Deep Rewind: The Return of the WJC

[Doomsday 4,130]

Credit to @Motzaburger for rockin' around the clock to produce this image.

 

Hello VHL, and welcome to the Season 72 edition of Deep Rewind! In this segment, we'll explore the vast history of the Victory Hockey League, as a league such as this doesn't make it more than 70 seasons without having good stories to tell. Whether it's some of the greatest achievements of the league's legendary players, the marks left by top teams, or the outright bizarre, the history of the VHL has a story for everyone. Through Deep Rewind, these stories will be told.

 

With the S72 World Junior Championship underway, VSN is your first stop for WJC content! Along with team rankings for the tournament, check back for daily updates on the day's games! Additionally, both VHL and VHLM weekly reviews are still being churned out, and Ringless debuted this past week to go with The Talents Behind the Trophies for your VHL history fix!

 

Under 250: the VHLM Review | VSN Weekly Review | Future Watch | Ringless | The Talents Behind the Trophies | WJC Team Rankings | WJC Update 1 | WJC Update 2

 

Season 72 marks an important milestone for the Victory Hockey League: it's the tenth anniversary of the return of the World Junior Championship, set to begin this week. The annual tournament features the VHL's best up-and-coming prospects, competing on an international stage, with teams representing Asia, Canada, Europe, the United States, and the World. The WJC not only gives the VHL a glimpse at the next generation of players but potentially the next general managers as well. With no experience required, the WJC has also become a proving ground for those looking to try their hand at managing a team. Season 72 marks the tenth anniversary of the return of the WJC, and what better way for Deep Rewind to celebrate the tradition of this developmental tournament by going back to Season 62 when the WJC returned?

 

With the return of the World Junior Championship, the first major decisions to be made by WJC Commissioners Banackock, McWolf and BarzalGoat were choosing the inaugural general managers for the five teams. Of the five members chosen, three of them went on to GM a VHL team: Jubo07, selected for Team Canada and is currently the Helsinki Titans' GM; Enorama, who led Team Europe and is the current D.C. Dragons GM; and ShawnGlade, who was chosen for Team USA and was the GM of the HC Davos Dynamo from Season 64 to Season 69 (nice). TheLastOlympian07 was selected for Team World, and Dtayl was Team Asia's GM.

 

With the GMs and rosters decided, it was finally time for the World Junior Championship to return!

 

The first game of the World Junior Championship pitted Team World against Canada, with the very first goal scored by SEA RW1 late in the first period, assisted by Patrick Triscuit and Braylon James. Just over a minute later, Jake Davis provided the first goal by a human player to tie it up for Canada, with Cayden Saint and Leph Twinger with the assists. However, Canada quickly asserted their dominance with a 5-2 victory on the back of Davis scoring a hat trick. The first day also featured Team Asia asserting itself behind strong games from Vyacheslav Smirnov, Maxim Kovalchuk and Sergei Kovalev, defeating World and USA before dropping a close one in a rematch with World. It was a tough start for the USA, going 0-2 against Asia and Europe, coming up short on two one-goal games after blowing third-period leads. Strong goaltending from Kallis Kriketers helped Europe end the first day at 1-2, hopefully taking momentum with them into Day 2.

 

Dan Wilinsky, Leph Twinger and Julian Borwinn put a halt to that with three-second period goals against Kriketers and Europe, improving Canada to 3-0 to open Day Two. Team USA notched their first victory on the back of Ismond Kingfisher, along with a three-point game from Marvin Harding as USA defeated World 4-0. It turned out to be a rough day for World, who proceeded to be trashed 7-1 by Asia and suffered a 3-1 loss to Europe, but a 2-1 win against the USA left them at 2-4 and kept the day from being a total loss. Day Two also featured the first meeting of the United States and Canada, in which Kevin Weekes backstopped Canada to a 4-2 win, keeping them at 4-0. Team Asia finished the day at 3-1, right in the thick of the race for the top spot.

 

Kevin Weekes and Canada were victorious in their first meeting with Team USA.

