WJC Daily Review #2

Mr_Hatter · December 11, 2019

Welcome back to the WJC Daily Review, a series in which we will talk about best players, surprises, letdowns and more! Stick around and follow us as VSN is here to be the media outlet for you and your entertainment!

Another day of games has been played at the World Junior Championship, with Team Asia continuing to impress, winning both of their matches to lead the field with four wins in as many games. Sitting in second place is Team Europe with four wins as well, matching Asia’s tally, but with an extra game played. Team Canada has continued their average start, once again splitting their games with a win and a loss, while Team World regressed from their day one performance, dropping both of their matches against team Europe. Rounding out the standings is the only team currently without a win; Team USA sits at a -10 goal differential and will have to quickly turn things around if they want to have a chance at this tournament.

Team Asia
Asia has continued their storybook start to this WJC with two statement victories against the US and Canada. Winning 6-1 against the Americans, Asia showcased their scoring depth, with 5 separate players finding the back of the net. In particular, Richard Fitzwell impressed with a three-assist night, as well as Will Clarke’s two-goal performance. In the next match, Asia took down team Canada 3-1 behind a monster performance from goalie Jimmy Spyro, who made 40 saves, allowing just the one, while winger Jerry Wang took the first star as he had a hand in all three Asia goals, scoring two himself. Their penalty units were top class as well today, going 3/8 on the power play and 8/9 on the penalty kill. This Asia team is looking impossible to beat.

Team Europe
Europe’s good form from the first day of matches continued, as they picked up two victories today, both against Team World. Despite letting in 3 goals in the first game, goalie Boris Boris still had an SV% above .900 (.903), and turned it on in the second, shutting out Team World with 19 saves. Boris Boris continues to be a bright spot for this team and leads the tournament in both SV% as well as GAA. Offensively, Team Europe has been maintaining its form. Solid performances from team leader Guy Lesieur and overall depth scoring has taken them where they need to go. However, they still aren’t firing on all cylinders. Even with a two-point game in the overtime victory, Balentine Kidd has struggled to produce so far despite high expectations, with those two being his only points so far of the tournament, though this can perhaps be attributed to his starting on the second line. If this Europe team can start playing to their full potential, they have a very good shot at the gold medal.

Team Canada
Canada’s performances in day two of the WJC were much the same as day one, having lost one and won one in both days. Their first game of the day saw them put four goals past a struggling United States team, with a big 3 point game from Alyksander Hunter, who is currently tied with Daldo and Kris Rice in leading the team with 4 points. Despite their good performance in this game, they were unable to recreate it against an in-form Team Asia, losing 3-1. To get back on track, Team Canada needs someone to step up. They have had decent depth scoring so far, but no one has taken the lead and truly given this team the impetus they need to compete at the level of Team Europe and Asia. There still is time, however, and this Canada team hasn’t given up just yet.

Team World
As previously mentioned, Team World struggled a little in today’s matches, losing both to Team Europe. We’ve looked at the games from a Europe’s perspective, but from the World’s point of view, what went wrong? The biggest issue for World in their OT loss was the penalties. Despite a decent kill percentage, Team World spent 20 minutes in the box. If they want to take control of games, they are going to have to work on their discipline. Danny DeYeeto impressed in game one, scoring two and assisting one, but otherwise, the team was severely lacking in their performance. In their second game, they were simply outplayed. One highlight so far for Team World, however, continues to be their goaltending. Although not quite at the level of Asia or Europe currently, Block Buster is sitting at a respectable .920 SV% and is providing a good platform upon which World can improve.

Team USA
Although many people predicted that the US would struggle this year, few thought it would be so rough. Team USA has yet to win a game, and at this rate, I’m not sure they will. First and foremost, they need to tighten up their defence. They have been scored on at least three times in every game. However, they have not been returning the favour, having never scored more than two goals so far in their four games, and as we all know, 2 < 3. Currently, they have no players within the top 20 for scoring, and only two players, Jason Connors and Nate Wright, have a positive +/- rating. For Team USA to pull something out of this tournament they will need a real miracle.