The biggest one came in the 2011 gold medal game in Buffalo. The pro-Canada crowd at HSBC Arena (as KeyBank Center was known then) was stunned when Russia, trailing 3-0, scored five goals in the third period to capture its first WJC championship since 2003. It was the biggest comeback in tournament history.
The game was witnessed by one of the largest television audiences in Canadian history, with an average of 6.88 million viewers watching on TSN and 652,000 watching the French-language broadcast on RDS.
Members of this year's team were 11 and 12 at the time and had nothing to do with that historic loss. The same can't be said of last year's tournament at Bell Centre in Montreal.
Canada surrendered a pair of two-goal leads in the final against the United States and ended up losing 5-4 in a shootout. No one was more devastated by the loss than goalie Carter Hart, who fought back the tears after the game.
One year later, he has a chance at redemption, this time against Sweden.
"I'm very lucky to have another chance at this," said Hart, who will start his second consecutive gold-medal game. "And I know last year was heartbreaking for us. So I know this year we're really lucky to have another opportunity for this. And we're going to prepare."
Hart said the bitterness of the loss to the U.S. gnawed at him continuously for at least 48 hours after the defeat. Seeing the Americans being awarded their gold medals was tough to swallow.
"It's crazy though," he said. "A year has passed and a lot of things have unfolded since then. I think the group we have right now is an exciting group and a great group to play with. We're very excited for the opportunity."
Asked what message he would pass on to teammates who are experiencing their first gold medal game, Hart replied: "The win [against the Czech Republic] is over now. Now it's the real deal. The only thing that makes this win sweeter is if we win the whole thing. That's the only thing that matters."
Hart is one of seven players returning from last year's team. That group that was led by coach Dominique Ducharme; he's also back this year and insists this is a new team with a new challenge.
"It's going to be a different game. It's a different tournament. It's a different group," Ducharme said.
And a different opponent.
"They have a lot of skills," Ducharme said of Sweden, which is undefeated in the tournament and defeated the United States 4-2 in the first semifinal. "They've played well. There's a reason they're in the final. We know it's going to be a good game."
Canada is 5-0 all-time against Sweden in gold medal games at the World Junior Championship, but Ducharme and Hart don't care about that. What they see is a chance to make some history of their own with one more victory.
