In the lead-up to the 2021 World Junior Championship, we're taking a look back at each of the 18 Canadian teams to capture the gold medal, culminating Dec. 25 with the start of the latest edition of the tournament.

In the 18th edition of the annual tournament, Canada was seeking its second straight gold medal. The 1994 world juniors marked the second last year using the round-robin format, with no quarterfinals, semifinals, or gold-medal game.

The roster

*Denotes returning player
All ages are as of the start of the tournament

The tournament

A repeat after winning gold in 1993 may have seemed unlikely at the time considering Canada had only won back-to-back world junior titles just once in the tournament's history.

The odds seemed to be stacked against this group, too. Canada had five eligible returnees unavailable for the tournament because the NHL came calling: Paul Kariya, Chris Pronger, Chris Gratton, Alexandre Daigle, and Rob Niedermayer. This tournament was a true test of the nation's depth.

Canada got off to a decent start, neutralizing Switzerland with a 5-1 victory to open the tournament before taking down Germany 5-2. Wider margins of victory were ideal against lesser opponents considering goal differential was used as the tiebreaker in this tournament - it's how Canada previously won in 1985 despite sharing an identical 5-0-2 record with Czechoslovakia.

The Canadians were up for the challenge against difficult opponents as well. Despite tying Russia 3-3, Canada bounced back with victories against Finland, the United States, and Czech Republic by a combined score of 20-10. This set up a tournament-deciding contest against the 6-0-0 Swedes.

With a tie on their record, Canada needed a victory to claim gold, while the Swedes - led by Kenny Jonsson, Fredrik Modin, Mattias Ohlund, and Niklas Sundstrom - could play for the draw. In the de facto gold-medal game, Canada led 5-4 late in the the contest and managed to stave off Sweden's comeback attempt, adding an empty-netter to win 6-4 and capture its seventh world junior gold.

The stars

Team Canada was not overly star-heavy compared to other teams that won gold. Not one Canadian was named to the media All-Star team, although Jamie Storr received the IIHF Directorate Award as the top goaltender, sporting a 2.50 goals-against average and a tournament-leading .891 save percentage in four games while splitting time with Manny Fernandez. Fernandez's .877 save percentage was second in the tournament.

Canada still had standout offensive performers, though. Martin Gendron - one of Canada's three returnees - and Yanick Dube led the way with 10 points apiece, one behind tournament leader Sundstrom. Jason Allison - who quietly had 485 points in 552 career NHL games during the dead-puck era - and Rick Girard both had nine points in seven contests.

The fallout

Canada went on to win its third of five straight gold medals in 1995, with seven returnees from the 1994 squad. Murray, Allison, and McCabe finished first, second, and third in tournament scoring, respectively. The 1995 roster was considered a "dream team" thanks to the NHL lockout.

Several players on the 1995 squad went on to have successful NHL careers, most notably Allison, Carter, Friesen, Peca, McCabe, Witt, and Fernandez. A couple of these players continued to shine on the international stage, too. Peca was a member of Canada's 2002 Olympic team in Salt Lake City, and Carter scored the OT winner at the 2003 worlds.

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"Jumbo Joe" appears to be on the verge of boarding a jumbo jet.

Swiss hockey club HC Davos thanked Joe Thornton and bid him farewell Monday morning.

Thornton collected five goals and six assists in 12 games with Davos this season in his third stint with the team.

The 41-year-old is presumably departing the squad to join the Toronto Maple Leafs as they prepare for the potential start of the NHL campaign next month.

Thornton signed a one-year, $700,000 contract with Toronto on Oct. 16 after spending his previous 15 seasons with the San Jose Sharks.

The veteran forward also played for Davos during the NHL lockouts in 2004-05 and 2012-13.

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Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning is confident his club's young group of stars will ultimately lead the franchise to a Stanley Cup - he just needs to sign them first.

Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, and Thatcher Demko are all restricted free agents after the 2021 season, and Benning believes the impending salary cap restructuring will be easily resolved by then.

"They're real important players for our franchise," Benning told NHL.com's Pete Jensen. "We can figure out a way that makes sense for those guys and for the organization to get them signed, and that's going to be our intention. They're going to be part of our core group, we think, for when we do win the Cup. We're excited to have them."

Vancouver projects to have $24 million in cap space for the 2021-22 campaign but only has 14 players signed to this point. Pettersson and Hughes combined could take up the vast majority of that available money if the Canucks opt to sign the pair of superstars long term, and Demko, 25, will be worth much more than the $1.05 million he's currently making if he emerges as the goaltender of the future.

All three players are eligible to sign extensions. In November, Benning said the club and Pettersson had yet to engage in substantive contract talks.

