It is World Junior Week for us at the Sound Of Hockey The IIHF World Junior Championship is one of my favorite things about the holiday season, and with the NHL still a month away from starting, the WJC means a little bit more this year. I need my hockey fix while I wait for the NHL, and the world’s premiere under-20 tournament will provide just the kick I need to get me through. The hockey is outstanding and quite literally, the NHL’s future is on full display.
The tournament will feature the best players in this age group from 10 countries. Most of the players, particularly from the US and Canada, will play in the NHL someday. When the rosters get published, I pore through them to see who I should be watching from every team.
As they say, sharing is caring, so let us dig into the rosters to determine who we should be watching.
Draft Picks
There are 114 NHL-drafted players in the tournament this year with 44 of them being selected in the first round.
As expected, Canada and the US have the highest number of NHL-drafted players on their team.
It is mind boggling to see that Canada has a whopping 20 (!) first round draft picks on its roster.
Here is the detail of all the draft picks by NHL teams:
Leagues
Next let us look at what are the most common leagues in which these players are currently playing.
The bulk of the NCAA players are on the US team, but there are a few international players that are playing NCAA hockey right now.
US vs Canada
It is always fascinating how different the US and Canada teams are built.
I hope this gives you a bit more context and appreciation for the IIHF World Junior Championship that kicks off on Friday. All the games will be televised on NHL Network. Enjoy!
The NHL gave us all an early present over the weekend by announcing a Jan. 13th return to play plan to get hockey back on the ice. But that’s nearly a month away. What are we supposed to do between now and then? Thankfully, the World Junior Championship is here to fulfill your hockey needs.
Since 1977 the International Ice Hockey Federation has held the World Junior Championship during December and January. The tournament pits the best international players under 20 years old against each other for the ultimate worldwide bragging rights.
Every winter the World Juniors are must-watch in Canada and it receives intense media scrutiny. The pressure on the players and coaching staff is real. The Canadian team has responded and leads all nations with 18 gold medals, including a win last year when the tournament was held in the Czech Republic.
Here in the U.S., the World Junior Championship hasn’t taken as great a hold as it has to our friendly northern neighbors. It should.
The word ‘junior’ hurts the marketability of this tournament to American audiences. To us, ‘junior’ has come to mean inferior or lessor and brings up images of watching kids still learning how to play the game. But that is selling junior hockey and the World Junior Championship short. Don’t be fooled.
This is quality hockey and must-watch for hockey fans, no matter where you are from.
Starting Christmas Day, this year’s World Junior Championship will entertain and delight. The tournament is being played in the same Edmonton bubble in which we saw the Stanley Cup raised in September.
Here are the reasons you should be tuning in.
NHL’s Future on Display at World Junior Championship
When watching the World Juniors, you’re watching the next wave of NHL stars.
Wayne Gretzky? Yeah, he played in the tournament as a 17-year-old in 1978 – and of course had 17 points in six games. Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid? Yeah, he played for Canada twice and was part of a gold medal squad in 2015.
It’s not just Canadian stars. American-born players like Patrick Kane and T.J. Oshie played for the U.S. in this tournament. Former Vancouver Canucks stars Daniel and Henrik Sedin played – on the same line of course – for Sweden.
Those names are just the tip of the iceberg and this year’s tournament is no different.
All but two of the players suiting up for the United States this year have already been drafted by NHL teams. Of those 25, nine were taken in the first round and nine more went in the second. As expected, the Canadian roster is loaded, with only one undrafted player – Prince George Cougars goalie Taylor Gauthier – while 20 others were selected in the first round.
This year’s tournament is a bit different because of Covid and we’re not talking about the bubble or testing. Because the NHL has yet to start, there are players in this tournament that might otherwise be in the NHL and not available to play.
The headliner of that group is Kirby Dach of the Chicago Blackhawks. Dach, 19, played full time in the NHL last season but is still eligible for the World Juniors. Chicago gave him permission to play and Dach was named captain of Team Canada last week.
