Canada advances to gold medal game at world juniors hockey championship

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Canada/Canadian-Media: After beating Russia 5-0 in semifinal action on Monday night in Edmonton, Canada, playing for gold at the world junior hockey championship, will look to defend its title on Tuesday.

World junior hockey championship. Image credit: hockeycanada.ca

"The picture of [playing for gold] has been probably our driving force since we got here," Devon Levi said on a video call after Monday's win. "We've put in a lot to this. It's a great feeling that we're here and that we got here. But the job's not done yet."

Canadian coach Andre Tourigny said that he has been preparing the mindset of the players for adversity since coming together for selection camp in mid-November, which helped them prepare for the challenge of fighting for gold.

"Team Canada played a good, solid game. They were solid defensively and very efficient offensively, too," said Russia's coach Igor Larionov.

Team Canada will play the United States tonight at the world junior hockey championship, with the gold medal on the line.

"The way the leaders and the player deal with adversity every time there's adversity, that's what's made the difference to me," Tourigny said.

"It's a really tough tournament, there's still a lot of hockey to be played here. Tomorrow will be a hell of a game."