#88/2014 IIHF WJC Blog

Biscuits and Breezers

World Junior Championships:

Day 6

    Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! We have come to the day filled with thrilling news. For starters, this was the last World Juniors game played in 2013, there was the massive North American rivalry game with the USA against Canada, and this was the last game of the preliminary rounds. I am pleased to let you all know that Germany and Norway will face each other in relegation rounds but for the quarter finals match ups, the newly unveiled first games are as follows: USA vs. Russia, Sweden vs. Slovakia, Finland vs. Czech Republic, and Canada vs. Switzerland. I was very impressed with the performances by the US and Canadian teams during this epic game because every player was hard pressed to get the puck, they were driven, determined, and had their minds set on winning this game. That is what feeds the necessity for rival hockey; fire. You can see it in their eyes and it is running through their veins once they suit up in the locker room. Every body is trying to claim those 3 pts as if they are the last set of coconuts on a desert island. The tides have turned and now things get serious. For any team in the quarter finals, the gold medal is hanging in the balance and it is time to turn the switch from contender to champion. There were four games played and the teams involved were Slovakia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Russia, USA, Canada, Finland, and Switzerland. The outcomes were 1-4 Czech Republic, 3-2 Sweden, 3-2 Canada, and 4-3 Switzerland. Now come the reviews as usual!

Game 1 - Slovakia vs. Czech Republic

   The Czechs ultimately dominated this game with a full force of puck movement and equal strength to match. This win pushed the Czech Republic from the Relegation Round all the way up to third place in Group A whereas Slovakia has now dropped down to 4th place. The rivalry between Slovakia and the Czech Republic is a great one and it is always fun to watch these two. A phenomenal 18 seconds after the start of the game, David Patrnak of the Czech Republic, pushed a loose puck past Slovakia's Samuel Baros on a rebound after his team mate Martin Prochazka had an almost successful attempt. They struck again at 3:54 when Ondrej Kase received the puck from Jan Kostalek on a breakaway and backhanded it past Baros. Now it was 2-0. Two more Czech goals came in the second. One was from the stick of Martin Prochazka with an apple for Dominik Simon at 2:00 and the next one came less than 5 minutes later when Petr Sidlik beat replacement goaltender Richard Sabol after Baros was pulled under the instructions of Head Coach Ernest Bokros. The last goal of the game came from the top Slovak line  4.4 seconds left in the second period. David Griger stole the puck from the Czech defenders and quickly sought out team Captain Milan Kolena who knew exactly where to put it and round out the final score 4-1. I am unsure of how many shots Slovakia's Richard Sabol and Samuel Baros saved also I am unsure of how many shots the Czech's tendy Marek Langhammer saved either. Slovakia will play Sweden and the Czech Republic will play Finland all on the 2nd. 

Game 2 - Sweden vs. Russia

    Sweden was in control most of the 60 minutes and with out a doubt showed why they should make it all the way to the gold medal round. So far the Swedes have won silver in 2013, gold in 2012, and fourth place in 2011 and the Russians took bronze in 2013, 2012 they had silver, and in 2011 they had gold. Anton Karlsson was out with a shoulder injury. Sweden drew first blood when Andreas Johnson scored a revenge power play goal near 3:23 with the help of fellow countryman Sebastian Collberg. At 17:01, the lead went up to 2-0 when Lucas Wallmark was able to get the puck over to Andre Burakovsky who was then able to get the biscuit to Nick Sorensen who shot a sick one past Andrei Vasilevski. At 4:47, Russia cut the lead in half when Vyacheslav Osnovin set up Alexander Barabanov who lit the lamp behind Oscar Dansk. Russia then tied everything up with 8:08 left in the game when Mikhail Grigorenko just barely tipped Pavel Buchnevich's shot in past Dansk. Jacob de la Rose finalized everything 3-2 when he was at the right place at the right time in front of the net. On a rebound of Gustav Olofsson's, Jacob was able to tip the puck in past Vasilevski with 2:22 left in the game. Oscar Dansk saved 23 out of 25 goals for Team Sweden while Team Russia's Andrei Vasilevski stopped 29 out of 32. Sweden will play Slovakia and Russia will play the USA on the 2nd. 

