LOOKING FOR A REPEAT

Being away from the warmly familiar, inviting embrace of home at Christmastime doesn't necessarily mean a fella has to go gift-deprived.
In their Toronto hotel the day before a tournament-opening Boxing Day 6-1 caning of Latvia a year ago, the U.S. world junior hockey team organized a lighthearted Secret Santa swap in keeping with the Yuletide spirit.
"I got a pair of sunglasses,'' reports Adam Fox.
"Not the most expensive pair of sunglasses in the world.
"It was a ton of fun, though. Everybody had a blast. It was more about being together, having fun, than actually getting a, you know, big present."
The big present, in the form of a gold medal, would arrive a dozen days later.

The question is: What on earth can the Flames' very own Fantastic Mr. Fox and the Americans possibly do for an encore?
With 20,173 jammed into every nook and cranny of Montreal's Bell Centre last Jan. 5, Fox and his teammates were thrust into the role of invading villains for the championship game against the host Canadians.
"We kept belief,'' says the Harvard Crimson's feature defenceman. "Looking back, the fact that we were able to come back from being two goals down, twice, to believe we were ever out of it, that was the key. There were so many momentum shifts but we never lost heart.
"In the shootout, we had total faith in the guys. We knew Troy (Terry) would come through for us, and he did."

Over a back-and forth, to-and-fro regulation 60 minutes, Fox had a hand in three U.S. goals, including the 4-4 tying strike by Colin White 7:07 in the third period necessitating a scoreless 20-minute overtime followed by an excruciatingly-tense 10-man shootout.
In the shootout, Terry scored the lone goal while goaltender Tyler Parsons, another Flames' draft now in his first pro season with the ECHL's Kansas City Mavericks, turned back all five Canadian shots and the Americans prevailed, 5-4.
"When Parsons stopped the last shot … that was just an unreal moment,'' recalls Fox. "It's almost hard, if this makes any sense, to enjoy it at the time because you're dealing with all those nerves.
"You really can't describe the sensation. You go through camp and then the tournament, getting so close to those guys, playing in all these pressure situations, depending on each other. It's pretty special.
"So when he made that save, yeah, that for me was the it moment, something I'll never forget."
Fox's entire freshman collegiate season seemed to sail along on the same magic carpet as the world juniors. Among the personal laurels: Chosen Ivy-League Rookie of the Year, NCAA East First All-American Team selection, ECAC All-Rookie Team selection, ECAC All-Tourament Team selection, ECAC First All-Star Team selection, and Ivy-League First Team selection.
The Crimson won the Beanpot title and the ECAC Championship before advancing to the semifinals at the Frozen Four.
This season has been more about rebuilding, re-tooling. Harvard sports a 4-5-1 conference record so far.
"It's been manageable,'' says the second-year psychology major of juggling studies and hockey. "Obviously I'm no genius so, at first, I didn't know how I'd be able to handle everything. It can seem kind of overwhelming.
"But it's good and you have a lot of resources to help you.
"With the team, we lost some senior forwards, key guys, but had a lot of skilled players come in.
"There's been a bit of an adjustment for me. I'm trying to take on a bigger role now, be more of a leader in my second year."

Fox's influence has, by osmosis, also expanded on the U.S. entry as it readies for the 2018 tournament opener on Dec. 26 at KeyBank Centre - only a six-and-a-half-hour drive from his hometown of Jericho, N.Y. - against the Danes.
"Definitely, coming back and being given more responsibility is huge for me. Our older guys last year did a really good job of settling everyone's nerves, helping the group through the rough patches,
"That's what I want to do right now. Be that type of player. Step up and be a leader on this team."
No nation has collected consecutive world juniors titles since Canada's final gold of a stirring five-year title streak, in 2009.
Backed by their fans in Buffalo, this year the U.S. arrives armed with the all-important support intangible.
"The tournament being on home soil and the U.S. never having won back-to-back are definitely big motivators,'' says Fox.
"We're obviously going to take a lot of pride playing in front of our home crowd, use that atmosphere, gain momentum from the support.
"We know teams are going to be looking to take us down, obviously.
"We just want to win again. You have that experience, get that taste, understand first-hand how good the feeling is. And it is an amazing feeling.
"So you just want to repeat it.
"We're definitely coming into this hungry for another gold medal."