VSN Presents: S84 World Junior Championship Preview

[leandrofg 1,017]

(Graphic courtesy of @Ricer13)

 

Oh, boy! The VHL playoffs are finally done!

 

Congratulations to the newly crowned champions, the Warsaw Predators! 

 

Anyway, that is not what this article is about. You are here to read about the World Juniors. A tournament where the best prospects get called up and go head-to-head with each other.

 

There is always the same old question, would you rather win a title with your team or your country? This tournament is a purer answer to that question. What is, in fact, kids fighting for their respective countries, not for fame and money, but respect and gold.

 

Structure Changes

 

We had some change this season, with the exit of lasting commissioner @fonziGG. That gave commissioner @Ricer13 another job before starting the search for the General Managers. Finding a new co-commissioner.

 

The new co-commissioner came from a small pool of applicants, where the selected user was @Enorama. Ricer13 had this to say about the choice, “Enorama has a perfect skill set to support the World Junior Championship. He has an excellent history working with and developing new players in the league (…) so, it was a no-brainer to select him as the Co-Commissioner of the World Junior Championship".

 

After that decision, it was time to decide on more pressing matters. General Managers. Now… how do they choose? The commissioners “are always looking for new up-and-coming GMs, who are eager to learn and get into that side of the league. We fill out as many spots as we can with new Managers, and then fill in the remaining”.

 

The General Managers

 

This season, we have three new and two more experienced General Managers. Let's talk about the new ones!

 

@Trunkxolotl leads Team Canada, and the hire was made “because he looks like someone (…) ready to take the next step in their management development. He has been working (…) in the Junior Showcase Tournament and seems like (…) a good fit as a GM in the VHLM. Hopefully, a little more experience here in the WJC will go a long way in helping him take that next step”.

 

@Novanod, who leads Team USA, “is brand new to the management scene. He has little to no experience being a GM, but that is okay! (…) this is the place to get your start. We want to help guide these new members (…) so that they might find interest in becoming a GM down the road”.

 

@TMGSosa, who leads Team World, might be a familiar name for some. That's because “he has been around the league for a while now and has some (…) past GM experience. He has knowledge of the game and is already familiar with how to manage a team, but with a little extra experience from the World Juniors, he could take the next step in management”, should he choose to do so.

 

The two remaining GMs are familiar faces. @jacobcarson877 is part of the next wave of GMs taking the league by storm. After a stint as the AGM of the Marlins, he took over as GM when he had the chance. @Nykonax needs no introduction after his three Continental Cup wins with the Vancouver Wolves.

 

The teams

 

What about the teams? Is there a clear favorite? Could we see Team Europe continue their great efforts of the last two seasons? Could we see one of the more inexperienced GMs winning the championship?

 

As with life, some of these teams have better pools to select from than others. There is no way around it. Canada, Europe, and the USA are fortunate to have better conditions to create better players. And funnily enough, these are the last three winners of the WJC (USA in S81, Canada in S82, and Europe in S83).

 

Let us start with the defending champs, Team Europe . This team has a few returning players from last season's championship-winning squad. From the presumably starting goaltender, Basileus Jute, to VHLE Stars, Fraser Wallace, and Velociraptor Greg. 4 of the 9 forwards are making their second appearance in the tournament. But this European team will most likely rely on their outstanding defensemen core to find success.

 

Team Canada  will be as competitive as ever, no doubt about that. That said, they may be a step behind Team Europe. Maybe it's unfair to say it because there's a lot of quality in their squad, but there's the perception of a lack of quality depth. For this team to be successful, their 1st-line will have to do the heavy lifting, while the other will have to hold down the fort. Thankfully they can count on VHLE scoring leader Tyler Busser to guide them, but don't sleep on his line-mates, Cobalt Burns and Molly the Cat.

 

Team USA is in a similar situation to Team Canada. Perhaps they aren't as great, but they're also a step behind. Their 1st-line is excellent and isn't behind Team Europe or Canada, in any way, but they seem to have a more sizeable gap between the 1st-line and the others. And unlike Team Canada, the USA will have great goaltending, no matter who they choose to start. Freddy Freeze or Matt Murdock will have the opportunity to keep them afloat. While the Vasteras duo of Dogwood Maple and Justin Adolfsen leads the offense.

 

Team Asia comes in with one of the most competitive rosters they've had in the past few seasons. Of course, this statement has to be taken with a grain of salt, but you must take into consideration who the General Manager is. Nykonax is the most experienced in the tournament, and that experience showed up in the team selection. Asia can select Asian players and unpicked players from around the World. In the end, Asia got 6 extra players poised to make a big difference! The ceiling's not as high for them, but these displayed selection tactics helped them have a better squad depth. Bratislava's Sock Monkey and Geneva Rush's Clueless Wallob will be the leaders of this team, which could give us a pleasant surprise this season.

 

Last but not least, Team World . Do you remember the part about TMGSosa's experience? Yes, just like Nykonax, he took advantage of the possibility to choose players left unpicked. And he did so in a big way, selecting an extra 7 players. Team World suffers from the same issues as Team Asia, with an extra one in goal, since none of the goaltenders is at the level of Clueless Wallob. Be that as it may, we could see a lot of action from this team. There's a lot of quality on the wings, with the likes of Blake MacTavish, Chikeli Cholo, Hockley Mann, and Ryan. But their leader will be Calix Pearce, who returns to the WJC after his last appearance with Team Europe in Season 82.

 

Now, hockey is unpredictable. Any of these teams can find their mojo and take over this tournament. Will it be our favorites, Team Europe? Or are we in for a surprise?

 

I leave you not with a prediction but a small ranking of who is running for the championship.

 

Favorites: Team Europe.

Outsiders: Team Canada, Team USA.

Underdogs: Team Asia, Team World.

 

Let's not dwell too much on this, but damn is this exciting!

 

The tournament is slated to start later this week, on Wednesday.

 

Come back next week for our tournament recap!

 

Spoiler

Players mentioned (in order): @Matt thunder, @Hoopydog, @samx, @lil z, @Ledge, @JCarson, @G_Rush, @Acydburn, @dogwoodmaple, @NJDevils24, @chikn, @DMaximus , @Blakemac22, @bobikeb, @Sen, @freezyeh, @Laine.

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by leandrofg
Formatting;

[Ricer13 2,592]

Great write up! This is an excellent breakdown of the WJC, can't wait to get started.

[Ledge 1,131]

[ThePerfectNut 563]

35 minutes ago, leandrofg said:

But their leader will be Calix Pearce, who returns to the WJC after his last appearance with Team Europe in Season 82.

 

Leader might be Daniel Weaver with how’s the voting is going so far

[leandrofg 1,017]

8 hours ago, ThePerfectNut said:

Leader might be Daniel Weaver with how’s the voting is going so far

 

Well, well, well... I'll be on the lookout!

[Sen 41]

as a canadian, i would've made mann a canadian if i knew about this but tuvalu is a funny country to pick for a hockey player, lets go team world

[leandrofg 1,017]

7 hours ago, Sen said:

as a canadian, i would've made mann a canadian if i knew about this but tuvalu is a funny country to pick for a hockey player, lets go team world

 

Tuvalu is indeed a much funnier location for the player!