About half an hour to go until the New York Islanders do one of two things: Take to the stage and announce who their number one pick is or trade down with the Toronto Maple Leafs and watch them take to the stage to announce John Tavares as their number one pick. The later is the certain bet if Brian Burke is to believed who just a few months ago promised he would do everything he could to move his team up to the top pick to get their dream player. But it isn’t crucial that the Leafs get Tavares, giving up too much just to get one player is never to wise, but it should be exciting to see what happens regardless.

Tavares is a gifted player, no doubt about it, but a lot of people are wondering if he is being built up to more than he is. Is he the next Sidney Crosby or the next Jason Spezza? Both great players but one a go-to elite superstar, the other just a superstar. Tavares will have a great career in the NHL but whether he could be the Leafs man to build a team around remains to be seen … We mightn’t even get the chance to find out if the Islanders do not bite.

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Well there you have it, the drive for five is complete and Canada celebrates as World Junior Hockey Champions yet again. They certainly deserved it and from start to finish were the better team except for the periods of play, which at times seemed to drag on, when Sweden had a man advantage. That was the difference though, Canada capitalised on their powerplay chances while Sweden failed to convert. Call it super penalty killing or a lack of killer instinct on the part of the Swedes, it doesn’t really matter now.

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