WJC Semi-Finals

[der meister 3,131]

               The Season 83 World Junior Championships are coming to a head, with Team Europe meeting Team Asia for the Gold while Team Canada will battle Team USA for the Bronze. The finals are a bit of a surprise, as both the Asia and Europe victories could be considered something of an upset.

 

               Team Europe managed to put up 6 goals in their semifinal matchup against the Canadians. Europe's Tomas Sogaard was the first star of the game, scoring the final two goals of the game and adding an assist in 24:18 of ice time, 5:05 of which was on the penalty kill. In fact, special teams were the deciding factor in the game, as Canada went 1 for 6 on the power play, while Europe went an incredible 4 for 4 with the man advantage.

 

               In the other semi-final matchup, Team Asia squeaked out a win against the Americans with a 3-2 victory in overtime, despite being outshot 46 to 28 in the tilt. Defenseman and team captain Ryuji Sakamoto was named the first star of the game after he notched the opening goal and provided the lone assist on the OT winner by AK Wit da Hoodie92, which is a helluva name to put on the back of a jersey. Sakamoto also had 10 hits and 5 blocked shots, providing a heavy two-way game to help Asia to the Gold medal match. Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 44 of 46 from the Americans, for a .957 save percentage.