that has a roster filled with NHLers. What's different this time around, though, is that they have a roster on which half of the players are under 25 years old. This is quite the change from the geriatrics we are used to seeing.

That's it for today's report from Latvia. Now I've got to pay more attention to the Edmonton - San Jose game and hope the Oil can tie it up early in the third.