Quinton Byfield is on Team Canada with Dach after being drafted second overall by the Los Angeles Kings in October. He most likely would be in the beginning stages of his rookie year in the NHL and not available. The same is true for Ottawa Senators pick Tim Stutzle, who was the third pick in the draft. Stutzle will compete for the German team, something he did during last year’s tournament as well.
International Rivalries Come to Life at the World Junior Championship
Russia and Canada have dominated the tournament since its inception. The two countries have combined for the most medals and Russia – then known as the Soviet Union – won the first four golds. The two nations have long been hockey rivals and have provided memorable moments in the World Juniors, including last year’s gold medal game.
Most of those Canadian-Russian moments have been about exciting hockey but they also got together for the most infamous moment in the tournament’s history. Things got out of hand in 1987 with an all-out brawl that is simply known now as the ‘Punch up in Piestany’.
The United States won its first gold in 2004. Led by Zach Parise, the Americans beat the Canadians in Helsinki to win the tournament and birth an intense rivalry.
As American hockey has grown, its World Junior clubs have improved. The U.S. has won three golds since 2004 and has given the Canadians fits. Games between the two nations have become the highlight of the tournament.
One of the most memorable moments came in a 2007 semifinal game that was decided by shootout and featured names like Carey Price, Kane, and Jonathan Toews.
The Canadians came out on top in 2007 but the roles were reversed in another star-studded shootout, this time for the gold, in 2017.
Northwest Connections at the World Junior Championship
Fans of the local WHL’s U.S.Division clubs will have some rooting interest this year.
Goalie Dustin Wolf of the Everett Silvertips will be with the United States team for the second straight season. He’ll be platooned with Florida Panthers prospect Spencer Knight to give the Americans a goalie tandem that’s as good as it gets at this level.
Everett Silvertips goalie Dustin Wolf is back with Team USA at the World Junior Championships. (Brian Liesse photo)
Simon Kubicek of the Seattle Thunderbirds will be making his second straight appearance with the Czech team, and he’s joined by goalie Lukas Parik of the Spokane Chiefs and the Silvertips’ Michal Gut.
Defenseman Kasper Puutio is playing for Finland and gives the Silvertips a third representative at this year’s World Juniors. Portland Winterhawks forward Simon Knak is skating for Team Switzerland.
Seattle Kraken Interest
Most of the players in the tournament have already been drafted, but there are some 2021 NHL Draft eligibles that Seattle Kraken scouts will be watching.
Most prominent of those is Michigan freshman Matthew Beniers who will be playing with the United States. Depending on what online scouting service you subscribe to, Beniers is being projected as a potential top-ten pick. The Kraken will be selecting somewhere in the top six.
If you’d like to learn the names of future Pacific Division rivals, there will be plenty to watch.
Byfield leads the way for nine Kings’ prospects appearing in the tournament. He’ll be with the Canadians while Alex Turcotte should be one of the key players for the Americans. Both players could be appearing at Climate Pledge Arena with Los Angeles next season.
The Anaheim Ducks have six prospects playing this month, including an NHL-best four with the United States. That list is topped by former first-round pick Trevor Zegras, another player we could be watching against the Kraken next fall.
The 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship gets under way Christmas Day with a big United States-Russia match-up and can be seen on the NHL Network. To see the full schedule for the tournament, which concludes with a Gold Medal game on January 5th, check here.
So you want to make Team Canada for the World Junior Championship? Good luck, kid.
Growing up in Mission, British Columbia, Everett Silvertips center Gage Goncalves dreamed about one day playing for Team Canada at the World Junior Championship. He wasn’t alone.
The annual tournament features the top players under 20 years old in the world. Most who make the Canadian team are already drafted by NHL teams, and the tournament is hockey of the highest quality. Canada won gold last January and has dominated over the years, winning 18 Gold medals. In Canada, the Championship is a holiday tradition and would compare somewhere between the Super Bowl and Final Four for American sports fans.
