Jordan Eberle, John Tavares and Canada’s golden triumph at the 2009 World Juniors: ‘Can you believe it?’

Going back to his highlight-reel toe drag in the Battle of Alberta, Jordan Eberle has scored over 300 goals throughout his 15-year NHL career.

But it’s still his iconic World Juniors goal for Canada that makes people ask “Where were you when…?”

“I think as I’ve gotten older it becomes a little bit more surreal to me,” Eberle said. “I think at the time, I was a bit naive. I was just happy that we had won and I was happy that I was there.”

A few months earlier, Eberle’s mere place on the team was in question.

At the time, Benoit Groulx was slated to be Canada’s coach at the tournament. And he wasn’t impressed with Eberle’s performance at the team’s summer camp.

“In my exit meeting, I believe he said I was one of the worst players in camp,” Eberle said. “I knew I had a long road to go after that.”

“One of the dangers of the summer camp is a lot of guys either haven’t been on the ice that much because they’ve been training off ice to get stronger,” Hockey Canada head scout Al Murray said. “Or they’ve been training on different things than being in great condition or whatever. Jordan had been drafted and he was working on getting stronger to go to Edmonton’s camp and he hadn’t been on the ice. So, he came out and had a poor summer camp.”

But after Groulx took a job with the AHL Rochester Americans, he was replaced by Pat Quinn in September 2008.

Quinn had coached Eberle and Canada to a gold medal at the Under-18 World Championship in Russia earlier that year. Once Eberle started well in the WHL and made a further impression during the selection camp in December, he left little doubt that he should join Canada at the World Juniors.

“It’s funny how things work out, right? If Benoit’s the coach, I might not be on that team,” Eberle said.

Canada’s World Junior gold-medal reign began in 2005 when Sidney Crosby, Corey Perry and Patrice Bergeron led the way. Eberle, Quinn and company were looking to make it five in a row.

“Silver is really never good enough,” Eberle said. “You have to win gold.”

Before Eberle’s semifinal heroics against Russia, the attention was squarely on John Tavares.

The No. 1 pick at the 2009 NHL Draft would likely come down to Tavares or hulking Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman, who was also at that year’s tournament.

“There was so much hype around him as a young player in the OHL,” Canada’s Tyler Myers said. “Even as a WHL guy, you heard a lot about him. He proved it at a young age and then he just kept proving it again.”

“I had been the leader in the dressing room,” Canada’s captain Thomas Hickey said. “But Johnny was the truest leader in the sense that he picked us up. He was the heartbeat of our team. We sort of went as he did.”

The Mississauga, Ontario, native dazzled in a pre-tournament game against Slovakia where he batted the puck in mid-air after the Slovak goalie made the initial save, before whacking the puck in the net. By the time Canada met the United States in their New Year’s Eve matchup, Tavares had already scored five goals. The Canadians would need his scoring as early as the first period once the United States raced out to a three-goal lead. Tavares kickstarted the comeback with a power-play goal with a little over five minutes to go. Seconds later, American defenseman Ryan McDonaugh broke his stick while trying to make a breakout pass. Tavares picked up the puck and entered the zone. McDonaugh dove to stop the Canadian forward, only for Tavares to toe-drag around him before scoring his second goal.

“Johnny Tavares walked him, and there was a surge in the crowd,” former TSN broadcaster Pierre McGuire said.

“It was like somebody had put an electric bolt on their bench. They were a completely different team, and then they just steamrolled them.”

Eberle tied the game before the end of the period with a power-play goal of his own. The teams traded goals in the second period. As Canada clung to its 5-4 lead, goaltender Dustin Tokarski made one of the best saves of the tournament on American forward Colin Wilson.

“More than anything, I remember Pierre McGuire’s reaction to it for many years after I’ve heard it numerous times,” Tokarski said. “Just a desperation to save in a moment with a guy all over in front.”

It was as close as the Americans would get to scoring again. Tavares later iced the game, and completed his hat trick, by scoring in an empty net. Another goal from Tyler Ennis made it 7-4.

That New Year’s Eve classic is remembered as one of the best games in the Canada-United States rivalry. But it was somehow upstaged by the Canada-Russia semifinal a few days later.

TSN director Paul Hemming didn’t think twice about what to show viewers as Canada and Russia got ready for a faceoff.

