Bolstered by the goaltending of Olivier Roy, the Canadian National Junior Team scored a 4-1 victory over Sweden on Tuesday in the second of three pre-World Junior Championship exhibition games at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Meanwhile, across the border, the U.S. National Junior Team dropped its second straight game via a shootout, this time to the Czech Republic, 3-2, at The Sports Centre in Rochester, N.Y.

"I don't think anybody thought we were going to win every game, 8-0," Cameron told The Canadian Press. "There's a lot of good hockey teams here and Sweden is one of them. It's a real challenge to beat them and they pushed us and we found a way.

"It was a real good test. That's how you get better."

Brayden Schenn, Zack Kassian, Ryan Johansen and Cody Eakin scored for Team Canada. Despite the victory, much was made of the Canadians dismal power-play, which went 1-for-8. Max Friberg scored midway through the third period to pull the Swedes within 2-1.

The Americans received a pair of goals by Kyle Palmieri but the Czech Republic notched a 3-2 victory in a shootout, marking the second straight shootout loss for Team USA. Team USA finished 1-for-6 on the power-play and goalie Jack Campbell stopped 30 of 33 shots. Czech goalie Filip Novotny made 32 saves, including 14 in the second period. Defenseman Martin Planek and forward Petr Straka scored for the Czechs.

"We're a team that wants to play with speed," Team USA coach Keith Allain said.

Team USA closes its pre-tournament schedule on Thursday against Norway at Jamestown Savings Bank Arena in Jamestown, N.Y.

Cameron isn't sure who'll start in goal for the final exhibition against Finland on Thursday in Kitchener, Ont. before opening the WJC against Russia on Sunday.

Team USA announced the 22-player roster for the World Junior Championship on Wednesday morning via its Facebook account.

For the scoop on all the returnees -- of which there are eight -- and those who made the final cut, click here.

The members of the U.S. National Junior Team will get a real treat on on Wednesday evening when Joe Dames, a decorated U.S. Army Ranger who served six tours of duty in Iraq between 2006-09, speaks to them in Amherst, N.Y.

Hi everyone. Our team (Omaha) is doing pretty well of late (13-7-3, second in Western Conference). We just have to be patient. I feel as though our whole team is becoming more successful and a lot of the younger guys are learning the league a lot more and that's been a big reason.
 
You definitely want to be positive with the younger kids since learning the league is not easy. You want to be there for any advice they want and you have to be willing to lend your hand and maybe give your advice when they don't even ask. Anything that will keep their confidence up and help them.
 
Personally, I'm always learning more. I've been in the league now for three seasons and, this year, I'm taking more of that leadership role and being that guy that people look to. I want to be a person that the players and people respect. That's been more of my focus this year … trying to take on that leadership role and lead by example (Ambroz has 10 goals, 17 points and a plus-7 rating in 19 games).
 
It's always nice to score goals but you can't score if you don't shoot the puck so whenever I get a chance to shoot, I'm definitely not going to hesitate, unless there's a better play. Hopefully, if there is a better play, I can make that but you can't score without shooting (Ambroz is second in the USHL with 96 shots).
 
My linemates Justin Crandell and Nick Oddo are playing really well. Oddo missed one game with a sore knee a few games ago, but Ken Babinski filled in on that line to provide the same chemistry. When you have the same two guys, it's nice, but the lines change throughout the year so I'm not too worried about it. I feel like everyone on our team is capable of just making plays and being all-around good players. We have a lot of talent on this team and I feel like things are starting to turn around and click now. It has definitely been going well.
 
I just had one fight earlier in the year and there have been situations where I wanted to fight, but it didn't turn out that way. But, as I've said before, when the time comes, I'm definitely there to stick up for my teammates or if there's a good reason to fight, I won't hesitate to do it.
 
I'm looking forward to the holidays. I'll be heading back to Minnesota to be with my family and friends. I'm also looking forward to watching the World Junior Championship. It was awesome last year and it'll be exciting to see what happens this year. It should be another great tournament and definitely fun to watch.
 
Thanks for reading and happy holidays.

If I'm part of the Germany or Norway traveling party for the 2011 World Junior Championship, I'm considering finding alternate means of getting home after the tournament.

It was announced today that Germany would have to move its exhibition game against the Czech Republic, scheduled for Wednesday, to Thursday, because of a delay in their gear arriving.

Players from Norway's team were heading to hockey shops around the Buffalo area to round up equipment for the start of the tournament. Looks like Germany might have to do the same thing.

When Norway earned a spot in the main draw of this year's World Juniors, never in their wildest dreams did they anticipate this type of loss even before the games had begun.
 
According to Jan-Petter Selvik, who is accompanying Norway's National Junior Team to Buffalo for the tournament, Airline Lufthansa was unable to inform team representatives exactly where and when their missing hockey bags and equipment were lost or even when they will be returned.
 
As a result, Norway has decided to send 11 players to Buffalo to purchase new equipment and other miscellaneous items as needed. Pretty amazing that the Norwegians and coach Geir Hoff are forced to deal with this at a time when they should be concentrating on playing the game they love.
 
"We have agreed to focus forward and do our best," Selvik said in his blog. Norway's scrimmage against Slovakia, originally slated for Monday, now will be played at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, at the Jamestown (N.Y.) Savings Bank Arena.
 
Selvik also mentions in his blog that some players and managers lack personal clothing and medication, but that they are doing the best they can under the circumstances.

There are a few things that are absolutely necessary to playing hockey -- sticks, skates, pads.

