Gord Miller's world junior memories

Gord Miller

TSN.ca Staff

12/19/2007 12:14:20 PM

1)  What was the best or worst place you ever spent the holidays while covering the World Juniors?

Miller:  The worst place by far was Hradec Kralova in the Czech Republic for the 2002 tournament.  The hotel- a holdover from the days of communism - boiled everything, which meant that not matter what you ordered, it tasted the same.  The hotel also offered cabbage with every meal - boiled of course. 

The most fun I had was at the 1997 tournament in Geneva. The city was beautiful, the hockey was terrific and the food was amazing - albeit a little pricey.  Bob and I loved our $60 pizzas!

2)  What was the best individual performance by a Canadian player in the tournament?
 
Miller: Roberto Luongo had the best tournament I've ever seen from a Canadian player.  The 1999 Canadian Junior team was goal-challenged (to say the least) and Luongo carried them to the gold medal game, which Canada lost in overtime to the Russians.  Luongo was heroic in that game, and that tournament.

After the game, a reporter (not from TSN) asked Canadian coach Tom Renney if he thought Luongo was shaky on the OT goal.  Renney almost jumped off the stage and strangled the guy.

3)  What is your favourite on-ice memory from the World Juniors?

Miller: My favourite on-ice memory is from the 1995 tournament, where the Canadians played the Czechs in front of a sellout crowd in Calgary. 

After battling back to tie the game 5-5, Jamie Rivers - who had been driving the coaches crazy with his reckless decisions - decided to step up from the blue line and grab a loose puck.  If he missed it, there were three Czechs, including Milan Hejduk, going the other way. 

With coach Don Hay screaming "No!" from the bench, Rivers moved in and scored what turned out to be the game winning goal. 

"Hero or zero," he said afterward.

4)  What is your favourite off-ice memory from the World Juniors?

Miller: There are so many great off-ice moments, many of them spent in far-flung places with Bob McKenzie and Pierre McGuire, but one of my favourites is from the 2005 tournament in North Dakota.

Thousands of Canadian fans from Manitoba and Saskatchewan drove down for the games, but one night the highway was closed due to a snowstorm, meaning the fans could not return home.  Local officials opened the domed football stadium, and nearly 5,000 fans spent the night there. 

The officials later reported two things: that the Canadians pitched in and cleaned up the next morning, leaving the stadium in immaculate condition, and that they sold more beer that night than they sold in an entire season of North Dakota football. 

I'm not sure which of those two things makes me prouder.