Gold or bust.
It’s been Team Canada’s mantra at pretty much every single world junior hockey championship. But it’s apparently not just a Canadian thing.
Shortly after losing 3-1 in the championship final, Sweden captain Lias Andersson tossed his silver medal into crowd, where a fan caught it and put it around his own neck. There were initial reports that the medal was retrieved, but Andersson denied he got it back. Not that he wanted it.
“I have a silver medal from the U-18 and I haven’t checked it in two years since I lost the last time,” said Andersson, when asked if he might regret his decision in the future.
It just showed the level of frustration from the losing side.
Andersson, who led Sweden with six goals, had been one of the team’s best players. But the first-round pick of the New York Rangers and the rest of the team could not get it done, as Sweden gave up the winning goal in the final two minutes of Friday night’s game.
For a team that had gone undefeated heading in the final, it has now been six straight years that Sweden last won gold.
To make matters worse, this year’s loss was the fourth straight time that Sweden had been defeated in the championship final to Canada. No wonder Andersson was upset.