WJC Recap: Day Three

Although there were only two World Jrs games scheduled for Monday, there were plenty of questions to keep things interesting. Could Switzerland somehow find a way to contain the potent Team Canada offense? Would the deadly Canadian power play continue to click an an astronomical rate? How may points would the Kings prospects have? And in the other game, could Finland keep the momentum going from their big win yesterday when they took on Russia?

Here's a recap of the games played this afternoon:

Canada 6, Switzerland 0
Yes, the power play continued to perform for Team Canada. In two games they've now gone 10 for 16. Anaheim Ducks prospect James McMillian was the star of the game. The Canadian defenseman had a hat trick - and still wasn't named player of the game (that went to Oilers prospect Jordan Eberle, who had a goal and three assists). Brayden Schenn was the only Kings prospect with a point, picking up an assist on Big Mac's first goal (in the opening minute of the game). Jake Allen was in goal for Canada again, leaving Kings prospect Martin Jones on the bench for the second straight game. The odd part of the game was seeing Canada play in their Rough Rider green jerseys. Fortunately, they aren't slated to wear them again in the tournament.

Russia 2, Finland 0
2010 NHL Draft prospect Petr Khokhriakov put Russia up 1-0 in the first. Columbus Blue Jackets prospect (and Team Russia captain) Nikita Filatov made it 2-0 Russia midway through the second period. Even though Finland put 46 shots on goal, Russian goalie (and Anaheim Ducks 2009 draft pick) Igor Bobkov turned them all away for the shutout victory.

Tuesday will feature four games, including: Team USA returns to action against Latvia (this will be USA's final game before the big showdown with Canada on Thursday), the marque match-up of the day is Sweden-Russia (both 2-0 so far) and Team Canada should get it's toughest test yet from Slovakia, a very under rated team featuring Detroit Red Wings prospect 'Mr. Excitement' Tomas Tatar.


Check out all three games on the NHL Network beginning at 1pm PST on Tuesday afternoon.


The Mayor
www.twitter.com/Mayor119

WJC Recap: Day Two

Every spring fans of the NBA watch the NCAA's March Madness to see future superstars do battle in the annual college basketball tournament. In turn, puck heads from throughout North American and Europe tune in to the World Junior Championships each holiday season to get a glimpse of future NHL stars. You'd be hard pressed to name 10 elite hockey players who didn't play in this tourney when they were 18-20 years old. It's the best of the best and it makes for some great hockey. Here are the highlights of day two:

Sweden 7, Austria 3
For the second straight game Austria played a strong game, but took the loss in the end. Sweden continued pressuring their opponents with a roster stacked full of legitimate NHL prospects. In fact, all seven of their goals came from recent draftees: Oliver Ekman Larsson 2 goals (Phoenix Coyotes), Anton Rodin 2 goals (Vancouver Canucks), Jacob Josefson (New Jersey Devils), Mattias Ekholm (Nashville Predators) and Andre Petersson (Ottawa Senators). Not all of their top talent is offense though, they started New York Islanders draft pick Anders Nilsson in net.

USA 3, Switzerland 0
The Americans picked up their second victory less than 24 hours after their tournament opener. Most of the credit goes to the second youngest player on the team, goaltender Jack Campbell. He was a rock star in the first period, stopping all 14 shots the Swiss threw at him. This just continued his stellar play in nets when wearing USA on his jersey.

Last year at the IIHF Under-18 World Championships he was an obvious choice for the tournament's all-star team. Campbell didn't allow any even strength goals while posting a 6-1 record with a 0.75 GAA and two shutouts. Oh yea, and he was the winning goaltender when the U.S. beat Russia for the gold medal. Remember his name when the 2010 NHL draft comes along in June.

In this game, things were scoreless after one period. From that point forward, Team USA's defense kicked in (allowing just 8 shots over the final 40 minutes) and the offense did enough for the win, with goals by Chris Kreider, Matt Donovan and AJ Jenks.

The top line for USA is now being called 'the Original Six' line...because they were all drafted by O6 teams: Danny Kristo (Montreal Canadiens), Derek Stepan (NY Rangers) and Jerry D'Amigo (Totonto Maple Leafs).

