Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog

Now that Christmas/New Years has arrived the NASCAR fan is found wanting for their beloved sport. As Jerry over at Restrictor Plate This notes, “it is at times like these we could most use racing”. The ‘distraction’, as it were, of NASCAR would provide us with a bit of a boost from the melancholy that some of us experience during this time of year.

Alas though, there is no NASCAR and that new Dale Jr T-shirt you got for Christmas will only carry you so far. You could watch your personal copy of the 1998 Daytona 500 a few times, but that still won’t carry you too far once you realize you’ll never see that ‘Black 3′ car in victory lane anymore. Melancholy sets in again.

That is why the World Junior Hockey Championship is the best form of melancholy medicine there is. Here are a bunch of under 20 year-olds out there on the ice, skating for nothing more than pride for their country, and the love of the game. OK, some could be looking to boost their NHL draft rating, but to be honest with you, most of these ‘kids’ have already been ear-marked by the numerous scouts in the NHL long before they got to this tournament anyway.

If you haven’t seen a game yet, I suggest you do so. If you are not into hockey too much, check it out anyway - you get to see the world’s best hockey players before they get all jaded by big contracts and the NHL media machine. This is the best hockey that you will ever see at this time of year - pure and simple.

Photo Credit: Stanislav Souček - Canada vs. Czech Republic

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