Canadians young and old live and die on every shot.
Goncalves, 19, was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the fall and while finishing a morning workout in early November, got another big call. He was invited to the Team Canada camp and was getting a chance to represent his country.
“I was so excited I ripped home to tell my family,” he says. “I’ve been watching that tournament for so long so just going to the camp was an unbelievable experience. I remember wearing my little ball hockey jersey thinking I was Team Canada growing up. It was a really big moment for me.”
For hockey players growing up everywhere, making it to the NHL is the dream. But for Canadian kids, playing in the World Junior Championship for Team Canada with the maple leaf on your jersey is almost as important.
The Canadian Dream
It’s a dream that many share but few get a chance to live.
“I think it’s probably the number two (goal),” Spokane Chiefs forward and Minnesota Wild draft pick Adam Beckman says. “The ultimate goal is to play in the NHL, but I think as a young kid growing up, especially around the holidays, there isn’t much else on TV, other than the World Juniors. It’s something that everyone rallies around and gets excited about.”
Beckman, 19, hails from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and watched Team Canada heroes with awe growing up. As did his peers.
So many great players have played for Canada in this tournament.
Name a Canadian NHL superstar. They likely wore the red, white, and sometimes black Canadian sweaters at the World Junior Championship prior to their pro careers kicking off. They have given Canadian kids a lot to dream about as they watch from home.
“I have quite a few memories,” Beckman says. “The most excited I’ve ever been is Canada playing Russia in the (2009) semifinal. They were down with like 20 seconds and Jordan Eberle had the puck and ripped a backhand. They ended up winning in the shootout.”
Team Canada Opened an Extended Camp in Red Deer
The selection process for Team Canada looked a little different this year. Because of the delays in Major-Junior and NCAA hockey – from which the players are chosen – Canada took advantage with an extended camp.
In non-COVID times, Team Canada would open its World Junior Championship camp in December, but this year started on Nov. 16, inviting 46 players to try out. The camp was held at the Enmax Center in Red Deer, Alberta with the goal of selecting the team’s final roster to enter the WJC’s Edmonton bubble.
The players arrived and took the ice for two-a-day practices over the first days of the camp.
Minnesota Wild prospect Adam Beckman led the WHL in scoring for Spokane. (Brian Liesse)
“The practices were pretty tough,” Beckman says. “None of us had practiced at that pace in eight months. You work as hard as you can in the offseason but it’s never quite the same. Everyone was alert and working hard, it was good.”
That pace was led by the best of the best junior players, but it also included players like Kirby Dach who played 64 games for the Chicago Blackhawks last year. Dach is 19 years old which made him eligible to play in the World Junior Championship and the Blackhawks gave him permission.
The Los Angeles Kings also gave permission for the second overall pick in October’s NHL Draft, Quinton Byfield to play. This was not a normal camp.
After four days of practice, the team started holding full intra-squad scrimmages to further evaluate the players.
“It was crazy,” Goncalves says. “Everything is just so quick. There is no drop-off, everybody can make plays, everybody is an all-star, everyone is a superstar on their club teams, and everybody can score goals. The games were a lot of fun…it was unbelievable.”
Feeding Canada’s World Junior fanaticism, the scrimmages were broadcast live on TSN. Not only was the skill higher but so was the pressure.
Canada Halts Camp Due to COVID-19 Positives
While the action on the ice was heating up, the camp was rocked by a couple of positive COVID tests. Everything was put on halt and the camp shut down on Nov. 24th. Players who had been paired up in the team hotel were given their own rooms while they quarantined for two weeks.
“It was definitely boring,” Beckman says of the experience.