Team USA is now 17-0-2 USA all time vs Switzerland at the WJC.

Finland 4, Czech Republic 3
The Fins were down 2-0 after the first and 3-1 after the second. They came storming back in the third with the unanswered goals - including a pair from Anaheim Ducks prospect Sami Vatanen - to defeat the Czechs 4-3 in a wild game. Somewhere Teemu Selanne is smiling right now.

Slovakia 8, Latvia 3
Slovakia netted five goals in the first period and never looked back. Five of their eight goals on the night came from a trio probably bound for the NHL within two years - TB Lightning prospect Richard Panik had two goals, as did 'Mr Excitement' Tomas Tatar (Detroit Red Wings) and San Jose Sharks draft pick Marek Viedensky put one in too.

On Monday Canada will play it's second game of the tournament, against Switzerland. Team USA will take the day off and prepare for Latvia on Tuesday.

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/Mayor119

WJC: Gold Rush, American Style

Perhaps Jordan Schroeder should change his number from 19 to 49.

You see, even without a pick ax and a pan, he's still searching for gold.

However, the subtle change may not be enough to stop optimistic supporters from saying things like "third time's a charm." An expression that may sound up beat, yet he still remembers his first visit to the World Junior Championships two years ago and the bitter taste of fourth place. Things were even worse last year when his team finished fifth.

Sure, he has two medals from the U-18 tournaments (that's under-18 for the new folks in town). And his silver medal from 2007 and bronze medal in 2008 should have led to bigger and better things for the U.S. hockey program. To date, it hasn't though. So, Schroeder is back for his third and final trip to the World Jrs. Still searching for that elusive medal. Gold preferably. Yet, honestly, wouldn't anything do at this point?

Although it's often said that most individual records aren't as important as team success in organized sports, a quick look at the 20 all-time leading scorers in the history of the WJC is telling. Seeing only one American - Jeremy Roenick - is no surprise, given Team USA's poor history in the tournament.

Things appeared to be changing back in 2004 when the Americans beat Team Canada for their first ever gold medal. That team featured guys like Dustin Brown, Patrick O'Sullivan, Ryan Suter, Ryan Kesler, and Zach Parise. Most of those guys have advanced through the U.S. system and will be wearing red, white and blue jerseys at the upcoming Olympics.

There's probably a little irony in there somewhere, with those games set to be hosted by Vancouver and the hockey portion to be played at GM Palace. The same building and city that Schroeder may call home some day, as he was a first round draft pick of the Canucks back in June.

For now, he's still playing for Team USA; surrounded by a group of largely teenagers. For the next two weeks he'll be trying to provide a little offense to a team built around defense and goaltending. Most importantly though, he's aiming to get the team back to a medal round for only the second time since the big win back in '04 (they finished 3rd in '07).

Individually (and perhaps silently), he may also have his eye on another prize. Last year Schroeder set the all-time record for assists by an American player at the WJC, with 15. This year, he'll take aim at Roenick's all-time points mark for Americans. JR sits #1 with 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists = 25 pts in 14 games). Schroeder has 19 points (4, 15 = 19 in 12 games).

Even if he passes JR, coming home without a medal this year will be another devastating blow to him personally and for USA hockey. Any momentum from '04 is long gone. This is about getting things going before the tournament lands back on U.S. soil next year in Buffalo.

Canada is certainly the favorite this time around. They've won the whole thing five years running (or put differently, ever year since the U.S. team won their lone gold in '04). Russia, Sweden and Finland are always tough. But for now, Team USA is focused on one thing. Game one.

It's today at 5pm PST vs. Slovakia...and that team is no joke - last year they finished fourth and featured the guy that was probably the single most exciting player in the entire tournament, forward Tomas Tatar. Like Schroeder, he's back to try and help his home country too.

Getting off to a fast start is always important in such a short tournament. See all the drama and excitement unfold on the NHL Network later this afternoon.

Even if you don't recognize most of the names in today's game, remember that a good portion of the players will be NHL stars in only a few years. Just think, you can tell your friends you saw them back when...

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/Mayor119