S66 WJC: Team Europe Preview [1/2]

[TheFlash 317]

Another World Junior Championship has arrived folks! These are always fun, and a great way for the young talent to showcase itself. Some of the players you'll see over the next week or two will be players who are from the minor leagues, they're dominating on their respective teams and want to show that they can hang with the big dogs. Others will be those who were once apart of that group, and have now moved on to the VHL and will welcome a chance to be the top players on a team again. Team Europe has a mixture of the two. Last season, Europe was a team that was led mainly by draft eligible, VHLM players. Their forward corps was composed of 7/9 minor leaguers, defence was 4/6 and their backup goalie was also a minor league player. The offence this year is led by returnees, mixed with just four minor league players. Returning from last years Gold medal team will be Jagr, Kirbsson, Sigurdsson, Gruber, among others. Lets have a look at these players and what we can expect from them in this tournament.

 

Forwards

Europe has some solid depth up front, and it'll lean heavily on their scoring to repeat as champs. Second only to the USA in depth, the European squad has three players over 300 total points earned and a tournament leading 13 over 200. The second stat speaks highly to Europe's case for fielding a very good team next year as well, with lots of capped players in the VHLM who could be between 300-350 if they remain active. Jagr is their leader, and despite his slow start in the VHL, he's a strong candidate to win player of the tournament. Look for him to be their offensive leader. Centerman Ludvig Sederstrom has been off to a hot start in the VHL. Playing for the first overall Helsinki Titans, Sederstrom has managed a very good 20 points in 29 games. His playmaking abilities will be a huge help on what's sure to be a deadly power play. Perhaps the most impressive thing about this offence is their depth at the center position. Kirbsson, who had 108 points last year in the minors and is adjusting well to the VHL, Gruber who went from a struggling Philly team to a not struggling as much Saskatoon team, put up point per game numbers for the majority of his minor league season and is doing well despite not getting a ton of ice time. Add Sederstrom to this mix, and you've got three play making centers ready to help their team score a lot of goals!

 

Defence

Now unfortunately, every team has a weakness. As we previously talked about their abundance of forwards, the opposite can be said for the options at defence for Team Europe. Their biggest competition in this tournament, the US, has all four defenseman in the VHL and over 281 TPE. Europe on the other hand, has just one defenseman over 200 TPE (although it should be two soon) and that one is their leader on the back end, Codrick Past. Past is an offensive minded defenseman who can also play extremely well in his own end. He is this team's number one defense man and maybe a sleeper for defenseman of the tournament. Scoring 97 points for Minnesota of the VHLM last year, he's got five points in 29 games for HC Davos in S66. Look for him to revert back to his dominating ways when Europe hits the ice. Other than Past, they've got Fontenette, DESTRUCTIOUS and Lindberg. Fontenette is a defenseman who is really coming into his own. Drafted in the third round by Helsinki, he's doing well in the minors, already eclipsing his point total from last season. DESTRUCTIOUS is a hard hitting, tough guy type who will serve as the muscle for this team. A late transfer from The Isle of Man, Europe will really appreciate his hard hitting and hard style of play. Lindberg is the lone S67 prospect on this team, joining late last season. He is unfortunately not the biggest earner, getting 2-6 TPE a week, but he is active. He'll look to showcase his ability for watching VHL general managers. Europe was really hurt by two defenceman from last year's squad (Sundell and Dwin Championship) going inactive. Sundell was a 135 TPE defender who would be right around the 200 mark if he was still with us. DWin was in the high 70's but went inactive shortly after being traded to Saskatoon. He'd be somewhere in the 150-180 range if he had of stuck around.

 

Goaltending

Goaltending is a bright spot for the Europeans, as they had a few solid choices. Owen May takes the starting gig, after backing up last years team to a Gold. May had a great debut in the VHLM, starting almost 70 games. After being drafted 11th overall, and becoming the second rookie goalie in as many seasons to start for Moscow, he's done well all things considered. He's the second best goalie in terms of TPE in the tournament and will likely be busy as the European's defence tries the best they can with what they have. In a surprising choice, the European GM opted to not take Clayton Park as their backup, and instead took Philadelphia Reaper Kolur Bjoernsson. Bjorernsson has been doing fantastic in Philly, posting a 14-3-2 record with a .907% save percentage and a sub two goals against average. He'll likely get a few games in this time around before being handed the reigns in season 67.

 

Conclusion

All in all, Europe looks to have a very competitive team. They'll rely heavily on two things. Their forwards, led by experienced VHLers and their goaltending, led by a high draft pick who is still carving out a name for himself in the big leagues. I do expect Europe to repeat, and I predict a finals faceoff between the Europeans and the Americans. The American's are the favourites in this tournament, but they were last year also.

 

 

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[TheFlash 317]

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Review:

 

I think you did a great job summarizing Team Europe's team for the upcoming WJC. I'll be keeping my eye on Team Europe now