It's Sweden And Russia For The Gold

The medal games are set for the World junior Championships in Calgary. On Thursday afternoon its Finland and Canada for the bronze and Sweden versus Russia for the gold. The Championship game should be a great one with a few potential first round picks involved in the contest. Sweden and Russia met in the preliminary round with Sweden taking that game 4-3 in overtime. Canada and Finland met on opening night of the tournament with Canada taking it 8-1.

On Wednesday, Latvia beat Denmark 2-1 in overtime. It was a tough loss for the Danes who will be relegated to Division 1 next year while Germany, who won the Division 1, moves up to take part in this tournament. The USA beat Switzerland in the other relegation round game 2-1. The Czech's and Slovakia meet in the fifth place game with the winner finishing fifth and the loser taking sixth spot.

On Tuesday, The USA beat Latvia 12-2 in relegation round play.Austin Watson (Nashville 2010) had a huge game for the US scoring the first three goals of the game and following that up with 4 assists. Nick Bjustad (Florida 2010) has three goals and two assists and Brandon Saad (Chicago 2011) had four assists.

Sweden beat Finland 3-2 in the unpopular shootout to move onto the gold medal game. Alexander Ruutu (Phoenix 2011) opened the scoring to give Finland a 1-0 lead in the first. Joel Armia (Buffalo 2011) would double the lead in the second and Sweden would enter the third having to make a comeback.

William Karlsson (Anaheim 2011) would start the comeback early in the third to cut the lead in half. Max Friberg (Anaheim 2011) would tie it and force overtime with a minute 44 remaining in the game. Unlike the National Hockey League, the teams played a 20 minute overtime before a shootout. Sweden's Johan Gustafsson (Minnesota 2010) faced 21 shots in regulation and 3 more in overtime. Finland's Sami Aittokallio (Colorado 2010) faced 49 shots in regulation and 8 more in overtime.

The teams would chose three shooters each and they would rotate shooting. Sweden's Sebastian Collberg (2012 eligible) would go first and score. Finland would tie it on a goal by Joel Armia. Sweden would go ahead on a goal by Max Friberg. The remaining shooters, Finland's Joonas Donskoi (Florida 2010), and Mikael Granland (Minnesota 2010) and Sweden's Filip Forsberg (2012 eligible) were all stopped.

Russia beat Canada 6-5 in a game that had a little bit of everything. The Russians took a 6-1 lead into the third period but the Canadians started an unbelievable comeback halfway through the third. Yevgeni Kuznetsov (Washington 2011) led the way with 3 goals. Nail Yakupov (2012 eligible) had three assists, and Alexander Khokhlachev (Boston 2011) had a goal and two assists.

In a move that shocked this observer, Russian coach Valeri Bragin pulled starter Andrei Vasilevski (2012 eligible with just over 5 minutes remaining in the second and a 6-1 lead. Now, maybe Bragin thought the game was in hand and thought he'd rest Vasilevski for the final versus Sweden. Vasilevski has had a tremendous tournament for Russia up until that point. Andrei Makarov (2012 eligible) took over.

Canada would start mounting the comeback halfway through the third but fell a goal short in doing so.

The only issue I have with the game is the flack Canadian defenseman and potential top 10 pick in 2012 Ryan Murray took from fans and some media. Before the game ended he was already trending on twitter and it was not all roses.

Yes he made a terrible give away on Russia's first goal but he hustled back and through himself onto the ice to block a cross ice pass that would have almost surely been a goal anyway. Unfortunately, the puck hit him in the wrong spot and went into the net. On another, a shot hit the shaft of his stick and was directed behind goaltender Scott Wedgewood (New Jersey 2010). Really, they were just unlucky bounces. This kid is to talented to have some of the things that were said about him.

Yes, I sound a little irked by it, but I got over it. Until this morning when an OHL player who himself was passed over in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft made a comment on twitter that was totally uncalled for. When I called him out on it he removed his tweet and sent me a message apologizing. I told him that it's Ryan Murray that deserves the apology not me and I hope he did so.

I don't believe that suggestions that the game hurt Murray's draft stock are true. He had a good tournament and it was just a couple of unlucky bounces that could have happened to anyone. Ryan is a real talent. Believe it.

The Picture Is Clear At The WJC

The stage is set for the medal and relegation round's of the World Junior Championships after the preliminary round was completed yesterday in Calgary and Edmonton.

In Edmonton, Finland defeated the Czech Republic 4-0 while Canada beat the US 3-2. Head down south to Calgary and Slovakia beat Switzerland 6-4 while Sweden beat Russia 4-3 in overtime.

Relegation Round


In the relegation round, Switzerland plays Denmark on Monday, the USA plays Latvia on Tuesday, Latvia plays Denmark and the US plays Switzerland on Wednesday. The team with the fewest points gets relegated to Division 1 while Germany moves up for next year.