 

Day Three started with a huge match-up between the top two teams of the WJC so far, Canada and Asia. Fireworks were expected, and both teams absolutely delivered in a game that was an absolute nightmare for both tendies. Canada and Asia combined for 108 shots and 11 goals, but two huge third-period goals by Leph Twinger erased a 5-4 deficit for Canada and kept their perfection alive. A rematch later in the day again saw Canada top Asia on Jake Davis' seventh goal of the tourney, giving them a 5-4 win. Europe sat at 2-5, with the United States and World held even at 2-4, with the final day of round-robin going to be the deciding factor of the seeding.

 

The United States had a rough draw, facing off against both Canada and Asia on the last day of round-robin play. However, behind a masterful performance in net by Ismond Kingfisher and two-point games from Marvin Harding, Shawn Glade and Dan Montgomery, the USA stunned Canada 3-1 to hand them their first loss of the WJC. They fell just short of defeating Asia, losing 4-3 after surrendering two third period goals and finished 3-5. Canada crushed World 6-2 behind a Leph Twinger hat trick, finishing 7-1 as World dropped to 2-6 after additionally losing to Europe to close out round-robin play. Europe finished at 3-5, drawing even with the United States, but Europe and World would meet in the Quarter Finals to determine which one would be competing for a medal. 

 

Europe, backed by Kallis Kriketers, reached the Quarterfinals against Team World.

 

After a tournament that featured a lot of scoring thus far, fans were treated to a defensive game between World and Europe in the Quarterfinals. It didn't start out that way, with Chace Trepanier, assisted by Joseph McWolf and Braylon James, scoring in the opening minutes to give World an early lead. Several minutes later, however, Europe drew even on a Vaydar Odinsson goal, with Jesper Stromberg and Mikka Pajari picking up assists. It was a dismal second period for World, who were outshot 7-1, but Cole Mertz bailed out his teammates by stopping all seven, keeping the score tied at 1-1 heading into the third period. After only managing six shots through the first two periods, World exploded for 15 in the third, with Jessy Thomas, assisted by Joey Boucher and SEA D2, scoring the go-ahead goal just over three minutes in. Europe mustered 11 shots of their own, but Mertz held on strong to give World a 2-1 victory, sending Europe home and setting up a Semi-Finals match with Canada.

 

The United States and Asia squared off in the first Semi-Finals game, and it could not have been much of a worse start for the Americans. After Billy Pilgrim was called for holding, Asia capped off their first power play with a goal by Maxim Kovalchuk to strike first. Sergei Kovalev and Kisshan Shan also would score later in the period to put Asia up 3-0, going up 4-0 early in the second courtesy of Nikita Flipachyev. The United States, however, stormed back, making it 4-2 on goals by Jose Gonzalez and Bryce Zhields. A power-play goal by Shawn Glade early in the third put the Americans within one, but Tzuyu's third point of the game was a goal that restored the two-goal lead just seconds later. Marvin Harding would get USA within one later in the period, but their furious rally fell short, and Asia advanced to the Finals on a 5-4 win. 

 

Alexander Pepper and Asia defeated the United States to reach the Gold Medal Game.

 

With a 7-1 record, Canada was heavily favoured against a World squad that had scrapped to get here, but the World had no plans of being a speed bump. Julian Borwinn quickly put Canada on the board, but in less than two minutes, Chace Trepanier had scored two goals, with Joseph McWolf assisting on both goals, and suddenly Canada was down 2-1. However, it did not last for long, as Leph Twinger capitalized on a feed from Burnt Toast to tie the game three minutes later. Tied at 2, the Canadians came out for the second period and absolutely took over the game. Outshooting World 24-7 in the second period, Cole Mertz refused to yield, and World continued to hang on. However, Canada got their chance for a power-play after McWolf recorded a goalie sack on Kevin Weekes, and mere seconds later Burnt Toast broke the tie with a power-play goal. It proved to be the only goal of the period, and Canada led 3-2 going into the third. Although World mounted a determined bid to tie the game, including pulling Mertz in the final minute for the extra attacker, Weekes and Canada held on for a 3-2 win and a date with Asia with gold on the line. 