Russia’s Sergei Andronov had given his team an early third-period 5-4 lead. Another Russian goal would’ve cemented victory and led to Canada’s elimination. But after a missed open net led to an icing call, the Canadians suddenly had a faceoff in the offensive end with under a minute to play.

“My mantra as a director is always to put the viewer in the best seat in the house,” Hemming said. “I really like to take advantage of the robotic cameras. Because nothing can give you a better perspective, a bird’s eye POV if you will, of the action.”

So as millions watched Canada try to keep their hopes alive, the director called for the robotic camera’s behind-the-net view, which is normally used for replays. An operator controlled the camera with the joystick, following the puck as it bounced and rimmed around the Russian zone.

“I won’t lie to you. My heart rate was probably over 150 beats a minute at that moment,” Hemming said.

Tokarski watched from the bench after he had been pulled for the extra attacker. He was hoping he wouldn’t be “heartbroken.”

“I think I was looking up at the jumbotron, kind of just praying,” Tokarski said.

The Russians were given another chance to clear the puck with seconds to go. But defenseman Ryan Ellis jumped to keep the puck in the offensive zone.

“I had the easiest job of all, just run into the boards and keep the puck at all costs,” Ellis said.

A board battle ensued before the puck was finally freed. Tavares made a backhanded scoop, lifting the puck toward the front of the net. It hit a Russian defenseman in front, but Eberle stole the puck. He then went forehand to backhand, on bended knee, beating Russian goalie Vadim Zhelobnyuk to send the game to overtime.

“I’ve always said this,” Eberle said. “I was just the lucky recipient of being in front to give the boys a chance to win.

“I’m just like, ‘Wow, we just tied it.’”

“From that moment on, we knew we had it in the bag,” Hickey said. “That Eberle moment will stick with me forever.”

Murray has seen Eberle make that move dozens of times. He watched him pull it off in his driveway as a youth as he would pick him up for hockey practice with his son.

“You’d pull up and he’d be waiting for you,” Murray said. “He’d have a tennis ball and a stick and he would go forehand, backhand, under the bar a million times. It wasn’t the first time he had that move in a situation, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was in the driveway thinking about those kinds of situations to make that move.”

And who can forget TSN broadcaster Gord Miller’s call of the iconic moment? “Can you believe it?”

“It’s the one that’s most closely identified with me,” Miller said. “I think it’s certainly better than if I’d blown the call. Yeah, I think I’m pretty proud of it.”

An overtime period solved nothing between both sides, necessitating a shootout. Eberle, again, went forehand to backhand before beating Zhelobnyuk. Tavares scored a goal of his own in the shootout. After the Russians were stopped on their second attempt, Canada cleared the benches and celebrated their now-famous victory.

P.K. Subban, John Tavares and Tyler Ennis celebrate their gold medal victory during the 2009 World Juniors in Ottawa. (Richard Wolowicz / Getty Images)

Two days later, the Canadians defeated the Swedes in the gold medal game. A battle between Tavares and Hedman for World Juniors supremacy looked enticing on paper. But Canada led the entire way, en route to a 5-1 victory.

“We had a really good team that year,” Hickey said. “There was a ton of pressure. It was a lot because you’re going for five in a row. Hadn’t been done. Plus, we’re in the nation’s capital and (it’s) the best time of the year. There was a ton of pressure now that I look back. But in the moment, we all rose to it and lived for it.”

As the tournament returns to Ottawa all these years later, Eberle’s goal remains among the primary memories for the many Canadians who make watching the World Juniors an annual tradition in their households.

“I think the thing that people say to me the most is that you’re part of our family over the holidays,” Miller, who’s calling World Juniors games for the 30th consecutive year, said. “And that’s the biggest compliment I can get.”

“One of the things that I think endeared the tournament to Canada, every player has a backstory. Every player comes from somewhere,” McGuire said. “Every player, whether it was from Watson, Saskatchewan, population 600. Or Toronto, Ontario, population 8 million. It didn’t matter. Every guy had a story.

“It’s some of the most treasured memories I ever have from broadcasting, or working in hockey: being around the World Juniors and the crew that I was fortunate enough to be around. And I miss it every day.”

(Top photo of Jordan Eberle and Vadim Zhelobnyuk: Richard Wolowicz / Getty Images)