WJC 2012: Kings prospects face-off on TV today at noon

The 2012 World Junior Championship is underway in Alberta, Canada. The top tournament for under-20 year old hockey players kicked off Monday with wins by Team USA and Canada.

Today, both teams are back in action again - with the U.S. facing Finland and Canada squaring off with the Czech Republic.

Of note, the US/Finland game will feature three LA Kings prospects. In the red, white and blue will be the Kings two tallest defensive prospects - Derek Forbort (6-foot-5, from the University of North Dakota, first round selection at the 2010 NHL Draft) and Kevin Gravel (6-foot-4, from St. Cloud State University, fifth round 2010 NHL Draft).

They could be shooting pucks at Christopher Gibson (2011 draft pick out of the QMJHL), as Team Finland hasn't announced their starter yet. He was in goal on Monday for all eight of Canada's goals. It wasn't pretty. In fact, it was so bad the announcers were using expressions like 'post traumatic stress disorder' and 'under siege' when talking about Gibson's day.

Three LA Kings prospects featured in two TV games today

The World Junior Championship kicks off today in Alberta, Canada. For those unfamiliar, it's the top tournament on the planet featuring under-20 year old hockey players. Last year, Russia came back from a several goal deficit in the third period to top Canada for the gold medal. And Team USA defeated Sweden 4-2 for the bronze medal.

While many of the Kings current roster has participated in past tournaments - including Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson and Mike Richards - it was some of their top prospects who won gold, silver and bronze medals at the WJC.

Brayden Schenn of Team Canada was traded to Philadelphia over the summer for Richards. Maxim Kitsyn is back home playing in Russia. Yet, Derek Forbort of Team USA has returned for a second year.

Here's a quick overview of the three LA Kings prospects in this year's tournament...

USA - Derek Forbort, defenseman, University of North Dakota, first round selection 2010 NHL Draft

USA - Kevin Gravel, defenseman, St. Cloud St. University, fifth round selection 2010 NHL Draft

Finland - Christopher Gibson, Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL), second round selection 2011 NHL Draft

Four LA Kings prospects make preliminary WJC rosters

Later this week we'll have a full prospect report posted, including a look at what's going on out east with the Manchester Monarchs.

For now, here's the big news of the day...

Team Finland and the USA have submitted their preliminary rosters for the upcoming World Junior Championships (Canada's was released last week).

This is the top tournament in the world for the 'under-20' aged hockey players and many of the games will be televised in the U.S. on the NHL Network.

Four LA Kings prospects have made the lists...

USA - Derek Forbort, defenseman, University of North Dakota, first round selection 2010 NHL Draft

USA - Kevin Gravel, defenseman, St. Cloud St. University, fifth round selection 2010 NHL Draft

Finland - Christopher Gibson, Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL), second round selection 2011 NHL Draft

Canada - Tyler Toffoli, Ottawa 67's (OHL), second round selection 2010 NHL Draft

For Team USA, a total roster of 30 players was announced. They will hold a pre-tourney camp from December 17-23 and their final 22-player roster will be known December 22.

Meanwhile, Canada put out a roster of 41 players, who will start their camp this Saturday in Calgary. Toffoli, who was the leading goal scorer in all of junior hockey last year, was a surprise omission from last year's team and he'll be looking to make sure the same thing doesn't happen again.

Remembering Pavol Demitra - as exciting as they come

It's perhaps what every athlete, their families, front office personnel, team owners and sports fans fear most...a plane crash.

In what was absolutely devastating news to the hockey world today, we all learned that a tragic accident occurred in Russia - killing more than 30 members of the KHL’s Lokomotiv organization.

Among the lives lost was former LA King Pavol Demitra.

It's interesting when you think about it, some players are part of a team for years and really don't make much of an impression. Others, in a relatively short time, can become very memorable.

Demitra was the latter.

He played only 58 regular season games for the Kings, during the 2005-06 season. However, he posted 62 points - third best on the team - and was the only point-a-game player on the roster. Additionally, his 25 goals were just one shy of leader Mike Cammalleri - who played in 80 games.

Demitra also led the team with a plus-21 rating. And a remarkable five of his 25 goals were scored short-handed.

Needless to say, when he was on the ice, fans and opponents paid attention.

From his spectacular head-fake shootout goals, to scoring a hat-trick on hat night, he knew how to make an impression on those watching the game.

Exclusive: Tyler Toffoli on Team Canada camp experience

Last summer the Kings sent six players to Hockey Canada's summer evaluation camp for their 2011 World Junior team.

This year, Tyler Toffoli was the lone representative.

The week long camp ended Sunday night and I spoke with Toffoli yesterday about the overall experience. Here are his thoughts on ten items related to being at camp...

