#50/2013 IIHF WJC Blog

Biscuits and Breezers

World Junior Championships:

Day 2

        Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers and Day 2 of the World Junior Championships. I am here to catch you all up on this day's events in Ufa, Russia. Today's games were matches between the USA vs. Germany and Switzerland vs. Latvia. Most of the teams took today off to recuperate and gain their momentum back up again. After both Team Germany and Team Latvia lost their openers yesterday, they have the challenge of facing two new fresh teams with the loss of yesterday hanging above their shoulders. Team USA is extremely determined to reverse what happened last year and win the gold. The same as every other team in this competition. Team Switzerland is particularly strong this year so that is another obstacle in the road to claiming the gold from former champions Team Sweden. Or can Sweden defend it? We will see in the next couple of days.  Now I have the standings for the countries in Group A and B but I will give you those after the game reviews and the three stars. So let's get to those right away! 

Game 1 - Switzerland vs. Latvia

       Switzerland surprised many with their performance today winning 7-2 with Latvia trying to gather up any momentum and stride they have left after losing two days in a row. Losing to Finland 5-1 yesterday, Latvia will have some stiff competition to avoid elimination early on in this tournament. Starting off, it looked as if Latvia would win this game when star player for Latvia, Nikolajs Jelisejevs, scored his second goal of the tournament very early into the first period at 2:45 in. Shocking Switzerland, they decided to take matters into their own hands. Christoph Bertschy scored late in the first period to start off the scoring streak for Switzerland and fellow team mate Mike Kunzle scored four minutes later to hand the Swiss the lead going into the first intermission. In the second period, the Swiss exploded with three goals from Lukas Balmelli, Sven Andrighetto, and Sandro Zangger that gave Switzerland a 5-2 lead. Then Mike Kunzle had his second goal of the game and Alessio Bertaggia scored his first goal to end the scoring at 7-2. Arturs Sevcenko scored the other goal for Latvia. Goaltender Lucas Boltshauser stopped 21 shots out of 23 for Switzerland.  Elvis Merzlikins was first in goal for Latvia after stopping 25 out 30 shots but was then replaced with Ivars Punnenovs in the third and had a total of 5 saves. Tanner Richard added 3 assists for the Swiss also. The Swiss are potential contenders for Group A but we will see when they go up against defending champs Sweden on Friday and Latvia will be happy for a break before they face off against Sweden on Saturday.

Game 2 - USA vs. Germany

        Team USA had a great start to their tournament run winning and shutting Germany out 8-0. The Germans failed to bounce back and recover after a terrible loss to Canada the day before and now are sitting ducks in Group B full of hockey super powers. Sean Kuraly found the back of the net just 19 SECONDS into the first period with assists from team mates Alex Galchenyuk and Riley Barber. Just like the "Blowout Line" in Canada, this is the "Blowout Line" for Team USA. In the second period, Jacob Trouba and Alex Galchenyuk both scored in the first 10 minutes of the period with an almost perfect play. During the rest of the second and third periods, Leon Drasaitl nicknamed, "The German Gretzky" tried to find the back of the American net multiple times but never connected. The USA had goals from probable top pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft Seth Jones, Jacob Trouba, Alex Galchenyuk, Ryan Hartman, J.T. Miller, Sean Kuraly, and Shayne Gostisbehere. American goaltender John Gibson saved all 19 shots from Team Germany during the first 2 periods and was relieved by Jon Gillies in the third who made 7 saves to complete the shut out. German goaltender Marvin Cupper stopped 38 out of 46 shots during the duration of the game. Team USA faces off against hockey super power Russia  in a very important Group B game tomorrow while Germany has two days to recover before they face off against Russia on Saturday. It is expected that Germany will lose against Russia but time will tell. Maybe they will recover and regroup before then, we will have to wait and see.

3 Stars of the Games

1. Seth Jones United States of America

     Seth Jones really took over the hype that was expected of him in this tournament. He made very smart plays that created numerous scoring chances, took charge of everyone of his shifts, and scored the seventh goal in the USA's shut out. He worked the boards and was very physical compared to other players out on the ice. Even though he was playing risky, he played responsible. He is predicted to be the tournament's break out players.

2. Alex Galchenyuk United States of America

     Being the 3rd overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Alex was Team USA's most dangerous offensive player. He found the two players (Kuraly and Barber) that best fit his needs and had team chemistry that made all the plays and scores happen. His first goal was amazing in my opinion and he assisted on two more.

3. Alessio Bertaggia Switzerland

      Playing for the Brand Wheat Kings in the WHL, Alessio had a great game today scoring his own goal in the third period and assisting on Christof Bertschy's goal in the first period. He had a plus 3 at the end of the day.

 IIHF Tournament Group Standings:

Group A       GP       W        OTW       OTL       L        GF        GA       Pts  

Switzerland     1          1           0             0            0          7           2           3

Finland            1          1           0            0             0          5           1           3

Sweden          1           1           0            0             0          4           1           3

Czech             1           0          0            0             1           1           4          0

Republic

Latvia              2          0          0           0              2           3         12         0            

Group B       GP        W        OTW       OTL         L         GF        GA      Pts

USA             1           1             0              0             0            8           0           3

Canada         1           1             0              0             0           9            3           3

Russia           1           0             1              0             0           3            2           2

Slovakia        1           0             0             1             0           2             3           1

Germany       2           0             0             0             2           3            17          0

        Thanks for reading another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! Every blog will be filled with updated hockey news, player reviews, and so much more! Until next time remember, don't get your breezers in a bunch because hockey is always around the corner. Remember, it's always a great day for hockey and it's not just a sport it's a lifestyle!