Distinct Kicking Motion

Before the two teams even take to the ice for tonight’s gold medal game at the World Junior Hockey Championships, Canada will already have a massive advantage due to the Americans lack of a national cheer.

For months prior to the tournament, Pepsi held a contest which was to determine what team Canada’s cheer would be for all of its national teams. After much deliberation, Canada selected the simple but powerful  “Eh! O’ Canada Go!” as the countries new cheer, and it has already played a huge role at this years world junior tournament. “Its definitely a big reason why we have been so successful this year,” said star forward Jordan Eberle. “Those four little words have pretty much carried us through the whole tournament and hopefully it can inspire us one more time so that we can bring home the gold.”  Team captain Patrice Cormier also attributes much of the teams success to the cheer. “As a captain, you are always looking for ways to get the guys going, so this cheer certainly makes my job a little easier,” said the 19 year old Cormier. “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure we would have been able to pull that one out against the Americans if it wasn’t for all the adrenaline we got from hearing that cheer. We were all pretty gassed and had nothing left in the tank, but as soon as our fans started chanting “Eh! O’ Canada Go!” it was like someone lit our rear ends on fire.”

According to head coach Willie Desjardins, the cheer hasn’t just helped in the tighter games, it was also a factor in some of the more lopsided Canadian victories in the tournament. “We started out a little sluggish against Latvia scoring only three goals in the games first four minutes, but once the fans started belting out that cheer, we were able to regroup and score 13 more times for the 16-0 win.”

The Americans on the other hand are certainly well aware of what the cheer brings to the table, but they maintain that they will not let it get them off their game. “Sure, it gives them a slight advantage but we can’t let it get to us,” said defenceman Cam Fowler. “We’ll definitely have to try hard to keep our composure and stay focused whenever the fans start up the cheer, because we are already well aware of what it brings to the table.”