Veteran forward James Neal represented Team Canada at the 2007 IIHF World Junior  Championships in Sweden from December 26, 2006-January 5, 2007. Team Canada went a perfect 6-0 in the tournament to claim their third straight gold medal. The Under-20 tournament, held every year since 1974, pits the top ten nations against each other. Neal is the fifth Whaler to claim gold at the WJC (James Wisniewski, USA, 2004; Libor Ustrnul, Czech Republic, 2001; Tomek Valtonen, Finland, 1998; Todd Harvey, Canada, 1994 and 1995). This is the second time that Neal has represented Canada. He won a silver medal at the 2005 IIHF World Under-18 Championship in the Czech Republic. James' journal takes a look at the battle of making the team in camp, the experience of representing Canada, and the thrill of winning a gold medal. December 10-15th, 2006... “We started off in Calgary for our Selection Camp and when we got in there, I had just got off a three-in-three (three games in three nights) like most of the other guys, so everyone was pretty tired. There were some pretty good battles there as everyone was fighting for a spot on the team. It was a pretty short camp – only a week. It was pretty nerve-racking towards the end on Thursday and Friday because of the cuts. The way you got cut was that you got a call in your hotel room at 6:30 in the morning and they told you to pack your stuff up and meet them in the lobby. It was tough trying to get to sleep knowing that call could come at any time. I was lucky enough that I had a pretty solid camp and I was able to make the team. When I found out I made the team I was just happy. It’s something that you watch your whole life and being able to pull a Canada sweater over your head is pretty special. I had a little bit of a different role with Team Canada; I was more of a third or fourth line checker. I was trying to play a physical game, but if they needed a little bit of offense I could try to supply that too. I had played with a couple of the guys before. I knew them from when I played for Team Canada at Under-18s and through Prospects and the Canada-Russia games." December 16-25th, 2006... "The World Junior Championships in Canada are so big. Pretty much the country shuts down for World Juniors. The guys that were in Vancouver the year before said that it was unbelievable with how loud the crowd was and how much support they give you, especially playing in front of a Canadian crowd. It was a little different going over to Sweden and that’s something you have to fight through with not the thrill of a big crowd. It was still pretty good and it still worked out unbelievable for us. Sweden’s pretty different. We were in a real small town called Leksand. We had a little house that our whole team stayed in. We had TVs and PlayStation. We had a live feed from TSN from back home, so it was pretty good. They treated us well. We had a good chef there that made all our meals for us. It was just exciting. We didn’t do too much off ice stuff, just a little sight-seeing and stuff like that. We were there for one reason – to bring home the gold – so it was pretty much all business." December 26th, 2006, 2-0 win vs. Sweden... "Our first game, Boxing Day against Sweden, was the first time we got to put on our black Team Canada jerseys, so that was pretty cool. Plus, we got to play in front of a packed crowd and they were going nuts for their hometown Swedes, so it was pretty fun. We had lost to the Swedes a couple nights before so we were looking for a little revenge on them. We knew it would be good if we could come through when it counts and we happened to pull one out."  | Neal looks for an open teammate against Germany. Photo credit: Hockey Canada/ Andre Ringuette, Freestyle Photography | December 27th, 2006, 6-3 win vs. USA... "Any Canada-USA game is always a rivalry and our first game against USA we started out good. We had a little bit of a hiccup in the second period and they started to come back, but we kept going and came out with a big win." December 29th, 2006, 3-1 win vs. Germany... "Germany was a little different story as they had beaten the Americans a couple nights before, so we knew they were going to be a tough team. They like to plug up the middle and kind of put you to sleep. Then they get on the power play and try to put one in there so they can play more of a trap, but we knew what was coming for us. We just played a hard game and tried to keep it as North American-style as we could and we did that." December 31st, 2006, 3-0 win vs. Slovakia... "I didn’t get to play against Slovakia because I hurt my groin, so it was tough watching. It’s tough watching any game especially here in Plymouth, but being over in World Juniors and only having one chance to be there and not being able to play was pretty upsetting." January 3rd, 2007, 2-1 shootout win vs. USA... "The shootout with USA was probably one of the best times of my life. Being able to beat the U.S. in a shootout like that, I can’t even describe how I felt or how nerve-racking it was on the bench watching each guy. We’d see them go down and score to keep it going and think that it would be over this shot and then they would score again. It was pretty exciting and I just don’t know how to describe it."  | Neal hoists the championship trophy after Team Canada claimed the gold medal. Photo credit: Hockey Canada/ Andre Ringuette, Freestyle Photography | January 5th, 2007, 4-2 win vs. Russia... "We knew a lot of game tape coming in to play Russia. We knew what to expect and we knew they liked to play more of a run-and-gun game where they’re always moving. We knew we kind of had to clog up the middle a little bit and keep them and the play to the outside. We wanted to play real physical with them and once again keep it to a North American-style of play. We did that and came out with a huge win. It was obviously for the gold medal and a real special moment and I was happy to be a part of it." January 6th, 2007... "Coming back to Canada was great. You always want to come home, but you don’t know how big it is here in Canada when you’re over there in Sweden. As soon as we got off the plane, a Team Canada guy grabbed us and we were off to watch the Maple Leafs game at the Air Canada Centre. We got a standing ovation there and they announced our names. We got to go out on the ice to do the puck drop and it was pretty amazing seeing all the fans and shaking hands with Daniel Briere and Mats Sundin while we dropped the puck and sang ‘O Canada’ with everyone. The whole experience of World Juniors was just something you always dream about and winning the gold medal for Canada made it that much better.”  | Team Canada gold medalists Ryan O'Marra, James Neal, Andrew Cogliano, Steve Downie, Sam Gagner, and Ryan Parent participated in the puck drop with Sabres captain Daniel Briere and Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin on Saturday, January 6, 2007. Photo Credit: Graig Abel | -Natalie Shaver, January 18, 2007 - -- Other Players' "Checking In" Features -- | 
