TSN’s Bob Mackenzie has leaked that this year’s World Junior Hockey Championships being held in Alberta have been (will be) cancelled due to growing COVID infections among the players.
Tonight’s Canada/Germany game was to be my first report on my brand new blog hopperoncanada.ca.
WHAT A FREAKING DRAG !! More to come.
December 28/21
Day 3 from the World Junior Hockey Championships featured Canada against qualifier Austria. The tournament has always shown off the skills of the elite level teams from Canada, Finland, the US, Sweden and Russia. The second tier consists of Czechia, Switzerland, Germany and Slovakia. Usually, a country who has been promoted from the “B” pool (eg Austria, Latvia, Kazakhstan etc) rounds out the 10 team loop.
As expected, the Canadian team dominated the qualifier throughout the first, outshooting Austria 25-5 and befittingly out scoring them 5 zip. For the Austrian program, this tournament is about development and a chance to measure themselves against elite players from around the world. A couple of standouts to this reporter were draft eligible Captain Marco Kasper, goalie Leon Somner and a rather large forward named Kilan Ropelle. And, who can ever forget a player named Oskar Maier ?!?
Canadian hilites included an absolute beauty from 16 year old Colind Bedard (his second) and 2 power play goals. Cole Perfetti and Owen Power continued their outstanding paly at both ends.
It’s early in the tournament, so let’s review Canada’s forward units (now down to 12) for tonight:
Perfetti Borque Wright
Johnson McTavish Stankoven
Neighbors Greig Guenther
Cuylie Desnoyers Bedard
Bourgalt (injured – concussion) and Sourdif (suspended) were out of tonight’s contest.
During the second period, Austria showed a little more life (scoring in the last minute) but more importantly for Team Canada fans, as is often the case in these snooze fests, complacency seemed to be settling in for the home squad. Connor Bedard roofed his hat trick goal and that was really the only thing that fans at Edmonton’s Rogers Centre had to cheer for. 6-1 Canada.
News from earlier in the day had Team USA having to forfeit their game against Switzerland due to two of their players testing positive for COVID. Let’s hope that trend is put to a screeching halt and that our beloved tournament can continue unscathed. The US is now 1 and 1.
The young Canadians woke up in the third as Perfetti (a gift @ :27 seconds), Bedard with his fourth (!), McTavish with 2 in :47 seconds and then Mavrik Bourque made the inevitable a reality. In fairness to Austria, this was only their 5th time at this tournament and was last involved in a game VS Canada way back in 1981. Led by Dale Hawerchuk, the Canadians finished that game off at 11-1. Austria got a powerplay goal to make the final 11-2.
HOPPER NOTES: Team Germany is next (tomorrow at 7 pm), they had a hard-earned win against Czechia…next year’s tournament will allow 12 teams (incl Austria) in to the tournament. My suggestion is to have the teams split into 2. An “Elite 6” (Canada, Finland, USA, Sweden, Russia and whomever comes 6th this year) all playing each other once. The “second 6” (Czechia, Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland x 2 qualifiers) will play off a similar 5 game Round Robin. The top 5 “elite” division teams qualify for the quarter-finals as do 3 of the lower “qualifier” teams. The other 4 are eliminated. More meaningful games for the “elite” and a chance for a “B” team to rise to the top.
Discuss – cheers !
December 26/21
Thank goodness for our Team Canada Junior Hockey team. We say this every year, but “we” are so stacked with talent, our 4th liners and third pair would be all-stars back in their own leagues. If the opening TSN montage “Most Wonderful Time of the Year” featuring past icons and championships didn’t get you all teary eyed, stop reading here !
The 2021, (D-man Owen Power), slam dunk 2022 (17 year old forward Shane Wright) and likely 2023 (16 year old sensation Connor Bedard) first round draft choices all wear Canada’s colours. And with returnees like Cole Perfetti (F), Kaiden Guhle (D) and Dylan Garand (G) in the room you have got to like Canada’s chances to add to their globe setting pace with a 19th Gold Medal.
During earlier games on day one Finland defeated a determined German team 3-1, while The Swedes hung on to beat the Russians 6-3 despite being up 3-0 in Red Deer. The defending Gold Medallist Team USA and Slovakia play the late game (9:30 eastern).
WOW, that first period was exactly what a hockey starved nation needed !
