WJC sparks golden memories for Comeau: 'It was an awesome time'

The medal games are this weekend at the World Junior Championship in Vancouver, and that sparks memories for Stars forward Blake Comeau, who suited up for Canada at the 2006 tournament which was also played in Vancouver.
And those memories remain vivid for Comeau.
"I remember everything," he said. "It was an awesome time."
He remembers getting called into a hotel room to find out he had made the team and would play in the tournament that features many of the best under-20 players in the world.
"To be able to put on a Canadian jersey in a Canadian city for world juniors is an awesome experience," Comeau said. "And I was fortunate to have it in Vancouver, just down the road from where I was playing juniors."

There was the thrill of hitting the ice in Vancouver wearing that Canadian jersey
"I remember how electric the Canucks arena was when we got on the ice," he said. "It was so loud for warm-ups, there were flags everywhere. I still remember getting out on the ice and having chills."
And there was the ultimate memory, taking the goal medal with a 5-0 victory over Russia in the championship game.
"We beat [Anton] Khudobin and [Alexander] Radulov in the finals," Comeau said with a smile. "I rub it in Dobby's face a little."
Comeau was the leading scorer for the Canadian team that year.
"Seven points in six games," he said.
Yes, Comeau remembers everything.
He tallied three goals and four assists to be specific. Comeau's 2006 team would win the second of what would turn out to be five straight World Junior Championship gold medals for Canada. The run kicked off with the star-studded 2005 team that featured Sidney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Andrew Ladd, Shea Weber, Brent Seabrook, and Dion Phaneuf among others. The 2005 Canadians averaged just under seven goals per game in outscoring the opposition 41-7 over six games.
The 2006 team with Comeau didn't have quite the star power, but there were several future NHL players in the lineup, and it outscored its opposition 25-6 over its six-game run to gold.
"We didn't have the high-end talent [the 2005 team] had," Comeau said, "but defensively we were really good in that tournament, and our goaltending with Devan Dubnyk and Justin Pogge was outstanding. We had a lot of character guys."

Comeau played primarily on a line with Steve Downie and Dustin Boyd. That 2006 roster also included Kris Letang, Marc Staal, Andrew Cogliano, Benoit Pouliot, Kyle Chipchura, Tom Pyatt and a 17-year-old kid who would go third overall in that summer's NHL Draft -- Jonathan Toews.
"We had a handful of guys that had good, long NHL careers, but when you compare us to that '05 team, I think that whole team has been in the NHL," Comeau said.
The 2006 Canadian team defeated Finland, Switzerland, and Norway in its first three games of the preliminary round and then faced the United States in the fourth game. The U.S., which had tied Switzerland in its third game, needed a regulation win over Canada to win Group A and get a bye and an automatic berth in the semifinal round.
With the game tied 2-2 late in regulation, the U.S. pulled its goaltender in hopes of getting the win before time ran out in the third period, but Chipchura scored into the empty net with 33 seconds remaining to give Canada a 3-2 victory.
"It was a weird game considering they needed to win in regulation and they pulled the goalie," Comeau said.
And then just after the Chipchura scored, there was a elbow to the head delivered behind the play.
"We scored the empty-netter, and (U.S. defenseman) Jack Johnson flew by Steve Downie and gave him a little bit of an elbow," said Comeau. "Little bit of a controversy at the end."
Fans in Vancouver booed Johnson every time he touched the puck the rest of the tournament. And Comeau ended up playing with Downie again in the NHL and Johnson at one point as well.
Canada went on to win both its playoff games by a combined score of 9-0, first knocking off Finland, 4-0, in the semifinals. Russell, Comeau, Letang, and Cogliano scored the goals.
In the gold medal game, Canada took on Russia which came into the tournament as the favorites with Evgeni Malkin, the second overall pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, along with Radulov and Khudobin on the roster. But before a crowd of 18,620 in Vancouver, the Canadians rolled to a 5-0 victory.
Downie and Comeau scored goals less than two minutes apart late in the first period to stake Canada to a 2-0 lead. And Comeau still has vivid memories of his goal.
"It was a shot on net, I tipped it, got the rebound and put it in five-hole," Comeau said.
Michael Blunden tallied twice in the second period, and Chipchura scored in the third to push the lead to 5-0. Pogge stopped 35 shots for his third shutout of the tournament as Canada won back-to-back gold at world juniors for the first time since stringing together five straight from 1993-97.
'We were fortunate to get gold, and I remember my mom, dad, and sister were there," Comeau said. "We got to celebrate with our families in the locker room afterward. We all went out to dinner and celebrated.
"It was tons of fun and an experience I will never forget."
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mark Stepneski has covered the Stars for DallasStars.com since 2012. Follow him on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.