World Championships Update: Brent Burns Brings Home Gold
Feb 21, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (88) celebrates with center Joe Pavelski (8) after scoring a goal against the Los Angeles Kings in the first period during the Stadium Series hockey game at Levis Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns capped off his past two weeks in Prague with a gold medal. Burns helped Team Canada to a 6-1 thrashing over Team Russia in the final of the 2015 IIHF World Championships. Canada received goals from six different skaters as they rolled over the defending champion Russians.
Burns, who was playing under his former head coach Todd McLellan, was named as the tournament’s best defenseman. Maybe there is some hope after all for Burns on defense.
Tournament's Best Goalie: Pekka Rinne, D-man: Brent Burns; Forward: Jason Spezza #CANvsRUS #IIHFWorlds
— 2015 IIHF Worlds (@2015IIHFWorlds) May 17, 2015
In the 10 games, Burns registered two goals and nine assists and was a plus-12 for the Canadians who routed the opposition, outscoring them 66-15. Burns would typically lead all skaters for Canada in ice time and he did so again in the Gold Medal game, with 23 minutes and 12 seconds.
Meanwhile, Ben Smith and Team USA took home the bronze medal after defeating Tomas Hertl and the host nation of the Czech Republic by a 3-0 final.
Smith registered more than 10 minutes of ice time in the final game and seemed to get better as the tournament wore on. Smith finished the tournament with two goals.
On the other hand, Hertl did not feature in any of the elimination round games for the Czech Republic. Hertl scored one goal and two assists during his time in Prague.