It’s Labour Day and we have reason to celebrate. It’s the day after Labour Day and we were too busy celebrating to write up an FTB. Well, there’s that and the fact there was absolutely no new news from the long weekend, other than what is below, as most of the hockey world went to the cottage and shut off their phones. I expect that to change quickly this week with training camps coming up fast, and the Traverse City tournament before that.

In the meantime, our Top 25 Under 25 resumes this morning with #7:

2022 Top 25 Under 25: Roni Hirvonen is #7

And we;ll have more on the timelines and deadlines for Rasmus Sandin at 9:00 a.m.

Weekend News

The Canadian women are once again world champions. They won the gold medal on Sunday in Denmark, defeating the US 2-1. We have a full recap of the game here:

Desbiens three golden saves gloves Canada gold at Women’s Worlds 2022

The Czech Republic defeated the Swiss to win the bronze medal, it is the first time Czechia has ever won a medal at women’s worlds and they sure knew how to celebrate.

2022 Worlds: Czechia Wins First Medal Defeating Switzerland 4-2

In a major upset, Japan defeated Finland in the placement game to get fifth place in the tournament. That is the best ever result for Japan and also the worst ever result for Finland in decades. There are already calls for heads to roll from Finnish media.

TRANSLATION: “Finland played 6 games in the Ice Hockey World Cup and won only two of them in regular time. It’s not just bad. It is unbelievably weak. Failed. A gigantic fiasco.”

The Japanese win will ensure they return to Group A at next year’s tournament while Finland will be demoted to Group B... though there is uncertainty about that, and even the IIHF seem to be confused about their own ranking system and what will happen because of this big move up the ranks by Japan.

I declare a GIF Party is to commence immediately!

Have a nice holiday. We’re now less than three weeks to the first Leafs pre-season game.

From The Branches