The World Junior Hockey Championship is back in Canada after two years overseas and the home team has come home hoping to end its medal drought. Stephon Gilmore Patriots Jersey . Canada’s failure to earn a medal over the past two years marks the first time since the start of the Program of Excellence in 1982 that the nation has returned empty-handed from back-to-back tournaments. Canada is also riding its second-longest gold medal drought, with 2015 marking the sixth tournament since the team last won gold. With the tournament back on Canadian ice – here’s a look at how the team has done in its own barn. This year marks the 11th time Canada has hosted since the tournament officially began in 1977. The first official tournament held in Canada was in Montreal in 1978. Team Canada earned a bronze medal behind a Soviet team led by Sergei Makarov and Vyacheslav Fetisov. But it was a standout performance that marked that tournament as special, with Wayne Gretzky making his lone appearance at the age of 16. Canada didn’t host again until 1986 when Hamilton welcomed the World Juniors back after a victorious 1985 tournament in Finland. Once again, the Soviets were dominant with Valeri Kamensky leading the way. A 14-point performance from Shayne Corson helped lead Canada to silver, improving upon its previous turn as hosts. In 1991, Canada got its first taste of home-ice glory in one of the tournaments that helped propel the World Juniors to its holiday classic status. For the second time on home ice, another phenom took over the tournament as 17-year-old Eric Lindros racked up 17 points and earned a tournament All-Star nod. That said, it wasn’t Lindros’ name that was synonymous with the Saskatoon tournament, but Newfoundland’s John Slaney. Canada and the Soviets were tied late in the tournament’s final game, with the Soviets knowing that a draw would be enough to earn them a gold medal under the round-robin format. In the final minute, Slaney’s slapper from inside the blue line found the back of the net and made Canada the first nation to ever win gold on home ice. The feat was repeated in 1995 with the NHL lockout allowing Canada to ice a truly dominant team in Red Deer, Alberta. The trio of Jason Allison, Marty Murray and Eric Daze combined for 40 points on a team that also featured future NHL stars Wade Redden, Ryan Smyth, Bryan McCabe, Jeff O’Neill and Ed Jovanovski. Heartbreak came at the end of the decade as Canada had to watch Russia win gold in 1999 and 2003. With the format changed to a gold medal game to decide the champion, the Russians edged Canada first with an overtime goal by Artem Chubarov in Winnipeg and with a two-goal third period comeback in Halifax. The tides turned back Canada’s way once more in the latter half of the 2000s. Team Canada won two gold medals at home within a four-year span as part of its second five-year dynasty in tournament history. The 2006 team was backstopped by Justin Pogge’s record three shutouts and a complete defensive effort that saw Canada allow just six goals over as many games. The 2009 tournament is another that lives on in Canadian World Junior lore. Trailing Russia late in their semifinal, Jordan Eberle scored one of the most iconic World Junior goals ever, tying the game with just five seconds left on the clock. The contest went to a shootout with - who else - Eberle providing the eventual game-winner with a beautiful backhand move. Canada handily beat Sweden in the gold medal game to earn its fifth straight title. The pendulum swung back to heartbreak in the tournaments Canada has hosted since. The year after Eberle thrilled Ottawa, it was American defenceman John Carlson who stunned fans in the gold medal game in Saskatoon. After yet another late-game thriller from Eberle to tie the game at five, an overtime rebound off an Alex Pietrangelo effort was taken the other way by the Americans with Carlson providing the dagger on a three-on-one. Canada returned home - specifically to host cities Calgary and Edmonton - looking for redemption in 2012. Down 5-1 in the second period of their semifinal against Russia, Canada stormed back to cut the deficit to just one goal late in the third period. The clock ran out, though and Canada eventually settled for bronze with a win over Finland. So, where does it leave Canada’s hopes for 2015 in Montreal and Toronto? To date, Canada has never failed to medal at home, so history favours an end to the medal drought. Also, given past performances of phenoms like Gretzky and Lindros at home, the table may well be set for a dominant showing from potential first-overall NHL draft pick Connor McDavid. Canada’s tournament totals are also better at home than overseas. Since the start of the Program of Excellence in 1982, Canada is 46-7-2 (.855 winning percentage) at home tournaments, earning four golds, four silvers and two bronze medals. By comparison, the nation is 119-33-17 (.754) abroad. One final trend to consider, quirky though it may be, is the