After the usual nervous, scrambly start to these affairs, Peterborough Pete star Mason McTavish floated through the Czech zone, played an unexpected through the legs move and then roofed the 1-0 goal at the 4 minute mark. Two Jake Neighbors’ offensive zone hits later and the Canadians seemed to be on their way setting the Czechs back on their heels. But, before you knew it a video confirmed goal tied it at the 8 minute mark.
Then, all heck broke loose as 5 goals were scored in the next 13 minutes putting the Czech’s up 3 to 2. It wasn’t until the :30 second mark before Donavan Suprango tied it up from Perfetti and Bedard.
Man, what a period !
The Canadians came back strong in period 2 helped by some boneheaded penalties from the Czechs. At the 13-minute mark, one penalty led to another and then to another, leaving Team Canada with a million opportunities to put this game away. Power from Perfetti and then Power’s hat trick goal (first ever by a Canadian D-man) made it 5-3. The Czechs only had 2 shots on goal in the second while Canada piled it on with 15 of their own. Also notable during this stanza was moving 2023 first overall Connor Bedard up the forward chart.
I should also note at this time (as if it wasn’t already obvious) that I am unabashedly Canadian through and through and if I am ever asked who my favorite hockey team is, it is ALWAYS Team Canada.
One could sense that CZECH was done after two. They were being outshot significantly, out hit and out hustled. This is a team that boasted 10 drafted players. They just didn’t have enough left in the tank after briefly taking that 3-1 first period lead. Owen Zellweger topped things off with a PP goal to finish things off at 6-3.
HOPPER NOTES:
After my Shameless “Homer” admission, may I pile on by saying that this is the 45th Anniversary of this prestigious tournament and Canada has won 18 of them ? Two of our predominant players, (Cole Perfetti and Owen Power) have won a gold medal for Canada before winning a World Junior. I would LOVE to have either on my team ! Our strong “back end” supplied 5 of our 6 goals. Our next game is vs Germany on Tuesday.
Discuss – cheers !
The Toronto Maple Leafs came home to host the Columbus Blue Jackets after a not-so-successful 2 game trip to the centre of the continent. After a hard-fought OT loss in Minnesota, the Leafs walked in to Portage and Main for a rather nasty 6-3 loss to the well rested Winnipeg Jets. Fisticuffs and revenge were on the agenda that night and resulted in suspensions, fines and bad feelings.
For tonight’s contest the Toronto club were without Rasmus Sandin (knee 2-3 weeks), Mitch Marner (3-4 weeks shoulder) Travis McDermott (knee) and Jason Spezza (suspension). In their place we saw Marlies rookie Alex Steeves (12 points in 12 games in the AHL) and 24-year-old Latvian defenceman Kristins Rubins playing third pair minutes with Liligren.
In what is being described as a transitional year, the 13-10-0 Blue Jackets were coming off a 6-4 win over San Jose. That came on the heels of a 4 game losing skid. Other than the first their first line of Boone Jenner centering Max Domi and Jakub Vorachek, defenceman Zach Werenski and a strong goaltending tandem, the roster is young and mostly unknown.
Every good team needs the big guns to show up. William Nylander and Austin Mathews are paid large to do just that. Willy Styles got his 8th (PP) in 6 and non-mustachioed Matthews got his 16th on strong plays from each other and a suddenly point motivated Morgan Reilly. 2- 0 Toronto. And, who should finally show-up when he’s really needed ? Rictchie Rich gets his first as a Leaf (after 27 games) to make it 3 zip after one.
The second started as a pretty much free flowing back and forth – you know, the kind that coaches hate ? A superior shoulder save by Jack Campbell at the 9 minute mark was shortly followed up by a well deserved goal by Bjorstrand to make it 3-1. Not too much later, the momentum swung back to the home team’s favor as Captain Johnny tipped in his 12th from a red hot Morgan Reilly to make it 4-1. Not 7 seconds later, Austin Mathews put in his 17th (again from Reilly) to make it 5-1. Once the insanity was reeled back in, you could see why the Maple Leafs are ahead in the standings as they are.
The home team got off to a real sleepy start in the third. And, before you know it D-man J Bean fires a net shot that Bjorstrand tips in to make it 5-2. Texier made it 5-3 and you really had to feel bad for “Soup” and his unassailable 1.78 GAA and his .942 SV % as his teammates faded before his very eyes. A 0.5 .second goal by Domi makes it an unjust 5-4 final. A very charitable final score.
