#52/ 2013 IIHF WJC Blog

Biscuits an Breezers

World Junior Championships:

Day 4

             

                Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! This day in the IIHF World Junior Championships we had only 2 games today because most of the teams took the day off to rest and recuperate. But today 4 countries battled it out on the ice. These countries were Russia, Germany, Sweden, and Latvia. It was the first place team in each group facing off against the last place team. Each result of the game was definitely predictable and expected. There really were no upsets or surprises, which could either be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. By this time in the tournament you can already pick out the goons, snipers, and grinders. For example you could say example that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would be a sniper, Rasmus Ristolainen could be a grinder, and  J.C. Lipon could be the goon. This is just in my opinion though you probably have different or maybe even the same players. These games could have been some of the breaking points for the lower level teams and if it wasn't the stress and panic is certainly setting in right about now.

Game 1 - Sweden vs. Latvia

      This game for Latvia was a must-win to avoid elimination and possibly gain some points in the standings. Well, guess what? Sweden took that game right from their hands. Rightfully of course, but 5-1 was Latvia's demise. As an underdog team going up against the reigning champions, it must have been quite intimidating. But they didn't go down without a fight. The first goal came 19 minutes into the first period from Emil Molin for Team Sweden. With great goaltending on their side, the Latvians were building up a good defense, but sadly no offense. Coming out of the first intermission and down 0-1, Teodors Blugers tied things up for Latvia at 1-1 4 minutes into the second period. This would be Latvia's only show of resistance. Sebastian Collberg then scored his third goal of the tournament to take Sweden for the lead. This goal would get him into a four way tie for the most goals scored in the tournament so far. Then the Swedes unleashed a special weapon. Victor Arvidsson. He scored twice in the third period to get the score up to 4-1. Alexander Wennberg scored Sweden's last goal in the final minute of the game to bring the total up to 5-1.  Niklas Lundstrom did great today after being in the shootout against Switzerland yesterday blocking 20 shots as his team out shot the Latvians 46-21. This loss will put Latvia in the regulation round tomorrow against the Czech Republic. As expected the Swedes crushed Latvia. Sweden has already survived by taking the top spot in Group A but can earn a quaterfinal spot if they win over rival Finland on Monday.

Game 2 - Russia vs. Germany

        Now we have the big show. The major star versus the little train that hasn't yet. Not to be too mean or anything but they have 3 goals for and 24 goals against. I really wish that they could really win one game just to prove that there is something in them. I believe that if they put their minds to it, Team Germany could accomplish a lot.  Point closed Russia won this game 7-0. Russia is undefeated and will be guaranteed a spot in the knockout round. The first goal of the game came from Nikita Kucherov in the first two minutes with assists from Anton Slepyshev and Mikhail Grigorenko. Midway through the first period captain Nail Yakupov scored his first goal of the tournament. He then assisted on Danil Zharkov's goal three minutes later to give the host country a 3-0 lead. Going into the second period, the Russians decided to ease up on things and didn't score their first goal until 14 minutes in when Albert Yarullin scored his third goal of the tournament. The third period was Yaroslav Kosov's prime time. The Florida Panther's prospect scored the first hat trick of the tournament. Andrey Vasilevkiy saved all of Germany's 36 shots for his second shut out of the tournament. Team Germany will go against Slovakia in a regulation round tomorrow to see which team will not move onto one of the medal rounds. Russia will go up against major rivals Team Canada on Monday that will most likely get the quarterfinal spot.


3 Stars of the Games

1. Yaroslav Kosov Russia
     Yaroslav was a fifth round draft pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft and ,so far, the only player in the tournament to score a hat trick. He went into this game with 0 total points. He scored all the goals in a matter of 16 minutes and the last one being shorthand.

2. Sebastian Collberg Sweden
      Sebastian has exploded offensively for Team Sweden and now has 3 points in 3 games. This now ties him for the tournament lead. His best goal probably was the game winning goal against Latvia. He also had an assist on the first goal of the game today scored by Emil Molin.

3. Andrey Vasilevskiy Russia
      After being on the bench while fellow team mate Andrey Makarov helped defeat Team USA, Vasilevskiy saved 41 shots today to blank out Germany. He will continue to battle with Makarov for control of the net and be part of possibly the greatest goaltending pair in this tournament.

IIHF Tournament Group Standings:

Group A           GP      W      OTW      OTL        L        GF         GA         Pts

Sweden              3        2          1             0            0          12           4            8

Switzerland        2        1           0            1            0           9            5            4

Finland               2        1            0           0            1           6            4            3

Czech                 2        1            0            0             1           4            5           3
Republic

Latvia                  3          0          0           0              3          4            17         0


Group B            GP         W      OTW       OTL      L        GF       GA      Pts

Russia                 3            2          1              0          0         12        3          8

Canada               2            2           0             0          0         15        6          6

USA                     2            1           0             0          1           9         2         3

Slovakia              2            0            0            1           1          5         9        1

Germany             3            0             0            0          3          3         24       0

                 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 to play hockey and it's a lifestyle not just a sport!