#90/2014 IIHF WJC Blog

Biscuits and Breezers

World Junior Championships:

Day 8 and 9 Relegation Rounds and Semi Finals

     Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! I apologize that I am just now getting these out considering the gold and bronze medal games were today, I have been a bit under the weather lately but I still have to get this out to you! I am combining days 8 and 9 because in total there were only 3 games during the course of two days. On the 3rd, which was Day 8, there was the second relegation round between Germany and Norway and on Day 9, there were two semifinals games between Sweden and Russia and Canada and Finland. The two teams that have absolutely powered through this tournament would be Sweden and Finland and now they are both in the gold medal round game meaning it is yet again a battle of Scandinavia. I am very thrilled to see both of these teams competing against each other because they are two very powerful upper level teams who have the skills to make for a very very great hockey game. The star players on each team, Forsberg, Wennberg, Collberg, de la Rose, and Dansk for Sweden and Lehkonen, Ristolainen, Teravainen, and Saros, will surely make a battle out for the gold. Speaking of, the scores for these three games were 3-4 Germany, 2-1 Russia, and 1-5 Finland. So far these games have really surprised me because I thought for sure Canada and the USA would be in the medal rounds but unfortunately both were eliminated. I am very proud, I am sure as everyone else is, of all the countries that participated in these games for their extravagant and powerful performances in the amazingly beautiful city of Malmo. Here are the game reviews!

Game 1 - Norway vs, Germany

    It is everyone's game now in the relegation round between Norway and Germany as Germany ties the best of 3 series at 1.With a 4-3 win over the Norwegians, the Germans push for a 3rd game and prolong their tournament run even longer. Norway struck first blood at 3:32 in the first period right off of the faceoff. Jorgen Karterud's quick slapper seemed to stun Marvin Cupper with a 1-0 lead over Germany. 2 minutes later, Sven Ziegler made it 1-1 in favor of Germany after a quick shot found it's self in the corner of Joachim Svendsen's net. Quite fortunately, another 2 minutes later, another German goal found the back of the net giving Germany their first lead of the game. Dominik Kahun made a great pass to captain Leon Draistaitl  who shot it cleanly past Svendsen to bump the score up 2-1. Simen Nielsen tied the game at 3:58 in the second period when  his shot found it's way through a wall of players and moved up the score 2-2. In the late second Norway took their lead when Tim Robin Johnsgard pushed in Jens Tonjum's rebound past Cupper. The score was now 3-2. At 6:25 in the third Germany tied everything at 3's when Patrick Klopper set up Markus Eisenschmid in front of the net who then proceeded to shove the puck into the corner of Norway's cage. Leon Draisaitl scored his second geno of the game just over a minute later when his quick clapper was allowed past Svendsen. The final score of the game was 4-3 in Germany's favor. Marvin Cupper stopped 28 out of 32 shots for Germany while Joachim Svendsen saved 39 potential German goals for the Norwegians. These two team will meet for the last time on the 5th.

Game 2 - Sweden vs. Russia

    What a big game for the Juniorkronorna to win! After eliminating super power house Russia 2-1 , the Swedes pass yet another test on their personal quest for gold.  Even though the score wasn't very high, it was just enough to squeeze by into round 2. With just 49 seconds left in the first period, Elias Lindholm help set up Filip Forsberg to lead the Russians 1-0. Swedish defenseman Oskar Sundqvist was able to deke out Andrei Vasilevski at the blue line and pop one in for the home team at 4:55 in the third period to make it 2-0 and an assist was given to Erik Karlsson. Less than two minutes later, Damir Zhafyarov put the biscuit into the basket for Team Russia to score their first and last goal. Vasilevski was pulled with 1:10 remaining in the third but the Swedes couldn't capitalize the empty net. Anton Karlsson was still out with a shoulder injury. At the final whistle, the dam broke and Jesper Pettersson broke and bloodied Andrei Mironov's nose.  Oscar Dansk saved 26 out of 27 Russian shots for Team Sweden and Andrei Vasilevski saved 19 out of 21 potential Swedish goals for Team Russia. Russia would go and meet Canada in the Bronze medal game on the 5th while Sweden would go meet Finland on the 5th for the gold as well. 

Game 3 - Canada vs. Finland

   You have to give a large round of applause to the Finns for this win over Canada because going into this game, they were not supposed to leave with a win no matter how much you thought they could. Congratulations Finland for your amazing perseverance. The Finns struck first blood at 4:19 into the second when Julius Honka shot the puck around the boards, baffling the Canadians, and Joni Nikko found it and whipped it into the Canadian goal for a 1 nothing lead. Less than 2 minutes later, the score went up 2-0 when Teuvo Teravainen's shot from the boards was quickly tapped in by Saku Maenalanen. The lone Canadian goal was recored at 11:24 when Curtis Lazar picked up a pass from Anthony Mantha and beat Juuse Saros with a wicked shot. Not long after that, the Finns went up 3-1 when Rasmus Ristolainen beat Zach Fucale. Two goals were scored for the Finns as Teuvo Teravainen brought the final score up to 4-1 with a penalty shot at 16:48  in the third and 5-1 with an empty net goal in the final minute of the game. Zach Fucale stopped 18 potential goals out of 23 shots for Team Canada and Juuse Saros saved 23 out of 24 for Team Finland. Canad would go on to face Russia on the 5th and Finland would go on to the gold medal game on the 5th as well.

Scoring Leaders:

1. Teuvo Teravainen 15 pts - Finland

2. Filip Forsberg 12 pts - Sweden

3. Saku Maenalanen 11 pts - Finland

4. Anthony Mantha 11 pts - Canada

5. Martin Reway 10 pts - Slovakia

Assist Leaders:

1. Teuvo Teravainen 13 pts - Finland

2. Filip Forsberg 8 pts - Sweden

3. David Griger 7 pts - Slovakia

4. Elias Lindholm 7 pts - Sweden

5. Marin Reway 6 pts - Slovakia

Goalkeepers:

1. Juuse Saros 1.57 GAA .943 S% - Finland

2. Andrei Vasilevski 1.83 GAA .933 S% - Russia

3. Oscar Dansk 1.79 GAA .929 S% - Sweden

4. Joachim Svendsen 3.02 GAA .915 S% - Norway

5. Marek Langhamer 2.95 GAA .906 S% - Czech Republic

Penalty Leaders:

1. Leon Draisaitl 52 PIMs - Germany

2. Patrik Marcel 29 PIMs - Czech Republic

3. Lukas Laub 25 PIMs - Germany

4. Jonathan Drouin 24 PIMs - Canada

5. Pavel Buchnevich 18 PIMs - Russia

   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!