Unfortunately for Norway's junior team, they had none of those things for their exhibition game Monday against Slovakia. Because their gear didn't arrive in time for the game, the teams now will played at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, at the Jamestown (N.Y.) Savings Bank Arena.

Tonight, however, all eyes will be on the U.S. team that skates against the Czech Republic at 7 p.m. ET at The Sports Centre at MCC in Rochester, N.Y. It's the final opportunity for the U.S. players to impress USA Hockey staff prior to Wednesday's roster cutdown.

There are seven players currently in camp who won gold medals last year in Saskatoon -- that number would have been eight, but Jeremy Morin has been with the Blackhawks while they deal with injury woes. Morin could still be released by the Hawks to play in the World Juniors, which start Dec. 26 in Buffalo, but that decision will have to come soon. The IIHF's final roster deadline is Dec. 25.

NHL.com will have full coverage of the U.S. announcement tomorrow morning, so click back early and often to see which players will go for the gold.

(EDIT: Apparently Morin is in camp. Sorry for the confusion)

The Boston University-Boston College rivalry is like hockey Civil War. Bigger than Eagles and Terriers, however, are Stars and Stripes. That would be the jersey for Team USA, which is what has brought seven members of the spirited rivalry to upstate New York this week.

From the BU side are defenseman Adam Clendening and forward Matthew Nieto, both of whom are expected to be top picks at the 2011 Entry Draft, and forward Charlie Coyle, a 2010 first-round pick of the Sharks.

On the other side are BC forward Chris Kreider, who won gold with Team USA last year, along with defensemen Brian Dumoulin, Patrick Wey and Philip Samuelsson.

NHL.com's Mike Morreale talked to a few of the guys in a nice story you can read here. But Kreider's quote sums it up nicely.

"I played with (BU defenseman) David Warsofsky on last year's WJC team and am still pretty close with him," Kreider told Morreale. "The thing is, when you face each other, you play hard, but when you're gunning for the same goal, there's a mutual respect and you're going to be a good teammate."

Coyotes prospect Chris Brown scored twice and goalie Jack Campbell, the Stars' 2010 first-round pick, stopped 12 of 14 shots in playing just over half the game. His replacement, Andy Iles, stopped four of shots he faced.

Emerson Etem also had a goal for Team USA.

"I don't know if I'd call it a crazy game, but it certainly was an interesting finish," U.S. coach Keith Allain told USA Hockey's website. "We'll continue to evaluate our players as we get closer to the tournament."

Team USA took a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the first period. Brock Nelson, who the Islanders took in the first round of the 2010 Draft, won an offensive-zone faceoff cleanly to Brown, who fired a shot high past the blocker of Rensselaer goalie Allen York, a Columbus Blue Jackets prospect. York, incidentally, made 34 saves, including 17 of 18 in the opening period when the U.S. was consistently buzzing in the RPI end.

Rensselaer took a 2-1 lead early in the second period, but Team USA responded to tie it when Panthers 2009 draft pick Drew Shore slid a pass through the slot to Emerson Etem, taken by the Ducks with the 29th pick of the 2010 Draft, who fired a quick shot over York's glove.

The U.S. regained its one-goal lead with less than 10 seconds remaining in the second off a three-on-two rush when Brown connected for his second of the night off a shot high to the far post. RPI answered back late in the third to square the game again and send it into overtime. After a scoreless extra frame, RPI needed 12 shootout rounds to defeat Team USA, as Maple Leafs prospect Jerry D'Amigo failed to convert on the final shot.

The contest was the first of three pre-tournament games slated to prepare the U.S. They next play the Czech Republic on Tuesday at The Sports Centre at MCC in Rochester, N.Y.

The defending gold medalists will announce its 22-man roster on Wednesday morning.

Canada named defenseman Ryan Ellis as captain for its 2011 World Junior Championship team.

This will be Ellis' third WJC, making him the seventh player in Hockey Canada history to participate in three tournaments. With a gold in 2009 and a silver last year, he's hoping to become the fourth Canadian player to win three WJC medals, joining Jason Botterill, Jay Bouwmeester and Jason Spezza.

Ellis, taken by the Nashville Predators with the 11th pick of the 2009 Entry Draft, also is captain of the OHL's Windsor Spitfires.

Named as alternate captains were the three other players who won silver alongside Ellis that are returning for this year's WJC -- defensemen Jared Cowen and Calvin de Haan, and forward Brayden Schenn.

Hockey Canada has made the roster for the National Junior Team official, which you can read about here.

No real surprises, although if Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had made the team I wouldn't have been surprised. But coach Dave Cameron is a pretty sharp guy, and he knows what it takes to build a World Juniors winner -- he was an assistant to Pat Quinn for the gold-medal winners in 2009 as well as an assistant to Willie Desjardins last year in Saskatoon.

Offensively, Canada certainly has good size, with Curtis Hamilton, Sean Couturier, Zack Kassian and Carter Ashton all standing at least 6-foot-3. They also look solid defensivley with good puck-movers in Ryan Ellis, Calvin de Haan and Tyson Barrie, as well as big bangers in Jared Cowen and Erik Gudbranson.

Goaltending will be a question, as neither Olivier Roy nor Mark Visentin has World Junior experience. The same was said about Jake Allen and Martin Jones, last year's goaltenders, part of the reason Canada took home the silver.

Canada will play three exhibition games to get ready for its WJC debut, against Russia on Dec. 26.

And stay tuned for more on Canada news today. NHL.com will have a camera at the MasterCard Centre today to record all the day's news from the public unveiling of the team.