To keep in shape, spin bikes were brought to their rooms for daily Zoom workouts with their teammates. Hockey Canada brought in guest speakers for the players. It included NHLers like Morgan Rielly, Sam Reinhart, and Alex Kerfoot who shared their sage advice.
The team also brought in Canadian mountain climber Jamie Clarke, who twice has summited Mount Everest, to speak about teamwork.
“I guess I’ll have to add (climbing Mount Everest) to the bucket list now,” Goncalves says with a laugh. “It’s way harder than putting a puck in the net, I’ll tell you that.”
It wasn’t all hockey and motivation, however.
The team played poker over Zoom and had a painting lesson to bring out the artistic side of hockey players.
It's true… a Bob Ross paint night in Red Deer quarantine revealed some artists in our midst! 🎨
“I did a painting,” Beckman says with a chuckle. “I surprised myself a little bit, it wasn’t too bad.”
Tough Decisions in Final Cuts
Once the quarantine ended it was back to the ice for Team Canada.
Another practice and another scrimmage were held before Hockey Canada and head coach André Tourigny had to make some tough decisions.
The roster was saturated with talent but they couldn’t keep every player. Choices were made after watching all 46 players’ performances over 26 days of camp. The final roster of 25 players was announced on Dec. 11th.
“I thought I played my role well,” Goncalves says about his performance. “I tried to just bring a lot of energy and leadership and focused on the small details. Being big in the faceoff circle, blocking shots. I was happy with my camp. I think I laid it all out there.”
Unfortunately for both Goncalves and Beckman, they weren’t able to crack the final roster and were sent home.
The duo were two of three players in camp from the WHL’s U.S. Division, joining Portland speedster Seth Jarvis. As a testament to how good the talent with Canada is, the three combined last year to score 123 goals and 276 points. There are not many hockey teams that would say no to that kind of production out of three players
An argument could be made that a roster comprised of cuts from Team Canada could be medal contenders in the World Junior Championship. There’s no shame in not making the cut.
“It’s disappointing to not have that opportunity but at the same time you’ve got to sit back and realize there are so many good hockey players,” Beckman says. “It’s definitely motivating going forward.”
Looking Forward
Moving forward is what Beckman and Goncalves will focus on next and they both have bright futures in hockey.
Beckman led the WHL in scoring last year and is a second-round pick of the Wild. He’s likely a year away from pro hockey and is using the Team Canada experience to prepare for the uptick in skill at the next level.
“I think just getting that opportunity to be there was really exciting,” he says. “Comparing yourself to the best players in the country is something I’ve always wanted to do. Just having the opportunity to be there and try to fulfill a childhood dream was exciting.”
Goncalves has had a roller coaster year. He was selected by the Lightning in the second round of the NHL Draft and then was invited to Canada’s camp. Unfortunately, he learned of his grandfather’s passing while at camp.
“He was my best friend,” Goncalves says.
Everett’s Gage Goncalves (right) celebrated a breakout year with the Silvertips. (Brian Liesse)
A few days after being cut he would get some good news to help assuage some of his disappointment and loss. He returned home and signed his first pro contract, inking an entry-level deal with Tampa Bay.
“It was nice to have such a big up after the past downs,” Goncalves says. “I’m just so honored to get a chance from them, the past year’s Stanley Cup Champions. I’m going to do everything in my power to make a push in the next couple of years. It’s nice to know they have some faith in me.”
Both Beckman and Goncalves say they will try to turn the disappointment of not making Team Canada into motivation moving forward. Both feel getting to play in some high-caliber games will help if and when the WHL returns to play.
They learned a lot from the experience. They learned how hard they will have to work as they move up hockey’s ranks and into the pros.
“With everything happening with the Draft and signing, there’s so many ups,” Goncalves says. “It’s easy to get outside your comfort zone and think you’ve made it. I’m going to keep being Gage and keep that ‘little kid from Mission’ mentality.”
The World Junior Championship begins on Dec. 25th and will be televised in the U.S. on NHL Network.
