Most of the players are unknown to the vast majority of Canadian hockey fans when the tournament begins, yet they capture the imagination of a hockey nation every holiday season.

The IIHF world junior championship has become must-see viewing for puck lovers and in recent years the teenagers sporting the Maple Leaf have obliged their fans with five straight gold medals. The 2009 edition of the squad was named the Canwest News Service team of the year after skating to gold in Ottawa.

“I think most Canadians relate to this team because of the passion the kids put into the game,” Hockey Canada’s senior director of men’s national teams Brad Pascall said in a telephone interview. “It really reflects the identity of many Canadians from coast to coast of hard work and true Canadiana.”

The juniors beat Sweden 5-1 in the final at a packed Scotiabank Place in Ottawa. But the easy game in the final belied the tough road the team had getting to the championship game.

Canada got off to a great start, outscoring their first three opponents (the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan and Germany) by a combined score of 28-2, but had the nation holding its collective breath the rest of the way.

In the final round-robin match and with a first-round playoff bye on the line, Canada rallied from a 3-0 first-period deficit to beat the Americans 7-4. The comeback kids stepped it up a notch in the semifinal against Russia, with Jordan Eberle tying the game with five seconds to go in the third period. Canada went on to win 6-5 in a shootout, with Eberle scoring the game-winning goal.

“The event in Ottawa was just tremendous,” Pascall said. “It’s really special to play in front of the home fans, especially 20,000 fans.”

Canada has won 13 gold medals at the event and has twice won five in a row (1993-97 and 2005-09). The 2010 edition of the team is in Saskatoon looking for an unprecedented sixth straight gold.

Pascall credits Hockey Canada’s development programs with helping to prepare the players for the world juniors.

“The players really get to know each other at the under-17 and under-18 events,” he said. “By the time that they make it to the world juniors a good portion of these players have participated in the battle . . . they’ve played in tough games, they’ve played over in Europe, faced the foreign competition before and I think they have familiarity with each other.

“By the time they come to the juniors they’re more mature.”

The junior team earned 221 points in voting from sports editors and reporters across the country. A first-place vote was worth 10 points, a second-place vote six and a third-place vote three.

The Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes finished second with 142 points, while the Memorial Cup champion Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League came third with 50 points.

The Canada’s national baseball team, the United Soccer Leagues’ Montreal Impact, Battle of the Blades figure skaters Jamie Sale and Craig Simpson, the Carleton University men’s basketball team and both the Canadian men’s and women’s basketball teams also received votes.

Canwest team of the year voting

1. World junior team, 221 points

2. Montreal Alouettes, 142

3. Windsor Spitfires, 50

4. National men’s baseball team, 42

5. National men’s basketball team, 35

Others receiving votes: National women’s basketball team; Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team; Montreal Impact; Jamie Sale/Craig Simpson skating duo (Battle of Blades)