If you’re a purist still reading old comic books and ordering ‘Sea People’ because you’re convinced the last hundred you summoned were a “bad batch,” it may time a close friend tell you the truth about those things.  As you wait for that person to enter your life, give the World Junior Hockey Championships a shot – no, that wasn’t meant to be a pun.

The U-20 WJHC is under way in the Czech Republic and is possibly one of the most under rated international hockey tournaments in the world. While most of the hockey world largely remains indifferent to it, Canadians consider it to be hockey in its purest form.

The WJHC offers a temporary reprieve from the world of over-professionalized hockey as it showcases future NHL stars who will become pro athletes themselves. So, pop in that ‘Snowbird’ by Anne Murray into the CD (because you know you want to) and take advantage of kids who still play for the pure love of it.

This year’s participants:

Group A: Canada, Sweden, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Denmark
Group B: Russia, Finland, United States, Switzerland, Kazakhstan

Historically, Canada and Russia (formerly and affectionately known as the Soviet Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States) have dominated the WJHC which officially began in 1977. Canada is the reigning world champion and has won the last three gold medals.