Canada won the World Junior Championships with an impressive 5-1 victory over Sweden. Russia finished third, besting Slovakia in the consolation game.

The action left NHL scouts drooling.

Here were some impressions from the big event:

• Center John Tavares made the most highlight-reel plays while establishing himself as a strong top two pick in the 2009 NHL Draft. He was the tourney’s MVP. He would fit nicely with the Blues, no?
• Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman, who will go right before or right after Tavares, also stood tall. Of course, he is 6-foot-6 or 6-foot-7, depending on who you believe. “I played well, but it’s hard to say — we were here to win gold and it doesn’t matter if I played good or bad,” Hedman told reporters. “We wanted the gold medal. I tried to play my best in every game.”
• Enigmatic forward Angelo Esposito became an impact player for Team Canada, which is good news for the Thrashers. He could become a big piece of that team’s future as he finally matures. Atlanta got him from Pittsburgh last year in a deal.
• Even better for Team Canada was Cody Hodgson, a first-round pick of the Canucks. He looks like a solid two-way forward destined to stick on a scoring line for the long haul. He led all tourney scorers with 16 points.
• Columbus prospect Nikita Filatov scored eight goals for Russia. You may recall that Hockey Guy touted this guy for the Blues in the 2008 draft, but the Note got offensive defenseman Alex Pietrangelo instead. (Alex was part of the effective eight-man Team Canada defensive corps at the WJCs).

TEACH THIS GUY HOW TO FIGHT

Was Capitals star Alexander Semin throwing punches or playing the bongos?

Nice commentary by old friend Joe Micheletti, amid all the chuckling.

THE FUTURE OF HOCKEY

These drones might be onto something:

AROUND THE RINKS: The reeling Penguins continued their swoon with a 4-0 loss to the Rangers. This could put coach Michel Therrien in some peril and several players, including No. 3 center Jordan Staal, in some trade offers. Among the potential trade partners is Nashville, which could offer up J.P. Dumont and defenseman Ville Koistonen . . . If your fantasy team is OK at the midway point, it probably features some of these guys . . . The slumping Senators are also looking to retool, with offensive defensemen high on their list of needs. Mathieu Schneider of the Thrashers is one of many options . . . The Kings are loaded with defensive prospects and new Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke isn’t a big Nik Antropov fan, so HockeyBuzz suggests there could be a trade fit there . . . Michigan State booted Blues draft pick Ryan Turek from the team last month, so the Peoria Rivermen signed him to a 25-game AHL tryout contract. He played defense and forward in college, doing more hitting than scoring . . . Russian winger Nikolay Lemtyugov scored two goals and added an assist during his first five games back with Cherepovets Severstal. The Peoria Journal Star spotted this quote, attributed to a team news release and translated: “Severstal, all here knew of my (planned) return, and were waiting for me. The time I was in America, I always kept in touch with the (Severstal) club and the boys. Finally decided to return. I do not want to answer questions about whether I will return to North America (in the future). I need to think about it. The U.S. is a large country and there are many teams there, and they are all different. The average hockey player can tune up there, but the star is lost. Fortune, and luck, in hockey in America, has a lot of meaning.” Words to live by, for sure.