Medal Round


Canada and Sweden get a bye in the quarter finals for winning their respective groups. The quarter finals will see Finland and Slovakia and Russia vs the Czechs on Monday.

The Semi finals begin Tuesday with Sweden taking on the winner of Finland vs Slovakia and Canada taking on the winner of Russia vs The Czech Republic.

The winners of those two games meet Thursday for the Gold Medal while the losers face off for the Bronze.

All games now will take place in Calgary

WJC: From Gold To Bronze To Relegation ?

The US won gold in 2010 and followed that up with a bronze medal in 2011. Last night's 5-2 loss to the Czech Republic all but guaranteed the Americans would be playing in the relegation round of this years World Junior Championships. The Americans would need Finland to lose their final 2 games while at the same time beat the Canadians for a chance to play in the medal rounds. Finland topped Denmark 10-1.

The Americans had plenty of opportunities while firing 54 shots on Czech goalie Petr Mrazek (Detroit - 2010) of the OHL's Ottawa 67's, who turned in the performance of his career.

The Americans took an early lead on a powerplay goal 5:14 into the game on a goal by T.J. Tynan (Columbus - 2010). The goal came on a powerplay in which the Czech's Petr Straka (Columbus - 2010) took a 5 minute major and game misconduct for boarding.  The Czech's would tie the game at 1 at 12:05 of the opening period on Tomas Filippi's (2012 eligible) goal. The period would end with the score knotted at 1 and the Americans outshooting the Czechs 18-6.

The Czechs would take the ever infamous too many men on the ice penalty in the second and the US would make them pay. Bill Arnold (Calgary - 2010) put Team USA up 2-1. But the Czechs would tie it 3:01 later on a goal by Tomas Hertl (2012 eligible) and the period would end tied at 2. Once again the Americans would outshoot the Czechs, this time 15-13.

Petr Holik (2012 eligible) would give the Czechs their first lead of the game 12:26 into the third, a lead they would not relinquish. Filippi would score his second of the game at 17:19 to give the Czechs a two goal margin. Team USA would pull goaltender Jack Campbell for an extra attacker but it went for not as Holik scored his second of the game into the empty net with just under a minute and a half remaining. The US would outshoot the Czechs 21-10 in the period and 54-29 overall.

Mrazek truly was the star of this game and when he wasn't named player of the game for the Czechs, the crowd booed and started chanting his name. He acknowledged the crowd by giving them a wave in satisfaction.

Many complained about the US selection process even before the WJC began. There are those that don't like it and just as many that defended it. But judging by last night's comments by fans, Team USA officials are going to have to answer plenty of questions and rethink the way they do things.

On a personal note, I remember the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union, the WHA Series vs the Soviets, the early Canada Cup years, the Rendezvous Series in Quebec City and probably the best hockey game ever seen, the Montreal Canadiens vs Soviet Red Army on New Years Eve in 1975 and think that the rivalry between Canada and Russia is still one of the best rivalries. But the US and Canada have closed that gap and I wanted to see nothing more than a US - Canada matchup in the gold medal game (Not suggesting both would have made it - just what I wanted to see).

Every once in a while teams come across this blip in their radar. Canada has gone through it, the Russians, the Czechs, everyone. The US has talent in abundance and they will continue to produce talented hockey players in the future and will emerge from this stronger and better because of it.

In Calgary, Sweden beat Slovakia 9-1. Sebastian Collberg (2012 eligible) led the way with two goals and an assist, Mika Zibanejad (Ottawa - 2011) a goal and assist and Johan Sundstrom (NYI -2011) a goal and two assists . Sweden outshot Slovakia 55-15.

The other contest in Calgary saw Switzerland beat Latvia 5-3. Christoph Bertschy (2012 eligible) scored twice for the Swiss as did Gaetan Haas (2012 eligible). Christian Marti (2012 eligible) added a single for the winners. For Latvia, goals came from Toms Andersons (2012 eligible), and Vitalijs Hvorostinins (2012 eligible) and Nikita Jevpalovs (2012 eligible) who both added an assist as well. Switzerland outshot Latvia 41-23.

The last game took place in Edmonton where Finland easily took care of Denmark 10-1. Teemu Pulkkinen (Detroit 2010) scored the final 4 goals of the contest while adding an assist, Miikka Salomaki (Nashville - 2011) had two goals and two assists, Mikael Granlund (Minnesota 2010) had four assists and brother Markus (Calgary 2011) had two assists. Finland outshot Denmark 59 - 25.

WJC: A 9 Point Game, Another Injury, and An Elvis Sighting

Team Russia trounced Team Latvia 14-0 last night at the World Junior Championship in Calgary led by Yevgeni Kuznetsov (Washington - 2011) who had 3 goals and 6 assists. It was the second highest point total in a game at the tournament behind Peter Forsberg (Sweden) who had 10.