 

But first, the United States faced off against World with the bronze medal on the line. After their fierce effort against Canada, World was physically and emotionally spent, and it showed against the United States. Only able to muster 15 shots, Ismond Kingfisher had a much more pleasant experience than Cole Mertz, who had to face 46. The Americans racked up goal after goal, with World seemingly unable to mount any spirited resistance. Finally, and mercifully, the nightmare for Mertz came to an end, with Team USA handily winning the bronze medal with a 6-0 victory. Behind Kingfisher's shutout, Dan Montgomery and Shawn Glade both scored four points. There was now one final game to play, with the gold medal on the line.

 

Although Cole Mertz made this save, the United States dominated the Bronze Medal Game. 

 

The United States had created an expectation for fireworks with their six goals in the Bronze Medal Game, and Canada and Asia did not disappoint. With a staggering 30 combined shots in the first period, starting goaltenders Alexander Pepper and Kevin Weekes had their hands full. Leph Twinger and CGY D1 quickly put up two goals to give Canada a 2-0 lead, but Sergei Kovalev quickly tied the game with two quick goals of his own. But just as he had done the entire tournament, Leph Twinger picked up Canada and put them on his back, completing the hat trick in the first period to give Canada a 4-2 lead. An early power-play goal by Jake Davis extended the lead to 5-2, but Dylan Nguyen got Asia back to within two late in the period. With 32 combined third period shots, neither Canada or Asia was content to keep the score where it was. Tzuyu's goal early in the period got Asia within one, and the arena was buzzing as the minutes ticked away. With Asia seemingly bound to tie the game, it was instead Jake Davis who found twine, putting Canada up 6-4 with just minutes left. Although Vyacheslav Smirnov scored to bring Asia within one with a minute and a half to go, it was too little, too late. Gear flew from all over Canada's bench as the players streamed onto the ice, the inaugural VHL World Junior Championship winners and recipients of the gold medal! On top of gold medals, Jake Davis was named the Most Valuable Player of the WJC, with Leph Twinger being named the Top Forward. Maxim Kovalchuk of Asia was named Top Defenseman, and American netminder Ismond Kingfisher was named the Top Goaltender. 

 

As the Season 62 WJC came to a close, the entire event had been a tremendous success. A renewed interest in junior competition in the VHL had been rekindled, as both prospective players and managers sought to prove themselves on an international stage. Today, ten seasons later, the tradition continues. Top prospects, players looking to make a name for themselves, international pride, and the next potential batch of league managers all come together at the WJC to make an unforgettable event for all involved. As the VHL continues to grow, it's safe to say the World Junior Championship will be here for beyond ten more years, providing countless more memories and chapters to the history of the VHL.

 

Jubo07 and Team Canada, Season 62 World Junior Championship Gold Medalists.

 

Player Mentions: @Banackock, @McWolf, @BarzalGoat, @Jubo07, @Enorama, @ShawnGlade, @TheLastOlympian07, @Dtayl, @Da Trifecta, @Josh, @Symmetrik, @DollarAndADream, @Laflamme, @hedgehog337, @oilmandan, @Spade18, @.sniffuM, @Lefty, @BarzalGoat, @BOOM™, @Tim, @Devise, @ColeMrtz, @Jtww, @Tape-to-Tape, @Kisshan, @Arayvenn, @Jose Gonzalez, @tfong, @ChaceT, @Toast, @Sonnet

[Doomsday 4,130]

Placeholder post to claim for week of 6/15 - 6/21

[mediocrepony 1,216]

DUDE!! This is great read, and so long. I could never do this.

[Jubo 1,839]

Really enjoyed the read. Nice to remember some of the great players mentioned.

This tourney was my first taste of being a GM and I could not have asked for a better introduction.

[Banackock 8,047]

GG

[Doomsday 4,130]

2 hours ago, GrittyIsKing09 said:

DUDE!! This is great read, and so long. I could never do this.

 

I just do my best to add appropriate amounts of detail that I would want to be reading, and before I know it I've written a novel. Always liked writing, so with VSN and the VHL I have a productive outlet for it!

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

Twinger just warmed up in regular season play to go play great for his country.

[Spade18 1,305]

HARDDDDD NOSTALGIA