Best Christmas Ever

Ok, that title is a little misleading. It's actually going to be the best Boxing Day ever, but Americans don't observe the passing of Boxing Day, so I was stuck in how to title this entry. Instead, I went with the "best Christmas ever" title because hockey fans will have two solid international competitions that they can tune into between December 26 and January 5, 2009. I'm talking about the 2009 World Junior Championship in Ottawa, Ontario and the 2008 Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland. Both offer a feast of solid hockey action, and it appears that Canada may be the favorites in both tournaments as they enter as defending champions in both.

I'll save the previews for the upcoming days. TSN will carry all the Team Canada World Junior Championship games, and Rogers' Sportsnet will carry all of the Team Canada Spengler Cup games. The tournament schedules for Team Canada in both tournaments are as follows:

World Junior Championships

Friday, Dec. 26 - Canada vs. Czech Republic @ 7PM EST on TSN
Sunday, Dec. 28 - Canada vs. Kazakhstan @ 3PM EST
Monday, Dec. 29 - Canada vs. Germany @ 7PM EST
Wednesday, Dec. 31 - Canada vs. USA @ 7PM EST
Friday, Jan. 2 - Quarter-final #1 @ 3:30PM EST
Friday, Jan. 2 - Quarter-final #2 @ 7PM EST
Saturday, Jan. 3 - Semifinal #1 @ 3:30PM EST
Saturday, Jan. 3 - Semifinal #2 @ 7PM EST
Monday, Jan. 5 - Bronze Medal @ 3:30PM EST
Monday, Jan. 5 - Gold Medal @ 7PM EST

Spengler Cup

Friday, Dec. 26 - Canada vs. Energie Karlovy Vary (CZE) @ 2PM EST
Saturday, Dec. 27 - Canada vs. HC Davos (SWI) @ 2PM EST
Monday, Dec. 29 - ERC Ingolstadt (GER) vs. Canada @ 3PM EST
Tuesday, Dec. 30 - Dynamo Moscow (RUS) vs. Canada @ 3PM EST
Wednesday, Dec. 31 - 1st Place vs. 2nd Place @ 6AM EST

If you want to listen to any of the World Junior Championship games, you can do so by tuning into The Fan radio network, or by clicking here to listen live. I'll be posting this link throughout the weeks of the tournament as well.

It's the most wonderful time of the year, and we're only a week away!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!