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26 Sports Oakville Beaver www.aplushomes.ca Adam Campbell 905-844-4444 I N D E P E N D E N T LY O W N E D A N D O P E R AT E D Broker of Record B R O K E R A G E SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2009 Tavares shines in Canadian win Sniper named world junior MVP; defenceman Goloubef also key By Brian McNair and Herb Garbutt METROLAND MEDIA GROUP OTTAWA -- Cementing himself as the top prospect for the next National Hockey League draft, John Tavares came home from the 2009 World Junior Hockey Championship with a bagful of awards. But none more precious than the shiny gold medal, his second in succession and Canada's fifth, tying the country's own record set from 199397. Tavares showed his usual amount of composure and class throughout, despite dealing with a media hoard every time he practiced or played, and despite trade speculation about his Ontario Hockey League career resurfacing big-time just hours before Monday's championship showdown with Sweden. And, while he managed just a single assist in Canada's 5-1 victory before a tournament record crowd of 20,380, he played "There's no better a solid two-way game and became the second feeling than being straight Oakville resident, following Steve part of this team Mason, to be named the tournament's most valuable player. and being a world "It's a great honour, but I couldn't have champion." earned it without the other 21 guys here. So many other guys made contributions that were World junior hockey so important," the Oshawa Generals captain said MVP John Tavares of the MVP award. "It's a great honour, but there's no better feeling than being part of this team and being a world champion." Teammate Cody Goloubef, the fourth Oakville native to win world junior gold in the last two years, couldn't have agreed more. "It's an honour to get to play at the world juniors," said the 19-year-old defenceman. "We always watched that growing up and knowing there were 3.5 million people watching last night, it was a lot of pressure but it's something I'll never forget -- standing on the blueline, singing O Canada, jumping off the bench." Tavares, with eight goals and 15 points in the six games, also won the top forward award and was named an all-star, despite finishing a point behind teammate Cody Hodgson in the tournament scoring race. The MVP award was Tavares' for the losing after he single-handedly led Canada back from the dead against the United States in the final game of the round robin. He scored Canada's first two goals to cut into an early 3-0 deficit, then completed the hat trick into an empty net in a 7-4 win. His quietest game came in Saturday's semifinal, but he still bagged two assists -- one of them on the game-tying goal with 5.4 seconds to play in regulation -- and scored in the shootout of a miraculous 6-5 win over the Russians. "I can say at the end of the day that I gave it my all and left it all out there," he said after the draining tournament. Goloubef's contributions may not have been as easy to spot by scanning the summaries -- he had just one assist -- but they were important nonetheless. Goloubef and P.K. Subban emerged as an effective pairing, gradually assuming more responsibility as the tournament progressed. Goloubef was on the ice for just one even-strength goal against in Canada's six games. He finished the tournament ranked second with a plus-10 rating, trailing only Subban's plus-12. With two returning defencemen, a player who started the season in the NHL and two more who were taken in the top 13 picks of last year's NHL draft, it was no easy task to make the cut on Canada's defensive unit. But Goloubef did it, and it was his former Toronto Marlies teammate that delivered the news. "It was a dream come true," the University of Wisconsin defenceman said. "Sitting up at six in the morning, getting that call and then having Tavares knock on the door and give me that duffle bag with my name on it, RON PIETRONIRO / METROLAND MEDIA GROUP See Tavares page 28 VICTORY LAP: John Tavares celebrates Canada's World Junior Hockey Championship victory Monday in Ottawa.