HOPPER NOTES:
4 regulars out of the line-up = a pretty good showing….Spezza getting 6 games seems over the top to me (not a previous offender)…kinda liked #46 Alex Steeves – great speed, playmaking – just wish he was bigger…I hope you will enjoy my World Junior reports starting on Boxing Day…players I’d love to have on my team, Zach Werenski (and his 26 minutes/night)…does TSN have less pee breaks than Sportsnet or is that just me…Kase was not out of place in Marner’s spot on the PP…Max Domi is a free agent next summer – the Leafs are weak on the left side.
Discuss – Cheers !
Any team in sports has got to be pleased with a five game winning streak, right ? Tonight’s NHL contest between the Minnesota WILD and the Toronto Maple Leafs provides a head on challenge for 2 red hot teams in the “State of Hockey”.
The WILD has a similar past to the Leafs with multiple first round playoff exits and a pretty mediocre record since their debut back in 2000. They are another one of those teams that Ontarians don’t know much about. For instance, how many knew that Mikko Koivu, their long time captain, has not only retired but is due to become the first member in franchise history to his jersey (#9) retired ?
After another first round exit last May, General Manager Bill Guerrin decided to part ways with two of their franchise stalwarts, namely Ryan Suter and Zach Parise. That made cap space available to re-sign 24 year old Russian star Kirill Kaprizov. The former KHL sniper has 25 points in 22 games thus far and resides in the Top 10 of the scoring list.
Not surprisingly, Minnesota started their top line with Hartman centering Matt Zuccarello and Kaprizov. They have scored a majority of the WILD goals to date and they set a good pace. The Leafs were without the services of top 6 winger Mitch Marner, so Wayne Simmonds gladly stepped up. Ondrej Kase was back in the fold after what was a poorly kept secret, “upper (head) body” injury.
A pretty good back and forth ensued with shots/chances pretty much even. Coach Keefe tried a Matthews/Tavares/Nylander combo on 2 or 3 occasions to no avail. Alex Kerfoot dropped down with the Czech brothers on those few shifts and didn’t look out of place.
It wasn’t until a rather robust late period shift before things really started ECO Centre rocking. Simmonds, doing his job, defended a solid hit against Matthews and when it all settled down, he and Mark Foligno had a spirited dance.
Jordan Greenway pumped in a Matt Dumba rebound to set the score at 1-0 with just 23.7 seconds left.
The second period started off like a penalty fest ! This wasn’t exactly playing into the home team as they currently stood at 27th in PP with a rather pathetic 13.5 % rate. This proved rather true when the first Minny PP recorded only a solid body check on Engvall. But wait, a second PP opportunity allowed Zuccarello to make it 2 zip and the Wild seemed to be on their way. This was verified on Foligno’s goal at 11:53. A 9-2 hit advantage by the home squad helped accentuate the advantage.
Keefe went to plan ‘B’ moving Spezza up in to the Marner hole. Jason thanked his coaches’ faith by finalizing a fluke goal to break the goose egg. Not to be outdone, Spezza popped in a PP goal to make it interesting and as the piez de resistance, he set up a beauty for Mathews to tie it up before the buzzer.
With the Leafs outshooting the WILD by 20-7 in their comeback second period, they came out firing on all cylinders to start the third. That momentum came to a screaming halt when Minny got a favorable penalty call at 4:46 and then again shortly thereafter to give the home side a 1:48 – 2 man advantage. Nada. Back and forth these clubs went – eventually ending it @ 3-3 in regulation.
What a great overtime from both clubs – chance for chance, save for save. Inevitably, the Leafs were drawn in to their first shootout of the year. Kirill Kaprizov won it. Final 4-3 WILD.
HOPPER NOTES:
Didn’t hang around, but I sure hope Jason Spezza was one of the stars…guys I wish I had on my team: Matt Dumba…Matt Reilly, in on all 3 goals – he’s coming on…I’m sure ShannyDubas would like to have a couple of 6’6” 230 pounders in their line-up…gotta love the way Coach Keefe has taught his forwards to “mix and match” no matter what the circumstance…cap issues aside, when Ilya Mikelov is ready to go again, who goes first Engvall or Ritchie ?
Discuss – Cheers !
