// Golden Boys

Canada hammered Russia 5-0 to win back-to-back titles for the first time since 1996 and 1997.

VANCOUVER (CP) -- The players bought into coach Brent Sutter's demand for relentless defence when the world junior hockey tournament began, and it all paid off in a 5-0 victory over Russia in the game for gold Thursday night.

The back-to-back titles are the first for Canada since 1996 and 1997 when the country completed a run of five straight. It was Canada's 12th title since the tournament's inception in 1974, and it was accomplished through Sutter's system of team defence -- and great goaltending from Justin Pogge.

"I really felt comfortable with the team that we had," said Sutter. "They stuck together as a team, played hard, competed and stayed with the program.

"Tonight showed their commitment. A lot of people underestimated the skill we had on this team."

Sutter, the coach, general manager and owner of Alberta's Red Deer Rebels, improved to 12-0 in his two years at the helm of the national team. He's become the winningest Canadian coach in the history of this tournament.

"We just wanted to keep things simple and keep them off the scoreboard as best we could and we did it pretty well," defenceman Ryan Parent of Guelph's Ontario junior club said in explaining the players' dedication to the system.

Pogge collected his third shutout of the tournament. The goalie from the Calgary Hitmen stopped 35 shots and helped hold off Russia when it was outshooting Canada 15-3 in the early going.

Pogge tipped his new world-champion baseball cap to the crowd during the post-game celebration to acknowledge the regular chanting of this name throughout the game and the tournament.

"We came out and played our game," Pogge told TSN. "We're in Canada, the gold stays here in Canada."

Michael Blunden of the Erie Otters scored two power-play goals for his first two goals of the tournament, and Blake Comeau of the Kelowna Rockets, Steve Downie of the Peterborough Petes and Kyle Chipchura of the Prince Albert Raiders had a goal each in front of a full house at GM Place.

Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Cam Barker had two assists. Barker was the only player on the team to get a second gold medal. He couldn't play in the medal round last year because mononucleosis.

Sutter's philosophy of an aggressive defence, hard work and attention to detail proved successful with both the star-studded team that won last year in Grand Forks, N.D., and this squad, which was considered an underdog because it was younger, more inexperienced and had less talent at the forward position.

Canada allowed only six goals in six games and only one of them was an even-strength goal.

"We believed in ourselves all along," said Chipchura, Canada's captain. "This is what we came here to do and we did it."

Russia did not get good goaltending from Anton Khudobin as he showed poor technique on Canada's first two goals.

Canada worked harder and was more willing to pay the physical price around the Russian net than the Russians were in defending it, and Canada's special teams were better with two goals on seven power-play chances while holding Russia scoreless on six opportunities.

Russia outshot Canada 15-8 in the opening 20 minutes, but the Canadians emerged with a 2-0 lead on goals by Comeau and Downie. They were also buoyed by the defensive effort of Marc Staal, who shut down Russian star Evgeni Malkin, and Pogge, who made some tricky saves during three Russian power plays.

Television replays in the opening minutes of the second period showed the puck getting across the goal-line behind Pogge. The Russians had a long discussion with American referee Brian Thul, but the score remained 2-0.

Blunden shovelled a loose puck that squirted loose in a goal-mouth scramble over Khudobin at 14:44 of the second period, and he pounced on a rebound on a Barker shot from the blue-line at 12:02.

The Russians began to show their frustration at that point with roughing and tripping penalties in the second period, which didn't help their cause. Canada carried the play outshooting them 19-9 in the second frame.

Chipchura made it 5-0 with less than three minutes to play when he beat Khudobin on the short side, and the crowd was on its feet cheering and waving flags during the last two minutes.

"We'll have this our whole lives," said Chipchura. "Nobody can take this away from us."

The Russians had played their best hockey in the opening minutes. Pogge made tough saves on shots by Alexei Yemelin and Vyacheslav Buravchikov during a penalty kill.

Downie opened the scoring when he wheeled out in front of the net and somehow got the puck under Khudobin's pad at 17:13. He'd spoken earlier in the day by telephone with Wayne Gretzky, who was giving players long-distance pep talks. Downie said Gretzky told him he'd score the winning goal.

"I didn't even know if I'd be on this team when I started out," said Downie, who was a late add at the evaluation camp last summer. "I snuck in at the last minute and I worked hard to get here."

He was a key player throughout.

Staal found Comeau near the faceoff circle as he drove the net and banged in his own rebound when Khudobin lifted his right pad at 18:56.

It was 2-0. Canada wouldn't need more goals, but it added three anyway.

Canada had lost to Russia on home soil by one goal in the final of the 1999 tournament in Winnipeg and in the 2003 final Halifax. The previous time Canada won gold as the host was in 1995 in Red Deer.