World Junior Round Robin Recap

[TheFlash 317]

Well folks, the Round Robin portion of the S65 World Juniors wrapped up last night and we still don’t really have a clear cut favourite to win the tournament. With only two points separating the fourth place Team World and the first place Team Canada, things have been kept really close.  So with that, let’s get into analysing the teams and their performance thus far. 

 

 

Team Canada 

It’s really no surprise to anyone that Canada is atop of the standings at the end of the Round Robin. Every draft class we have is loaded with talent from the Great White North, so their team is always a force at international events. They’ve done a great job of keeping games close and even in the two games that they lost, they were right there the whole game. This is really a team full of veterans, with only a handful of VHLMers on the squad. This gives them a huge advantage over some of the less experienced teams as their players have been here before and know how to carry themselves on such a grand stage. Canada has done a great job of spreading their offence out, getting contributions from each of their top three lines. 25 points from their first line, 16 from their second and 25 from their third line. The third line of Stropko Jr-McDavid-Fizzlebeef has been fantastic, with Fizzlebeef and Stropko Jr being tied for the team lead with five goals each, and McDavid being a pure playmaker with seven assists. There’s no doubt that if Canada’s success continues, it’ll be reliant on the third lines continued high level of play. 

 

Team Europe 

Europe on the other hand, has surprised. Coming in just shy of first, Europe has utilized their veteran defence and goaltending to turn themselves into a favourite at this tournament. With only one (Dwin Championship) VHLM defender on their roster, the experience this team has in the back end can’t be ignored. But the real story with this team, is the youth of the forward corps. With only one VHL player (left winger Wlodzimierz Zajaczkowski) out of the nine, many thought the lack of experience would be their downfall but they’ve proven the ability to overcome that. The amazing thing to me is that these aren’t even second year players. These are all S66 draftees and their group of forwards is something of a “Whos who” when it comes to prospects for the upcoming VHL draft. VHL general managers have been taking in all of their games, trying to get a glimpse of what is sure to be full of top 30 picks, with as many as five or six first rounders. So even if Europe isn’t able to win, we’re likely looking at seeing the same forwards come back next year for another try or even possibly a repeat.  

 

Team USA 

The team that many thought would be the odd on favourite in this tournament, comes in at third in the Round Robin. USA, like Canada, has relied on veterans to lead them in this tournament. USA does have some VHLM talent (including future first overall pick Hunter Hearst Hemsley) but they’ve really leaned on their vets thus far. Their first line of Blake-Gritty-Warren has lead the charge. Blake and Warren have 17 and 13 points respectively, and this line has probably been the best in the tournament. Team USA will have to be warry in the medal round, as they’ll draw Team Europe or Team World, depending on how the medal round is structured, two teams that have beat them already once in the tournament. 

 

Team World 

The misfits. The unwanted. Call them what you want, but this team made up of players that didn’t make their respective countries team has done a real good job of going from pretender to contender in the Round Robin. Being led by the man who many consider a lock at #2 in the upcoming VHL draft, Shane Mars (14 points in eight games), this team has surprised many. But it really shouldn’t, as this team is basically a “best of the rest” group made up of Canadians and Americans who are still really talented players. For example, Shane Mars, Anthony Matthews and Julius Freeman are leading players in the VHLM. Some of the best players in the league. They just have the misfortune of being from countries that have teams loaded with experienced players.  

 

Team Asia 

For our final team, we have the last place Team Asia. They have really struggled, just being out played in almost every game (save for their one win over Europe) which is highlighted by them being the only team in the tournament with a negative goal differential with a dreadful negative 19. They do have some talent. Volosenkov is likely a first round pick this year. Nazarians is a skilled centreman. But they just aren’t deep enough to hang with some of the other highly skilled and experienced teams.  

 

 

Round Robin Award Predictions; 

Of course, they don’t give awards based on Round Robins but this is my article and I can do as I damn well please! These are the players I think that have excelled thus far and have had the biggest impact on their team’s success. 

 

Round Robin MVP – Kyson Blake, Team USA.

Blake has done a great job putting the team on his back and keeping them in this. His 17 points in eight games. USA was considered a favourite coming into this tournament and while they’ve been good, they haven’t dominated like some suspected they would But Blake has been the most valuable to his team in terms of keeping them alive. 

Round Robin Best Forward- Kyson Blake, Team USA.  

See above! 

Round Robin Best Defenceman- Dallas Jones, Team USA. 

Jones has done a great job being an all around defenceman for Team USA. Not only does he lead all defencemen in scoring, he’s also averaging over 25 minutes a game and has scored three goals on the power-play. 

Round Robin Best Goalie- JB Rift, Team Europe. 

Rift has backup duties with Toronto in the VHL, but he’s taken the starting job here and has ran with it. Posting 5 wins (2nd), .940 save percentage and 2.26 goals against average (both stats are leaps above his competition) he has been rock solid behind Team Europe and if they go on to win, he’ll be in the running for MVP. 

 

 

1073 words, claiming for weeks 04/14 and 04/21

Edited April 7, 2019 by TheFlash