World Junior Hockey 2014

[NoleMoreTears]

One of the best 2 or 3 hockey tournaments of the year kicks off On Dec. 26th in Malmo, Sweden. Team USA tries to defend its gold medal from last year when goalie John Gibson, D Seth Jones, and F Jon Grimaldi played huge roles.

This year's team is again stacked and in group A with Canada, the Czechs, Slovakia, and Germany. Group B has Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, and upstart Norway.

The top 4 of USA, Canada, Russia, and Sweden is pretty well established and a cut above.

Official website is linked and there will be cable TV coverage of some games, which I'll post as I find them. This is a great tournament with end-to-end action and the NHL stars of tomorrow.


World Junior Official Site

 

[nolealum99]

Please let me know on tv if you can find it. This is always some of my favorite hockey to watch. I think last time I ended up watching some on the internet. TV would be great. NHL network will be showing 18 games during the tournament. I have linked their schedule.

NHL Netwrok

 

[NoleMoreTears]

Thank you for the link 99. NHL network had most games on last year. All USA games were shown live and some on tape delay.

For casual hockey fans this tournament is a real treat...there will be times when a whistle doesn't blow for 8-10 minutes. The rules and size of players are set up for great action but not necessarily a ton of goals. One great player can still go end to end (like Yakupov, Schiefele, or Grimaldi last year). Canada's 4th-place embarrassment of last year will be interesting to see how they play Team USA now.

 

[nolealum99]

Big win by team Canada this am. I didn't get to watch as I am working, but it said Canada looked pretty good with the exception of the D at times. As a Bolts fan, happy to see Drouin on the score sheet with 3 assists today.

Don't know what kind of team Norway has, but they are getting destroyed by the Russians, 11-0.

 

[nolealum99]

Good convincing win by the US today as well. Sounds like they played a good solid game, getting the lead early and not giving up anything easy. Wish I was home today watching these

 

[NoleMoreTears]

USA beats the Czechs 5-1, outshooting the Czechs 33-24. Took a very early 2-0 lead on a terrible goal. Czechs bounced back and did okay for a very young team.

USA looks decent but like they might be missing some leadership from last year. Forwards Copp (Michigan), Barber (Miami), and 17-year old Eichel played quite well. The D is not as good as last year, and Providence goalie John Gillies was acceptable in net...though he'll be a step down from John Gibson last year.

Next up is Slovakia on Saturday on NHL Network.

 

[NoleMoreTears]

USA off to an early lead, struggled in the middle but eventually pulled away from Slovakia, 6-3. Power play working well (3-3 early on).

Slovakia had a breakaway chance to tie the game, but once they started to press the US counter-attack unloaded. US is very strong in the neutral zone, anticipating and counter-attacking well through 2 games.

Canada was shocked by the Czechs in a shootout - to be fair Czechs had the lead for a decent while and it took a crazy 3rd period for Canada to tie it.

Next up is Germany on Sunday. Germany is the worst team in the group and look for the US to play more reserves and prep for Canada in group play.

 

[NoleMoreTears]

Team USA destroys Germany 8-0. Power play again worked very well. The German captain got a 5-minute major and game suspension for a hit from behind and the US took advantage with 4 2nd-period goals.

Next up is Canada on Dec. 31st.

The format has changed....it used to be that the pool winner got a bye into the semifinals. Now 4 of the 5 pool teams make the medal round so all teams play a 1st-round game. That means there's a bit less on the line vs. Canada but still plenty of action to be had between the two rivals..

 

[NoleMoreTears]

The US team dropped a tough loss to Canada, 3-2. This ends pool play with the US finishing second.

USA dominated the early going but the power play did not convert. Eventually, Canada's depth and speed took over and goalie Fucale played extremely well for the leafs.

Medal round play starts and we can expect the US and Canada to figure into the final games.

 

[Rishi]

U.S. has a very tough road. Russia in the Quarters and if they win they get (likely) Sweden (who are the best team in the tourney this year).

 

[nolealum99]

Wow!! Defending champs out!! I knew Sweden was gonna be a tough test, but thought we could get by Russia. Apparently got in penalty trouble and couldn't keep it going. That sucks.

 

[NoleMoreTears]

Team US falls to Russia in the quarters, 5-3.

A real disapointment as the Americans took way too many penalties yet still controlled much of the play. Russia scores a couple 5-on-3 goals and their goalie came up huge. As I expected, inexperience on defense and mediocre goaltending hurt. The US power play really deteriorated - after starting out 11 for 19, they fell flat vs. Russia and Canada. There are a couple players who will be back next year and some guys I didn't expect showing incredibly promise for the future.

The Fasching/Copp/Matteau line was dominant and more dynamic than I expected.

Despite the poor result this year, the US development model has really turned things around and is putting the states firmly in the top couple nations for hockey.

 

[hatsbo]

I watched quite a few games on the NHL Network, including the losses to Canada and Russia, our undoing was definitely special teams for the most part. Like you said it is a blast to watch.

 

[NoleMoreTears]

Canada loses the bronze medal game - that's 2 straight years Canada goes without so much as a medal...rest assured if that happens next year when the tournament is Montreal, there will be hell to pay and probably some burning cars.

Finland stuns Sweden for Gold, so next year we'll have Finland, Canada, and the US all in the same pool!

 

[Rishi]

just a tag -> it's split b/w Montreal and Toronto. Round Robin in Montreal, Medal Round in Toronto and then reversed for the 2016/7 tournament.

Also the pools will be a bit more balanced as essentially Pool A has traded Czech Republic for Finland (and Pool B also trades Norway for Denmark).

Since the tournment is in Canada, I'd expect the Canada/U.S.A. RR game to be Dec. 31st.
This post was edited on 1/7 1:56 AM by Rishi