The biggest sports story in Canada continues to be the collapse of the national junior team, blowing a 3-0 lead in the third period and eventually losing the gold medal 5-3 to the Russian juniors at the world championship in Buffalo.
Apart from the sad and subdued Canadian players returning home to their various junior teams, the main storylines were the drunken Russian team members who were booted from a flight home (albeit with no mention that all the kids were underage in New York where you have to be 21 to drink) and the backup goalie who blanked the Canadians in the third period.
But not so much here in London, where the hometown Free Press buried Bobkov and his gold medal on the sports front instead of page 1 where the editor choose a feature on Colombian deportees instead of the topic of the day.
Bobkov is the backup goaltender for the local Major Junior London Knights - not even the starter on a mediocre Ontario Hockey League team.
As Free Press writer Steve Green expertly tells it here, Bobkov and his teammates never gave up hope of winning, despite the odds. It's a lesson in effort, tenacity and hope and luck that should inspire all sports teams to play hard until the final buzzer. Bobkov himself delivered a sparkling performance, although the Canadians played a confused third period.
The fact that Bobkov played a key role in the win and was player of the game at the world championship after a disappointing season in the OHL for the hometown Knights is a wonderful story line.
If he were the hero for a Canadian junior win, would his photo have made Page 1?
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