The Mag's E.J. Hradek took his laptop to Russia for the World Junior Championships. Here's his report after Friday's gold-medal game.

The waiters and waitresses here in Moscow, speaking to confused tourists in broken English, say something is "finished" if they have run out of a particular menu item.

Like the other night, at a place called Patio Pizza, the waiter told us the garlic bread was "finished."

So it is with the 2001 World Junior Championship. It is finished. And, for the second straight year, the Czech Republic skates away with the gold medal, besting Finland, 2-1, in the final. A pair of NHL first-round draft picks, Rostislav Klesla (Columbus) and Vaclav Nedorost (Colorado), scored for the Czechs.

Jani Rita, another first-round pick (Edmonton), tallied the lone goal for the Finns.

Mikko Koivu, Saku's younger brother, had a chance to tie the game in the final two minutes, but missed an open net, firing wide. Koivu was among a host of draft eligible players that excited NHL scouts during the tourney. The others included Finnish teammate Tuomo Ruutu, Swedish RW Fredrik Sjostrom and Russian forwards Alexandre Svitov, Stanislav Tchistov and Egor Chastine.

Canada's Jason Spezza and Russia's Ilia Kovaltchouk, the top-ranked eligibles for the 2001 NHL draft, were under the microscope throughout the tournament. Spezza turned in a solid tourney, assisting on both goals in Canada's 2-1 bronze-medal winning overtime victory over Sweden. Kovalchuk, meanwhile, showed flashes of brilliance. But, too often, he overlooked his teammates and took dumb penalties. At this point, Spezza seems the more complete player.

As for Team USA, it finished fifth with a 5-2 record. The U.S. closed out the tournament with wins over Slovakia and Switzerland after a tough 2-1 loss to Canada. Insiders say the Americans could challenge for their first ever WJC gold medal during 2002 and 2003.

Well, as they say here, this is finished. While things here in Moscow have been interesting, it will be great to get back home on Saturday night.

E.J. Hradek, an associate editor at ESPN The Magazine, appears regularly on NHL 2Night. E-mail ej.hradek@espnmag.com.