The Canucks are coming off their most successful season in nearly a decade. The club won a playoff round for the first time since 2011, ultimately losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round in seven games.

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Pierre Lacroix, longtime president and general manager of the Quebec Nordiques and Colorado Avalanche, died Sunday at the age of 72, the team announced.

"Pierre was the architect of the Avalanche's two Stanley Cup championships, which included the city of Denver's first major sports championship in 1996," the Avalanche said in a statement. "Pierre was instrumental in not only the team's on-ice success but also building the Avalanche brand into what it is today. His legacy reaches far beyond the NHL level and his impact can be felt throughout all of youth hockey in the Rocky Mountain region."

Lacroix was named general manager and president of the Nordiques in 1994 and followed the team to Colorado the following season. He played an instrumental part in building two Stanley Cup-winning Avalanche teams.

He made numerous big trades during his career, including acquiring a disgruntled Patrick Roy from the Montreal Canadiens during the 1995-96 season, Ray Bourque during the 1999-2000 campaign, and Rob Blake during the 2000-01 season. The Avalanche won two Cups during his tenure - 1996 and 2001 - due in large part to his acquisitions.

Lacroix stepped down as general manager in 2006 but remained president until 2013 when he took on an advisory role.

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In the lead-up to the 2021 World Junior Championship, we're taking a look back at each of the 18 Canadian teams to capture the gold medal, culminating Dec. 25 with the start of the latest edition of the tournament.

The 1993 World Junior Hockey Championship in Gavle, Sweden, was an important one for Canada.

One year beforehand, the team sputtered to a sixth-place finish despite boasting the likes of Eric Lindros and Scott Niedermayer.

Neither of those future Hall of Famers returned to the '93 squad, but it still featured its share of standout performers, including another eventual legend who cemented himself as a budding star with his play in this tourney and a goaltender who stole the show.

The roster

*Denotes returning player
All ages are as of the start of the tournament

The tournament

Canada went 6-1-0 in the tournament, which used a round-robin format and awarded medals to the top three teams based on the standings. The squad's only defeat came in its final game on Jan. 4 at the hands of the Czech and Slovak Republics - a unified side that began the event as Czechoslovakia before the country dissolved into two separate nations three days before the game.

Sweden was a more dominant club throughout the tourney. The Swedes were led by a 19-year-old Peter Forsberg, who amassed seven goals and an incredible 24 assists in seven games to lead all skaters in points while setting a tournament record in that category. Teammates Markus Naslund and Niklas Sundstrom finished first and second in the goal-scoring race at 13 and 10, respectively, with Naslund's total giving him a record of his own.

The Swedes finished with the same record as Canada and a better goal differential. However, the Canadians earned a 5-4 victory in the two powerhouses' lone meeting at the tournament on Dec. 27, 1992, which ultimately served as the tiebreaker.

The stars

Legace posted a stellar .955 save percentage over six games. The future NHL veteran was named best goaltender and was also the lone netminder the media chose for the tournament All-Star team.

Kariya's eight points ranked second among Canadian skaters. The skilled winger dramatically improved compared to his two-point output through six contests in 1992.

Lapointe led Canada with nine points and tied Gendron for the team lead with five goals. Tully - who collected a goal and two assists in seven games - earned an All-Star nod as one of only two defensemen on the list.

The key moment

Nearly a year to the day before Canada and Sweden met at this tournament, the teams played to a 2-2 tie in which the Swedes scored the equalizer with seven seconds left to knock Canada out of medal contention.

On the night before their clash at the 1993 tourney, Forsberg said this to TSN's Bob McKenzie:

(Courtesy: TSN/YouTube)

The matchup certainly lived up to the hype, with the two deep squads trading goals in a spirited affair. It even got physical - both Daigle and Sweden's Naslund were ejected.

The heavily favored Swedes had a glorious chance to force overtime in the final seconds of the contest, but Mats Lindgren whiffed on a centering pass in front of the Canadian net just before the buzzer sounded.

The fallout

A pair of future Hockey Hall of Famers on this Canadian squad went early in the NHL draft about six months later. Kariya's strong play undoubtedly helped convince the Anaheim Ducks to select him fourth overall, while Pronger went two picks ahead of him after registering one goal and three assists in the tourney.

The Ottawa Senators took Daigle with the first pick in that draft, and although the eventual mega-bust didn't score in the 1993 tournament, he did contribute six assists in seven games.

Only three players from the '93 team (Bouchard, Gendron, and Tully) returned the following year, but this title got Canada back on track and started a run of five straight gold medals for the Canadian program at the tournament.

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