Canada's world junior hockey team defeated Sweden 5-1 to claim its fifth straight championship Monday night, in front of thousands of roaring fans in Ottawa.
The team has tied Canada's best run, when the juniors captured a streak of gold medals from 1993 to 1997.
On Monday, the newest team secured victory in front of a sell-out crowd of 20,380 people at the Scotiabank Place arena, as Canadians from across the country -- and those serving in Afghanistan -- watched on TV.
Canadian Goalie Dustin Tokarski stopped 39 shots and allowed just a single goal, while Cody Hodgson scored two points, and P.K. Subban, Angelo Esposito and Jordan Eberle scored one each.
Many of the young Canadian players are destined to become stars, and some are already headed for the NHL.
One stand-out has been John Tavares, a forward for the Oshawa Generals. His 2009 Team Canada jersey is being auctioned off on eBay. After the game, the bidding had surpassed $40,100.
He managed two assists on Monday, and finished as the tournament's leading scorer with 16 points.
The team had faced an extremely tough opponent. Sweden was undefeated going into the final game, and had claimed to be playing with its best junior team in history.
The last time Sweden captured gold was in 1981.
Canada has the best track-record at the tournament. While Russia managed seven straight championships starting in 1974, three of those wins happened before the tournament became an official IIHF event.
This year's tournament was a massive success for organizers, who said a total of 453,282 tickets were sold -- a new attendance record, surpassing the 325,138 tickets sold in Vancouver three years ago.
With files from The Canadian Press