- Overall: "It was good seeing everybody there again, like last year. I felt like camp went well though. It was tough and it was a lot of fun at the same time. We were working hard and getting back into it. It felt good."

- Ryan Smyth being an assistant coach for one of the scrimmages: "I didn't really get a chance to speak with him. He came and spoke with us before the game and was telling us about his previous experiences with Team Canada. After that, we had to get to the rink. So, unfortunately, I couldn't spend any more time with him."

- The t-shirts given to the players in camp that read 'Earned, Not Given': "I think it's kind of self explanatory. You have to work for what you want. And that's definitely what Team Canada is going for next season and moving forward. Hopefully I can be part of it."

- Spending one of the off-ice sessions at a military base: "Yeah, we went to an Army base. We did a little bit of rappelling and we did an obstacle course too. We didn't have to do it with the 40 extra pounds that they have to do it with. But, it was still tough for what we had to do. I can only imagine how tough it is for them when they go through it with all that extra gear that they run around with all the time. The whole experience was amazing. It was good to get out there and work hard."

Jack and USA done, Bernier ready for Ovechkin tomorrow

Johnson and Jagr at IIHF quarterfinals
Photo by Matthew Manor / HHOF-IIHF

Out of the sixteen countries to play in the main pool at last year's IIHF World Championships the United States finished 13th - ahead of only France, Italy and Kazakhstan.

They'll finish five slots higher this year, but there isn't much to celebrate. After advancing to the elite-8, they were bounced in their first game by the defending champions from the Czech Republic.

In today's opening game of the quarterfinals Team USA lost 4-0. Al Montoya (New York Islanders) was announced as injured, so Ty Conklin (St. Louis Blues) was given the start in goal. Jack Johnson played over 20 minutes again, but the offense just couldn't get anything going.

The Kings defenseman also laid out Patrik Elias (New Jersey Devils) behind the net in the third period. Probably should have been a penalty, but there was no call.

Johnson finished the tournament with 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) in seven games, picked up eight penalty minutes and was a minus-4. He also led all U.S. defenseman with 20 shots on goal.

Jaromir Jagr looked every bit the part of a player ready to return to the NHL, posting three goals on his first four shots in today's game. He's now tied for the lead on his team with five goals and eight points (matching the totals of Montreal's Tomas Plekanec).

The Czech's beat Russia for the gold last May and this year's brackets have things lining up for a possible rematch.  Russia has also played in the finals for three straight years, having won the gold medal in 2008 and 2009.

Germany and Sweden will play later today. The winner of that game will play the Czech Republic in one of Friday's semi-final games.

On the other side, the winner of tomorrow's two games - Canada/Russia and Finland/Norway - will meet up in the other semi-final game.

Both the gold and bronze medal games will be played on Sunday, airing live on VERSUS in the U.S.

But, back to that Canada-Russia game. Coach Ken Hitchcock has already announced he's sticking with Jonathan Bernier in goal, who is 2-0 in the tournament. One of the many story lines to watch in that game is if Bernier and the Canadian defense can shut down Alexander Ovechkin. In two games played, he's yet to register a point.



The Mayor
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Forget Quick... It's the return of Bernier vs Ersberg!

You read that right.

It's just not for a spot on the Kings. Instead, they'll square off at the IIHF World Championships in Slovakia.

With Canada looking to lock down the top spot in their pool on Monday, coach Ken Hitchcock has announced he'll start Jonathan Bernier in goal for their final game of the qualification round.

Bernier picked up a 3-2 win yesterday vs. Norway, stopping 25 of 27 shots. It was his first game played in the tournament.

At the other end of the ice for his second game will be Erik Ersberg of Team Sweden. The former Kings goalie was in net when the Swedes lost their opening game of the tournament to Norway, 5-4 (via a shootout).

Sweden hasn't lost a game since and Ersberg hasn't seen any game action since. However, having already won their pool play, he's being given another shot before the quarterfinals start mid-week.

In other news...

* Slovenia lost in the relegation round to Belarus by a final score of 7-1. They've now been dropped out of the main pool for 2012. Just like Kings fans wonder how the team would have done vs. San Jose had Anze Kopitar been in the line-up, hockey fans in his home country now wonder the same thing about the national team. (read more about Gasper Kopitar's dreams for Slovenia here)

* Even though the U.S. had Sunday off, they still qualified for the quarterfinals due to Switzerland's loss to Sweden. Team USA plays their final 'qualification round' game tomorrow vs. the Swiss - that game airs live on VERSUS at 7am PST. Jack Johnson continues to lead the team in ice time in most games...and is an even-player through five games (he was minus-21 for the Kings this season). He also leads the team with 18 shots on goal..