Game 3 - USA vs. Canada

   Yes that's right this is the game that we (most of us anyway) have been waiting for! This game put Canada in first place in Group A and the USA now holds the second spot. Griffin Reinhart returned to Team Canada's line up. The USA's first goal came at 3:29 in the second period when Riley Barber put the biscuit in the basket over Fucale's shoulder. Then at 12:49, Nic Petan scored the 1-1 tying goal with some very tough-as-nails work produced by Anthony Mantha. At the beginning of the third, the Canadians killed off a penalty with Connor McDavid's geno at 3:54. Josh Morrissey was there for the assist. The score was now 2-1. Curtis  Lazar was able to bring the lead up 3-1 when Derrick Pouliot and and Jonathan Drouin helped rush the puck over to the Edmonton Oilers prospect who was on guard in front of Jon Gillies. Stefan Matteau grabbed the last point for the Americans with his goal past Fucale at 17:15 in the third. This would wrap up the scoring for everyone and add another notch in this rivalry's belt. I am unsure how many shots they each saved, but Team Canada had Zach Fucale in net and Jon Gillies was in cage for Team USA. The US will play Russia and Canada will play Switzerland on the 2nd. 

Game 4 - Finland vs. Switzerland

   Finland now is in second place in Group B after losing in a shoot out to Team Switzerland on the 31st. Switzerland finished up in 4th. At 18:50 in the first period, the Swiss opened the scoring when Flavio Schmutz found the back of the Finnish net. With 26 seconds left in the period, Finland tied everything up with Ville Pokka's top shelfer and an assist from Esa Lindell. Fabrice Herzog managed to get a loose puck in right before 7:00 and Nico Dunner scored at 9:49 with an assist from Mirco Muller to bring the score up to 3-1 and bring Ville Husso out in place of Juuse Saros. Just 40 seconds later, the Finns (Aleksi Mustonen) responded to the game change and scored on Nyffeler to make it 3-2 at the end of the second. Saku Maenalanen made it a tie game at 3 just 35 seconds after the starting whistle of the third period. Teuvo Teravainen had the assist. Claude Paschoud scored the only goal in the shoot out to bring things to an end at 4-3. Juuse Saros and Ville Husso saved 30 out of 34 shots for Team Finland whereas Melvin Nyffeler saved 37 out of 40. Canada will play Switzerland and Finland will play the Czech Republic in the Quarter Finals. Rasmus Ristolainen and Artturi Lehkonen were still out of play for Finland. 

Scoring Leaders:

1. Anthony Mantha 10 pts - Canada

1. Martin Reway 10 pts - Slovakia

3. David Griger 10 pts - Slovakia

4.Milan Kolena 8 pts - Slovakia

5. Jonathan Drouin 8 pts - Canada

Assist Leaders:

1. David Griger 7 pts - Slovakia

1. Teuvo Teravainen 7 pts - Finland

3. Jonathan Drouin 6 pts - Canada 

3. Filip Forsberg 6 pts - Sweden

3. Anthony Mantha 6 pts - Canada 

3. Martin Reway 6 pts - Slovakia

Goalkeepers:

1. Juuse Saros 1.16 GAA .960 S% - Finland

2. Andrei Vasilevski 1.61 GAA .934 S% - Russia

3, Marek Langhammer 2.59 GAA .916 S% - Czech Republic

4. Oscar Dansk 2.33 GAA .910 S% - Sweden

4. Jon Gillies 2.35 GAA .910 S% - USA

6. Joachim Svendsen 3.86 GAA .903 S% - Norway

Penalty Leaders:

1. Patrik Marcel 29 PIMs - Czech Republic

2. Leon Draisaitl 25 PIMs - Germany

3. Georgi Busarov 14 PIMs - Russia

3. Mirco Muller 14 PIMs - Switzerland

5. Lukas  Balmelli 12 PIMs - Switzerland

5. Jonathan Drouin 12 PIMs - Canada

5. Ludvig Hoff 12 PIMs - Norway

5. Didrik Svendsen 12 PIMs - Norway

   Thanks for reading another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! Every blog will be filled with updated hockey news, player reviews, and 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 a lifestyle not just a sport!