calendar. Canada has won gold in every official tournament where the year has ended in “5”: 1985 in Finland, 1995 in Red Deer and 2005 in Grand Forks. Fans looking for more encouragement can also look to Grand Forks in 2005 – featuring the likes of Sidney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron, Jeff Carter and Dion Phaneuf – as the tournament that ended Canada’s longest gold medal drought in the official era, after seven straight failed attempts. Canada’s World Junior record at home (W-L-T): 1978 (Montreal): 4-2-0, bronze 1986 (Hamilton): 5-2-0, silver 1991 (Saskatoon): 5-1-1, gold 1995 (Red Deer): 7-0-0, gold 1999 (Winnipeg): 4-2-1, silver 2003 (Halifax): 5-1-0, silver 2006 (Vancouver): 6-0-0, gold 2009 (Ottawa): 6-0-0, gold 2010 (Regina/Saskatoon): 5-1, silver 2012 (Calgary/Edmonton): 5-1, bronze Tedy Bruschi Womens Jersey . The No. 5 Aztecs held Burton, the Mountain Wests leading scorer, to 11 points, 10 below his average, in beating the Wolf Pack 73-58 on Saturday night. Kevin Faulk Youth Jersey . The Yankees made the moves before Tuesdays game against Baltimore. Robertson was listed retroactive to Monday. Robertson posted two saves in three games as the replacement for retired Yankees closer Mariano Rivera before getting hurt. http://www.patriotsjerseysauthentic.com/Tom-Brady-Super-Bowl-Jersey/ . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me.ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Colby Rasmus has become a part-time player with Toronto. He made the most of his only at-bat Thursday night. Rasmus delivered a pinch-hit homer in the 10th inning and the Blue Jays earned their first three-game sweep at Tampa Bay with a 1-0 victory over the Rays. "It feels good, but I wasnt going up with the intent to try and show anything that I havent shown before," Rasmus said. "I just wanted to go up there and try and help my team." Rasmus led off the 10th with a long drive into the right-field seats against Steve Geltz (0-1), sending Toronto to its fifth straight win. Tampa Bay had runners at first and third with none out, and the bases loaded with one out, in the ninth. But reliever Brett Cecil (2-3) worked out of the jam by striking out three in the inning. Casey Janssen got three outs for his 21st save. "For whatever reason, this has been a tough place for us to come play," Cecil said. "I dont know about the other guys, but for me, we play in a dome also, but it opens and here it just doesnt to me have a baseball feel to it when youre out there during the game. Youve got to put all those adversities aside." Toronto won the first two games of the series to stop a streak of 22 consecutive winless road series (including one in Orlando) against the Rays dating to April 6-8, 2007. "Worked out just right," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. Both starters, Torontos Mark Buehrle and the Rays Jake Odorizzi, had impressive outings. Buehrle, who is 1-8 in 16 starts since June 7, allowed five hits, one walk and struck out four over eight innings. He started the season by winning 10 of 11 decisions over his first 12 starts. Odorizzi, coming off a 7-0 win Saturday over Boston in which he allowed just one hit, gave up three hits, walked none andd had three strikeouts in 7 1-3 innings. Andre Tippett Womens Jersey. "We have exceeded cardinal sins, mortal sins, original sins -- weve passed them all up," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "We have totally wasted a lot of good pitching." Anthony Gose had a one-out double in the sixth, but Odorizzi got a liner from Jose Reyes and struck out Melky Cabrera. Buehrle retired Ryan Hanigan on a foul pop fly with two runners on to end the second. The Rays have been shut out 17 times this season. Toronto has 14 shutout victories. TRAINERS ROOM Blue Jays: RHP Chad Jenkins is expected to miss the rest of the regular season after breaking his pitching hand while shagging balls in batting practice -- making him the second Toronto pitcher in two days to get hurt during pregame warmups. RHP R.A. Dickey threw 62 pitches Thursday during his regular bullpen session between starts, one day after he was struck in the head by Evan Longorias drive while standing in the left-field corner during BP. Rays: CF Desmond Jennings is frustrated by lingering left knee soreness, but hopes to play before the season ends. He has missed seven straight games. TALL ORDER Tampa Bay has to finish 15-6 for a seventh consecutive winning season. The Rays are 31-41 at home. "Theres where weve messed up," Maddon said. "I dont have any solid reasons." JANSSENS JOB Janssen is now sharing the closer role with rookie Aaron Sanchez and has offered to pitch in innings other than the final one. Janssen entered Thursday with a 7.47 ERA since the All-Star break. UP NEXT Blue Jays: RHP Drew Hutchison (9-11) and Red Sox RHP Allen Webster (3-3) are the scheduled starters Friday night at Fenway Park. Rays: RHP Alex Cobb (9-7) is set to face Baltimore LHP Wei-Yin Chen (14-4) on Friday night. ' ' '