* Alexander Ovechkin made it to Europe in time for the game, but Russia lost to the Czech Republic 3-2 on Sunday. Jaromir Jagr had the second goal of the game for his country. Ovi was held pointless.

* Michal Handzus and Team Slovakia haven't played well at all. Let's just leave it at that. They'll play Denmark Monday.  It will likely be the final game of Pavol Demitra's international career.

Quarterfinal match-ups will be announced tomorrow night and played Wednesday/Thursday. Regardless of the outcome of Monday's games, seven of the eight slots have already been secured by Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Russia, Sweden and the USA. Norway is the most likely eighth team. However, Switzerland has a slim chance at it.

[Monday morning update: Norway beat France earlier today to secure the 8th seed.  Switzerland will not advance to the quarterfinals, regardless of the outcome vs. Team USA.]



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Bernier and Canada nearly give it all away vs. Norway

Photo by Jukka Rautio/HHOF-IIHF

If results are the only thing that matters, Team Canada is doing just fine.

However, coach Ken Hitchcock has to at least be a little concerned with the overall play of his team right now at the IIHF World Championship.

Yesterday they trailed 2-1 after two periods to the U.S. Sure, they came back and won 4-3. Yet, that was in a shootout. And Ty Conklin was in goal for the U.S.

Should that really have been a problem for an offense being led by Rick Nash, James Neal, Jason Spezza, Jordan Eberle, Matt Duchene, John Tavares, Jeff Skinner, etc.?

Maybe the group says 'Hey, we put 50+ shots on goal. What more do you want from us?'

Could be.  Moving on...

After riding goalie James Reimer (Toronto Maple Leafs) for the first four games in the tournament, Hitchcock went to Kings' goalie Jonathan Bernier today versus Norway.

Things looked good when Canada was up 3-0 with 10 minutes left to play in the third. Then, Bernier gave up two (somewhat) soft goals in a less-than-two-minute span and we had a game.

When the clock got down to 90 seconds left Norway pulled their goalie for the extra attacker. However, they couldn't put another one past Bernier - so Canada won and secured their spot in the quarterfinals.

Bernier finished with 25 of 27 saves and he may not be done in the tournament. Prior to the game Hitchcock said he was giving Bernier a chance because he was told Bernier would be good on the big ice surface. Then, after the win, he was noncommittal about his starter for Canada's next game on Monday vs. Sweden - saying he'll sleep on it.

He also said "I was impressed with Bernier. I was impressed with the composure."

Finally, a few other notes...

After yesterday's game vs. Canada, Jack Johnson wasn't looking at things any differently just because of who they were playing - saying "A loss is a loss no matter who you lose to." He played a team-high 28 minutes and scored on a breakaway (coming out of the penalty box) in the second period that put Team USA up 2-1 lead. He was also the first shooter in the shootout, but missed.

Team USA is playing France this morning, in a game that will air on tape delay later tonight on VERSUS.

In case you haven't heard, Alexander Ovechkin is now in Slovakia for the tournament. He is practicing today with Team Russia and will play his first game tomorrow vs. the Czech Republic.

That should be interesting. One of my lasting memories from last year's Olympics in Vancouver was Ovi laying out Jaromir Jagr at center ice during a game between the two countries.



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Kings forward Michal Handzus to join Team Slovakia

Fresh on the heels of announcements that Team Canada will include goaltender Jonathan Bernier and Team USA will feature Jack Johnson on defense, now comes word that Kings forward Michal Handzus will play for Slovakia, the host country for this year's IIHF World Championships.

Although the tournament is set to begin today, reports from Europe say Handzus and Blackhawks' forward Marian Hossa are on their way right now to join former King Pavol Demitra (who had a strong Olympic tournament last February in Vancouver) and current Rangers winger Marian Gaborik.

The team also features Jaroslav Halak of the St. Louis Blues in goal.

Handzus is an unrestricted free agent, having just completed a four-year contract with the Kings. Earlier this week, coach Terry Murray said he'd like to have him back (full interview here).



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World Juniors 2011 - What You Need To Know

If you're like most hockey fans south of Canada, you probably don't pay too much attention to future NHL prospects. Junior hockey isn't a big deal in the States and big time college hockey is limited to a handful of markets. So, it's understandable.

However, if you were going to make an exception to your normal practices, this is the week to do it.

Each year, beginning the day after Christmas (Boxing Day in Canada), the top 10 nations gather their best under 20 year old players to participate in the World Junior Hockey Championship (WJC).

