The World Junior Hockey Championship just wrapped up a couple days ago in Grand Forks, ND, with Canada earning their first gold medal at the event since 1997. In any other country, the several bronzes and silvers they've garnered since then might be grounds for pride, but in the Great White North, second-best in hockey just won't do.

The Canadian contingent owes their success to a number of factors, not the least of which is the coaching ability of Brent Sutter. He got his players to buy into a defense-first system (their offensive domination was a foregone conclusion) that shut down the opposition almost entirely, allowing only 7 goals through 6 games. This left Jeff Glass and Rejean Beauchemin - goalies number 1 and 2, respectively - with long opportunities to catch up on their reading as the puck barely crossed the Canadian blueline, though the two netminders were solid when they needed to be.

Perhaps just as impressive as his defensive system was Sutter's ability to keep his players from taking too many stupid penalties; many of the tournament's other top teams, including the Czechs, the Russians, and the Americans, engaged in exchanges of stickwork and cheap shots, often after the whistle had blown. This was especially costly for the Americans, who were visibly frustrated throughout the tournament, having been considered among the favourites coming in. In the bronze medal game, they and the Czechs exchanged penalty after penalty, negating power plays left and right because of blatantly vicious actions; crosschecks to the head and elbows to the face were not uncommon. The Americans would end up losing in overtime, as opposing dynamo Peter Vrana broke through the defense and slid the puck under goalie Al Montoya in another of the weak goals the 'keeper came to be known for, after being named the tournament MVP the previous year.

Despite their physical abilities, the Canadian men largely resisted the temptation to take foolish penalties. When they met the Czechs in the semis, the Canadians could be seen trying to draw infractions out of their opponents; at one point captain Mike Richards took a gloved punch to the face in the midst of a scrum with three Czechs, but laughed it off and skated away. Such discipline is difficult to teach, and it helps if the team is absolutely confident in themselves and their abilities as a unit, which the Canucks clearly were, especially against a team that is known for its chippy play and its ability to draw retaliatory penalties. Canada continued this trend into the finals, where the Russians - and Alexander Ovechkin in particular - were worn down by hard, clean hits, thrown by everyone from Dion Phaneuf to Sidney Crosby. In short, Canada's game was as complete as ever, and the strict discipline taught by head coach Brent Sutter propelled them to the championship; it is a strategy that should become priority for Hockey Canada, and other international teams would be wise to follow suit.