Goals All Over

If anyone thought Canada might have trouble scoring goals in this year's World Junior Championship, the team may have laid that idea to rest after one period today. Granted, Canada was playing also-ran Latvia in today's opening game, but 16-0 is an ugly score for any team to have hung on them. In the other early game, Sweden also proved that it will be an offensive force to be reckoned with as they trounced the Czech Republic 10-1. The Swedes ran roughshod all over the Czechs, and lived up to their billing as one of the pre-tournament favorites.

With all that being said, Hockey Blog In Canada wants to get you some free gear. That's right: it's the season of giving, and HBIC wants in on that action. I might be a little later for Christmas, but a gift is still good any time of the year, right? With that being said, I present to you...

HBIC's World Junior Hockey Championship Contest

The rules for this one are easy:

• Name the leading scorer in the tournament.
• Name the finalists in the gold medal game.
• Call the final score of the gold medal game, noting which of your two selected teams is the victor.

Now, you might be thinking that this is far too easy with Canada and Sweden hammering their opponents in their opening games. Well, Russia still has to play, the Americans and Finns meet tonight, and all of the favorites still have to play one another. And the four teams that aren't favored to win the event can still pull off some upsets.

All you have to do is name the leading scorer of the tournament. Gabriel Bourque has seven points thus far for Canada, but anything can happen over the rest of tournament. If you win, I'll get you some free gear compliments of Pepsi, and throw in some stuff from the HBIC Prize Vault.

DISCLAIMER: Please note that I have to send your address to Pepsi as they will not send me the Cheer Gear. If you are uncomfortable with having your name and address passed on to a third party, please DO NOT ENTER.

Prize 1: Pepsi Cheer Gear package, Team Canada baseball cap, and Hockey Firsts book.
Prize 2: Pepsi Cheer Gear package and Beyond the Crease book.
Prize 3: Pepsi Cheer Gear package.

The scoring for this contest is easy:

• The scorer you select will earn you points. For every point he tallies, you earn the same number of points. Therefore, if Bourque scores 16 points in the tournament, you end the tournament with 16 points in this section.
• Each correct team in the gold medal game will earn you five points. If Canada and Russia play in the final, and you select those two teams, you will have earned ten points. If Canada and Sweden make the final, and you had called Canada-Russia, you will only receive five points.
• The correct score and team will net you another five points. If you only have the correct team, you will only receive one additional point. If you called the correct score, you'll get two additional points. These will not be combined. For example, if you predicted that Canada would win by a 4-2 score, and Canada wins 5-3, you get one additional point. If Canada loses by a 4-2 score, you get two points for predicting the score.
  
• However, to reduce the number of ties in this contest, the further your score is away in total goals will reduce you point total. If Canada wins by a 5-4 score but you had predicted a 4-3 final, you will lose two points (9 - 7 = 2).

Sounds easy, but you need to have a handle on who is playing, so check the info here. Entries will be accepted no later than December 28 at 11:59pm! Get your entries in by emailing me with the subject line reading "WJC Contest". Good to go? Alright then. Get those entries in!

I want to thank Pepsi for their generous donation of the three Cheer Gear packages in helping out with this contest. Thank you!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!