#86/2014 IIHF WJC Blog

Biscuits and Breezers

World Junior Championships:
Day 4

    Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! Well day 4 of the IIHF World Junior Championships was quite an amazing day for Sweden and the USA by far! Sweden swept the Norwegians with a score of 10-0 and the Americans devastated Germany with a score of 8-0. So I guess you could say that the brooms came out that day. In my opinion, this is exactly what we should be seeing at the World Juniors, players performing at their peak best and vastly improving their game with each tournament they play in. If I had to pick two team for the gold medal round right now it would be a replay of last year's that involved the ever impeccable Team Sweden and the quickly growing Team USA. Each period showed great performances from each country's squad and definitely showed us a different perspective than normally seen. There are game played on the 30th and 31st, then  everyone has New Year's day off and then, the Relegation rounds begin followed by the Quarter Finals on the 2nd, relegation on the 3rd, Semifinals on the 4th, Relegation final, Bronze medal game, and Gold medal game all on the 5th of January so this tournament is almost coming to an end unfortunately! But there are some excitements coming our way! The epic North American battle between Canada and the USA is on the 31st! Who do you think will pull away with the win? We will just have to wait and find out! So far in Group A USA has 9 pts, Canada with 7 pts, Slovakia 3 pts, Germany with 3 pts, and the Czech Republic with 2 pts (3 points for a regular win and 2 points for overtime.) In Group B, Sweden has 9 pts, Finland with 6, Russia with 6, Switzerland with 3 pts, and Norway has 0 pts. To predict the playoffs now,  I would put Sweden and USA in the gold medal game, Canada and Finland in the Bronze round, and Russia and either Slovakia or the Czech Republic in the final relegation round. Russia and Finland are interchangeable as well seeing they are ranked the same. To get onto the 29th's games, there were 2 games in Game 1 it was USA vs. Germany and Game 2 was Norway vs. Sweden. Let's get onto it shall we!

Game 1 - USA vs. Germany

  Team USA is on a roll with 3 out of 3 wins so far in Malmo and they are on a fast track to reclaiming their gold medal! It appears that 7 different members scored goals on Germany's Patrick Klein and it also appears that Germany is on the fast track to the relegation rounds considering they have only won about 1 game. The first American goal was scored by an L.A. Kings prospect by the name of Hudson Fasching. Less than 4 minutes after the initial goal, Vince Hinostroza made a cross-ice pass from the German end to the tape of Nic Kerdiles who shot a wicked one past Klein to make it 2-0. Will Butcher made it 3-0 when Jack Eichel fed him the puck at 2:21 into the second and at 3:27 Vincent Hinostroza upped the score to a marvelous 4-0. The US captain and Washington Capitals pick Riley Barber extended the lead to 5-0 when his shot at 11:46 scored him his third goal of the tournament. Matthew Grzelcyk scored his second of the tourney quickly off of a 5-on-3 advantage at 13:57. 6-0 was the name of the game. Defenseman Steven Santini from the New Jersey Devils made it 7-0 when his power play goal was completed at 10:04. The last goal of the game was scored at 13:46 into the third period when Vincent Hinostroza shot it past the German defense to end the scoring for this game. Andrew Copp, Vincent Hinostroza, and Matthew Grzelcyk were all credited with assists. Philadelphia Flyers prospect Anthony Stolarz made his first appearance at the Malmo Isstadion and had an impressive 15 saves to earn his first shut out as well for Team USA. Team Germany's Patrick Klein saved 45 out of 53 potential American goals. It should also be noted that Germany's captain Leon Draisaitl was suspended for the game against the Czech Republic for his hit on Andrew Copp during this game. He was assessed a match penalty which carries an automatic one game suspension and a disciplinary review which did no result on any further issue from the IIHF Disciplinary Panel. Team USA will play next on the 31st against Canada and Germany played on the 30th against the Czech Republic.

Game 2 -Sweden vs. Norway

  Sweden is just steam rolling this competition on home ice by shutting out Norway in double digits. Hopefully we will see the Swedes in the gold medal game! Unfortunately I think that Norway will meet Germany in the relegation rounds. In this game, Sverige out shot Norway 45-13. The Swedes drew first blood at 3:26 into the first period when Gustav Olofsson slid the puck into the crease after Norwegian forward Jens Tonjum toppled on top of his own goaltender backup Henrik Haukeland. At 8:55, the score went up 2-0 when Andre Burakovsky was set up on a power play by Hurricanes prospect Elias Lindholm. Then at 15:42, Burakovsky made it 3-0 when he silenced all of the 11,296 people in attendance. At 1:16 into the second period, Robert Hagg beat Haukeland by his glove to up the score 4-0. Andre Burakovsky completed his hat trick at 5:01 when Nick Sorensen was able to beat Norwegian defenseman Christer Simonsen with a shot on Henrik Haukeland and Andre picking up the rebound. Simon Collberg had the 6-0 goal when Filip Forsberg was able to help him tap it across the goal crease. Chicago Blackhawks pick Robin Norell was able to make 7 zip when his wrister from center ice went in at 3:40 into the third period. Less than 3 minutes later, Alexander Wennberg made it 8-0 in Sweden's favor with a great apple for Collberg. Elias Lindholm and Nick Sorensen rounded the score up to 10-0 with late power play goals in the third. Norway's only NHL drafted player Markus Soberg (2013 Blue Jackets pick) played in his first World Juniors game at the Malmo Arena during these 60 minutes after returning from an injury. Backup goaltender Marcus Hogberg saved 13 out of 13 shots for Team Sweden while Norway's Henrik Haukeland saved 35 out of 45 shots. Norway played next on the 30th against Switzerland and Sweden will play next on the 31st against Russia.

Scoring Leaders:

1. Anthony Mantha 9 pts - Canada

1. Martin Reway 9 pts - Slovakia

3. David Griger 9 pts - Slovakia

4. Milan Kolena 7 pts - Slovakia

4. Alexander Wennberg 7 pts - Sweden 

6. Jonathan Drouin 7pts - Canada

Assist Leaders:

1. Filip Forsberg 6 pts - Sweden

1. David Griger 6 pts - Slovakia

3. Andrew Copp 5 pts - USA

3. Jonathan Drouin 5 pts - Canada

3. Anthony Mantha 5 pts - Canada

3. Marin Reway 5 pts - Slovakia

3. Teuvo Teravainen 5 pts - Finland

Goalkeepers:

1. Andrei Vasilevski .67 GAA .970 S% - Russia

2. Juuse Saros 1 GAA .965 S% - Finland

3. Jon Gillies 2 GAA .926 S% - USA

4. Oscar Dansk 2.50 GAA .906 S% - Sweden

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

Penalty Leaders:

1. Leon Draisaitl 25 PIMs - Germany

2. Mirco Muller 14 PIMs - Switzerland

3. Lukas Balmelli 12 PIMs - Switzerland

3.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!