Kuznetsov wasn't the only Russian to have a massive game. Nikita Gusev (2012 eligible) potted 2 goals and added 5 assists in the romping. Nail Yakupov (2012 eligible) had 3 assists as did Nikita Kucherov (Tampa 2011). Mikhail Grigorenko, who many believe is the only challenge Yakupov faces in being the first overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft left the game in the third period after falling awkwardly on his left leg. Many speculate that he is done for the tournament but a Quebec Remparts teammate said on twitter that he received a text from Grigorenko and he will play in the next game. Let's hope it's true as the injury bug has run rampant among the top draft eligible players this year. Grigorenko scored once in the contest - the game winning goal.

Russian netminder Andrei Vasilevski (2012 eligible) was again solid between the pipes making 30 saves. He has now stopped all 70 shots he's faced in the tournament (40 vs Switzerland) and has two shutouts. In a game like this it's hard to give credit to a goaltender but Vasilevski was solid and made some big saves, especially in the first period when the game was still scoreless. And when Latvia pushed hard to try and break the shutout streak, he wouldn't bend let alone give it up.

Which leads us to the other end of the ice. Latvian goaltender Elvis Merzlikins (2012 eligible) was spectacular in the first period keeping Latvia in the game. But by the time the second period started, Elvis had left the building. Well, no, not entirely true. Latvian coach Eriks Miluns decided to leave Elvis in for the entire 60 minutes. The kid played the game at 14-0 like it was 1-0, still battling and trying to make saves and none bigger than the one he made in front that would have made it 15-0 on a beautiful set up by Kuznetsov that would have given him his 10th point and a place in the record book.

Now, I'm not saying Merzlikins vaulted himself onto NHL teams draft lists in a 14-0 loss because he probably hasn't. But you have to admire a kid who plays a 14-0 game like it was still 1-0. Merzlikins faced 50 Russian shots in the contest.

World Junior Rosters Are Set

Most countries in the World Junior Under 20 Championships have their rosters set for the tournament that begins Boxing Day.

There are plenty of draft eligible players from around the world, some that we will get to see for the first time. Team Canada and Team USA have the fewest draft eligible players participating with two a piece. That is if you don't count US goaltender Andy Iles, who will only be used on an emergency situation. They are followed by Team Sweden with only four draft eligible players on their roster.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is Team Denmark who's team is comprised of completely draft eligible players. Only Nicklas Jensen (Vancouver Canucks, 2011) and Mads Eller (2013 eligible) are not eligible for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

The Czech Republic and Russia (who announced their roster today) have eight and seven players respectively that are not eligible for 2012.

Much is being said in some circles about the politics in hockey and choosing the players. Many believe that Team USA, and to a lessor extent Team Russia penalize players that jump to the Canadian Hockey League as opposed to playing in their homeland. Team USA has seven CHL players on their roster while Russia has six.

The argument isn't so much how many are on the teams, rather who is not. If you look at the US goaltending situation, one could make a serious argument that the London Knights (OHL) Michael Houser should be ahead of Jack Campbell of the Soo Greyhounds (OHL) and John Gibson of the Kitchener Rangers (OHL) or at least ahead of Andy Iles as an emergency call up. Based on the season the three have had in the OHL, I have to tend to agree with those arguments. But you can't just shove aside Campbell's performance in big games and prior international exposure in which, as you know he's excelled in.

There are also those that believe the London Knights' Jared Knight should be well ahead of many chosen to be on Team USA. Many believe that Knight is being "blacklisted" for taking the CHL route as opposed to college hockey and that there was never any intention of having him on the final roster and his invitation to camp was just a token gesture.

When Team Russia announced their cuts early this morning, many couldn't believe that the Knights' Vadislav Namestnikov (Tampa Bay Lightning, 2011) didn't make the squad, but it was revealed later in the day that he had an injury that he hadn't told anyone about. Russian Coach Valeri Bragin said afterwards that if he had known about the injury, he would have changed Namestnikov's practices.

Personally, what I believe is this : Each and every country, team, coach and player want to win. To leave the best players off the roster would leave them susceptible to losing. It's why the US selected the Etems, the Saads and the Watsons. Or why the Russians selected the Yakupovs and the Grigorenkos.

However, I do believe there is some politics involved. I believe that all things being equal, the teams will select the players loyal to their countries as opposed to those that jumped to the CHL. That said, Micheal Houser should be no worse than the emergency call up for Team USA. And Jared Knight? I can think of half a dozen players that he should be ahead of.

I've stayed away from the topic in the past, and this is the only thing I'll say about it going forward. It will still be a fantastic tournament to watch and enjoy and will be interesting seeing some of those eligible for 2012 for the first time.

For a list of team rosters, click on the WJC tab at the top of the page.