Team USA won the gold last year on Canadian soil. This year the games are in Buffalo, NY and the Kings have one player on each of the three teams favored to win medals (US, Canada and Russia).

Nearly every NHL star of the past or present has participated in this event for their country. On the current Kings roster alone you're talking about Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson, Dustin Brown, Ryan Smyth - heck, Marco Sturm even played for Germany.

Below you'll get a quick cheat sheet filled with what you need to know for the 2011 WJC - including the format, Kings prospects, TV schedule, top teams and key players to watch...

Recap of Brayden Schenn on NHL Radio

There's finally a plan in place for Brayden Schenn's next few weeks.

He's been living day-to-day for the last three months. Not anymore. Currently, he's with Team Canada and preparing to start the World Junior Championships on Boxing Day (12/26).

Here's a quick recap of his interview on NHL Radio...

* This year's team (Canada) is "big and fast and looks good on paper."

* They'll probably arrive in Buffalo on 12/23. Their first game is 12/26 vs. Russia.

* It's been a "whirlwind of a first half" for him, filled with "a lot of uncertainty." However, he values the experience he gained with the Kings, the Manchester Monarchs, etc.

* He's one of four returnees for Canada, the defending champion U.S. has eight. He's not worried about being ranked second entering the tournament. Canada is "expected to win gold every year" and it's up to the U.S. to deal with that pressure.

* He thinks Russia has something to prove, given their loss to the Swiss in the semi-finals last year. So, that's going to be a good test for Canada right out of the gate.

* In his opinion, Canada will have great goaltending and big defenseman. Offensively, they don't have guys like Jordan Eberle (Edmonton Oilers) - but he doesn't agree with people who say the team will have trouble scoring.

* He talks to his older brother Luke (Toronto Maple Leafs) nearly everyday, either via text or phone call. They're 21 months apart.

It's rumored that Schenn is one of the three front runners for the Team Canada captaincy.  So far, nothing has been officially announced, should be within the next few days.

The Mayor
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RELATED ARTICLES:

The Complete Story on Brayden Schenn

Coach Terry Murray on the hold up with Brayden Schenn

Comments from Schenn the day before being returned to the WHL

Comments from Schenn after eight games in October

Recap of Marco Sturm on NHL Radio

NHL Draft - Day One - Kings Derek Forbort Notes

I'll have a full post-draft recap up later.  For now, here are a couple of quick notes on the Kings first round selection - Derek Forbort.

* From NHL.com - His childhood hockey idol was Wendel Clark because of the way he could score goals and fight.

* NHL Central Scouting's Jack Barzee added "Derek Forbort has good top-end ability at both ends (of the ice). He's smart and skates so well, he's almost 6-5 and he's got everything there in front of him. It's just a matter of filling out and getting more experience. He's probably a top-two defenseman in the NHL if he reaches his potential."

* He spent the last two seasons with Team USA's development program.  Although many media outlets are reporting that he won gold with Team USA at the World Junior Championships this past January, they're wrong.  He wasn't in that tournament, which is the under-20 tourney.  He did win gold...it was with the under-18 Team USA team though.  That tournament was in Belarus.  Forbort played in all 7 games, had 2 points, 6 PIM and led the team with a +9 rating.  Read more about it on the IIHF website.

* Did he have a feeling he was going to the Kings in the first round?  "I had like a two-minute interview with them, so (it was) kind of unexpected," Forbort told media after the selection. "It's definitely a good feeling. I didn't really know. It was a great feeling."

* "He's going to a great program (see next note)," Dean Lombardi said. "He's clearly raw. He's young, but when you get a kid with that type of range, you have to do it. He's raw, but there are some things to work with there."

Kings + Michigan + IIHF + USA...and the Spirit of 76(k)

In just a few hours...in a time-zone far, far away...Captain Jack (Johnson) and his Kings teammate, Matt Greene, will lead Team USA onto the ice at the 2010 Hockey World Championships.

Surrounding them will be slightly over 76,000 fans...enough to set a new world record for hockey attendance.  And enough people to make a hell of a lot of noise.

In fact, yesterday on NHL radio an executive from USA Hockey (Jim Johannson) said that he expects most of the crowd to be standing and singing much of the game...if not the whole game.  According to Johannson, it's just par for the course when you pack a football stadium (that's soccer stadium to you Yank') full of hockey fans and get them all liquored up.  That's how they roll, Euro style.

Captain Jack and Greener aren't the only players with a connection to both the Kings and the attendance record.  Former Kings forward Mike Cammalleri was at the University of Michigan back in 2001 when the Wolverines faced off against Michigan State in the Cold War game...played outdoors at the Spartan's football stadium, filled with 74,000 students, fans and alumni.  That fun filled event set the current record, which will be broken later this afternoon.

