You win the gold; you lose the silver.

It’s an argument I’ve heard a lot in the past few days; one that would seem to excuse the actions of Swedish captain Lias Andersson as he lobbed his IIHF Junior World Championship silver medal into the crowd immediately after receiving it.

The Swedish team lost 3-1 to Canada in the final Friday afternoon in Buffalo, NY. It was a tight game, tied right up until the final minutes of play when a rarely-used Canadian forward scored to give Canada the edge. An empty-netter goal sealed the deal. Gold for Canada. Silver for Sweden.

It was the last chance for this group of Swedish guys to win it all at the junior championships.