Canucks' Jake Virtanen feels the ire of an entire country after Canadian loss
Team Canada's World Junior Championship came to a disappointing conclusion with a quarterfinal loss to Team Finland Saturday, and upset Canadians have already found a scapegoat in Vancouver Canucks rookie Jake Virtanen.
The 19-year-old winger did not have a strong tournament, tallying one point through Canada's five games. His three penalties in Saturday's loss became a point of contention, especially considering two of those penalties came on the same play in the third period. Finland scored the game-winning goal on a two-man advantage when Virtanen was serving the second half of his double-minor.
Fans erupted on social media in frustration with Virtanen.
Oof RT @jhiitela: Jake Virtanen - typical Finn. Can't score and takes stupid penalties.
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) January 2, 2016
Jake Virtanen has peaks and valleys. That may have been the most ridiculous valley of his entire career. What's he thinking? #AllHeartCanada
— Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette) January 2, 2016
But Virtanen's Canucks teammates had his back, as two-time Team Canada player Alexandre Burrows and Canadian World Junior veteran Bo Horvat both stood up for Virtanen.
"At that age, on that stage, you feel like you let your country down. Jake's a strong kid mentally and he'll bounce back" - Horvat #Canucks
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) January 3, 2016
Meanwhile, Vancouver has a decision on its hands as it attempts to figure out how to get Virtanen going back in the NHL, where Virtanen has four points (one goal, three assists) in 19 games. He has not registered a point since Nov. 8.