Although the 76,000 and change that will witness today's tournament opening game between Germany and the U.S. will just barely beat the current hockey attendance record set by Michigan-MSU, it's going to obliterate the record for the World Championships.  It was way back in 1957 when 55,000 fans filled (then) Lenin Stadium in Moscow to watch the Soviets and Swedes battle it out for gold at the final game of the Worlds.  After today, that achievement will be no more.

Captain Jack steers Team USA onto TV

Captain Jack Sparrow once said 'The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can’t do.'

And according to Team USA...well, Jack Johnson CAN indeed play hockey - pretty well, in fact.  Earlier today he was named Captain of the USA squad getting ready to play in the Hockey World Championships over in Germany.

More on that in a minute though.  The other big news is...and hockey fans probably haven't uttered these words since the dispute with Versus was resolved about six weeks ago...DAMN YOU DIRECTV!  It looks like NBC's Universal Sports will be televising the Championships.  However, if you have DirecTV, you won't be seeing anything - they don't carry the channel.  Cable subscribers can click here for more info.

Now back to Captain Jack (Johnson, that is)...

Kings Johnson & Greene get things started for Team USA

The IIHF's World Hockey Championships kick off on Friday in Germany. As a tune-up, Team USA played their lone pre-tournament game earlier today. And a pair of Kings defensemen helped lead the charge. Jack Johnson had a goal, while Matt Greene chipped in with an assist in the 3-1 win.

The following is a snipet of the official game recap from USA Hockey:

After Yorick Treille gave France a 1-0 lead at 11:01 of the first period, Okposo knotted the score with his first marker 4:52 into the middle frame. Matt Greene (Grand Ledge, Mich./Los Angeles Kings/Univ. of North Dakota) sent a pass to Nick Foligno (Buffalo, N.Y./Ottawa Senators), who fed Okposo with a cross-ice goalmouth pass for a tap-in goal past Fabrice Lhenry.

While on the power play, the U.S. grabbed a 2-1 advantage with 7:29 remaining in the second period. T.J. Oshie (Warroad, Minn./St. Louis Blues/Univ. of North Dakota) collected a Brandon Dubinsky (Anchorage, Alaska/New York Rangers) pass behind the French net and fed Jack Johnson (Ann Arbor, Mich./Los Angeles Kings/Univ. of Michigan) at the top of the left circle, where he fired a one-timer over Lhenry's blocker.

You can read the full report by clicking here.

Team USA will begin pool play on Friday vs. host Germany. They'll then play again on 5/10 and 5/12.  For you diehards out there, you can watch the games online for a small fee. Just click here for the details.

The Mayor
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WJC Recap: Day One

If you're a fan of the LA Kings, you had plenty to cheer about. If you're rooting for Team USA, you had plenty to worry about early on in their game against Slovakia.

Day One recap:

Canada 15, Latvia 0 - It wasn't even close. The host Canadians put 67 shots on goal. That should tell you all you need to know. Hang on...

Sorry, I had to check. Canada might have scored again.

Canada hadn't lost an opening round game in the WJC tournament in 12 years. Make it 13 now. Gabriel Bourque, a Nashville prospect, was the star of the game - setting a new Canadian single-game record with 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists). Kings prospects did well too - Brandon Kuzon 5 points (2g, 3a) and Brayden Schenn 2 assists. To see video highlights of the game click here.

Sweden 1o, Czech Republic 1 - Last year the Czechs opened the tournament with a 8-1 loss to Canada. They outdid themselves this year in another lopsided affair. Edmonton prospect 'MPS' Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson put up 5 points (1g, 4a) for his homeland.

Russia 6, Austria 2 - Team Russia featured Anaheim Ducks prospect Igor Bobkov in net. Offensively, they received three goals from guys hoping to hear their names called at the 2010 NHL Draft in Los Angeles - Yevgeni Kuznetsov (2) and Vladimir Tarasenko (1).

United States 7, Slovakia 3 - The first period was wild. Slovakia was playing big, physical, smash mouth hockey. They had the Americans rattled and were up 2-0 early on. To Team USA's credit, they gathered themselves together and came storming back in the second period to take the lead. USA captain Jordan Stepan stepped on the dreams of any Slovakian upset. His goal put the Americans on top and they never looked back. Six different guys put in goals for the USA, including Jordan Schroeder (who is trying to chase down Jeremy Roenick's tournament record for points by an American...he needs five more to tie).

The tournament continues Sunday with three games, including Team USA taking on Switzerland at 1pm PST. It will be televised on the NHL Network. Check it out.

The Mayor
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