In the gold medal final today at the 2008 World Junior Championships team Canada was able to get the win in dramatic fashion.

After scoring twice in the first period which saw Brad Marchand score less then two minutes into the game, with assists going to Claude Giroux and Kyle Turris. And then midway through the 1st period that line struck again on the power play but this time off the stick of Claude Giroux assisted by Marchand and Turris.

Then after a scoreless second period Sweden put the pressure on and were able to come storming back capped off with a goal 38 seconds left in the game to tie it up 2-2 and force the game into overtime.

But at the 3:36 mark of overtime Shawn Mathias pushed his way to the front of the net from the corner where Matt Halischuk was able to pounce on the rebound and put it behind Swedish goalie Jhonas Enroth.

This is Canada’s 4th straight gold medal and will have a chance at a 5th straight at home for the 2009 World Junior Championships in Ottawa.

Team Canada has up to 10 players that can potentially comeback next year including their two 17 year old stars, John Tavares & Steve Stamkos and also the tournaments best defenceman Drew Doughty.

As far as goes John Tavares, he made news off the ice before and after the game because he plans on heading home tomorrow morning and hopes to be in the lineup for his OHL team, the Oshawa Generals for their game tomorrow night at 6EST, only 25 hours after winning the gold medal in the Czech Republic.

For the first time in the tournament John Tavares got a regular shift. And Tavares definatly did not disappoint. Despite not being named the player of the game Tavares obviously was, creating chance after chance and then scoring his own goal in the 2nd period. Look for Tavares to be a big part of the rest of the tournament for Canada.

The John Tavares Store is now open. You can go their to pick up anything related to John Tavares, including team Canada stuff. So go grab some team Canada merchindise and cheer on John, Kyle Turris and the rest of team Canada as they try and go for a 4th straight gold medal.

John Tavares started the 2008 World Junior Championships as the Canadian’s 13th forward despite his record breaking performance last year in the OHL.

But he quickly proved why he’s so talked about. Early in the 2nd period Tavares scored team Canada’s first goal of the tournament on the powerplay. Tipping in a pass by Taylor Pyett and Steve Stamkos. And then in the middle of the third was able to squeeze on in short side on the powerplay again for his 2nd goal of the game.

PUCHOV, Slovakia - As the Canadian players continue to prepare for the world junior championship there are no shortage of lessons to be learned.

Thursday’s exhibition game ended up being about discipline and patience in the face of a different standard of refereeing.

“The refereeing was questionable but it’s something that we have adjust to,” coach Craig Hartsburg said after Canada’s 6-1 win over Slovakia. “There was a lot of penalties in the first part of the game.

“Some of them you might question if you were playing back home but over here we’ve got to understand that those penalties are penalties.”

It didn’t get in the way of another easy victory for the Canadian team.

John Tavares led the way with two goals and an assist. Shawn Matthias, Matt Halischuk, Stefan Legein and Josh Godfrey also had goals for Canada, which was coming off a 5-0 win over Austrian club team Red Bull Salzburg.

Adam Bena was the only Slovak to score on Jonathan Bernier, who finished with 23 saves in goal.

There was plenty of things the Canadian coach liked about the game.

“I thought we played with a lot of energy and competed very hard for most of the night,” said Hartsburg. “Our penalty killing was very strong and I thought Jonathan Bernier was real solid for us too.”

Canada faces Finland in an exhibition game Saturday before the Dec. 26-Jan. 5 championship opens in the Czech Republic.

The exhibition games aren’t just about allowing the players to feel more comfortable. The coaching staff has also been using the advance time in Europe to get a feel for the team and start making line combinations.

“Every day we’re learning more about our team,” said Hartsburg, who is coaching for a second straight year. “We’re learning about the combinations and what will work and some of the things that aren’t working.

“That’s one of the reasons why we come over here early and get these exhibition games in.”

Matthias is one of the few players that wasn’t part of the Canadian team that played in the Super Series against Russia this summer. The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., says his teammates have gone out of their way to make him feel welcome.

With less than a week to go before the start of the event, the Canadians are starting to feel like a unit.

“There’s definitely a lot of pressure but we got a close bunch here and we know what we want to do together,” said Mathias. “We want to bring home a fourth consecutive gold medal.

“We’re going to do everything we can to make Canada proud.”

Source [TSN]