Getting things underway with a look at my favorite hockey of the year. The World Juniors. I’ll be covering the true north strong and free, Team Canada, and CJ will be taking care of his land of the free and home of the brave, The Americans.
Things are just around the corner now and with the selections done and final cuts to go, lets take a look at what we might be able to expect from Team Canada this year (or at least what I would like to see).
I’ve got a couple surprise selections in here that nobody else does, as it seems to me that always happens. Whats the roster selection for World Juniors without some controversy?! They already left Owen Tippett of the Mississauga Steelheads out of the picture, so lets make this interesting.
GOALIES:
Michael DiPietro
Carter Hart
A no brainer here. Two of the best goalies in the CHL and some experience on the world stage. Carter Hart is a beast posting a 1.32 GAA and .961 sv% in 17 games this season in the WHL with 5 shutouts. If he keeps that up the job will be his, but as always, it’ll be a battle for the #1 tendy spot heading into medal rounds for Team Canada. Something to feel good about.
L DEFENCE: R DEFENCE:
Jake Bean Cale Makar
Victor Mete Dante Fabbro
Kale Clague Cal Foote
Logan Stanley
Bean and Makar making up Canada’s top D pairing. Bean, an all around elite defenceman and Makar one of the best defensive prospects to come out of Canada in awhile. An elite offensive threat and defensively sound game. Quite possibly the best defensive pairing in the tournament.
Mahura and Fabbro following them up as the #2 pair. Both excellent defensemen at both ends of the ice with excellent vision and puck movement.
Clague and Foote as the #3 pair makes for a threat from the blue line as well. Clague an offensive dynamo with a great shot from the point. Foote is a terrific two way defender that sees the ice extremely well and should really compliment Clague with his vision and excellent puck moving.
Logan Stanley. Not many have him projected as making the squad but I believe in him. A huge fan of his for awhile now, his skill and skating ability are high end. Add to that his size and smart positional play with the ability to chip in offensively, and I badly want to see him don the red and white. A special teams shut down man as well. Canada’s history of penalty trouble in this tournament is a plenty, and this is the guy you want on the blue line for those duties.
Main things Canada is going with on the back end here is evident. Puck movement up to their forwards quickly, speed, and creating offense from the blueline. This grouping here does exactly that and some.
LW: C: RW:
Dillon Dube – Sam Steel – Taylor Raddysh
T. Steenbergen – B. Howden – Nick Suzuki
M. Comtois – Cody Glass – Jordan Kyrou
Givani Smith – M. McLeod – R. Thomas
Tanner Kaspick
Hard decisions to project lines with all the skill. But this is what I like.
Dube, Steel and Raddysh. Raddysh generally projecting as a bottom 6, but i have him on the top line. Having an incredible season so far with his speed and shot, it is difficult to not have him and Dube flanking Steel. Elite passing and vision of Steel, and these two scoring dynamos on the wings, and goals should be a plenty.
Steenbergen, Howden, and Suzuki. Steenbergen is having an incredible season, proving himself as an elite goal scorer with speed. Suzuki, the speedy highly touted prospect turns heads consistently. Also has blazing speed, is a puck possession beast, and can score. Howden centering this line with his responsible two way play and puck movement, and these 3 together could surprise a lot of people.
Comtois, Glass, Kyrou. One of the things I like most is a bottom 6 group that other teams hate to play against. The things that make up those lines are responsible 2 way players, speed, physicality, and the ability to score as good as anyone else. This line kicks that bottom 6 off perfectly. Comtois and Glass both big responsible players, with the offensive flair of Kyrou, and this line could be a real problem for everyone. Glass and Comtois both have high offensive skill that will certainly be on display, as well as Kyrou, but these guys will not be fun to play against at all. Dont be surprised if Glass works his way up the lineup.
Smith, McLeod, Thomas. Another group of players here that will be a pain in the ass for everyone to go against. McLeod could definitely play up the lineup as the tournament goes on, but these three together make for a two way, tight checking line that can control the puck at will and it will be a serious battle for anyone trying to get it from them.
I have Kaspick rounding out the forward group. I dont think anyone is projecting him to be here, but I have to. I’ve seen him play for 3 years now in Junior, and every time he is one of my personal favorites. Excellent 2 way player. Plays up and down the lineup in any situation and excels. Speedy, a real pain in the ass to play against, can score, and gets to the dirty areas. Not afraid to do what he has to do. And love him on a PK unit.
The forward grouping here complimenting the back end perfectly with speed, skill, and two way play. Pucks getting up to these guys to utilize their speed and puck possession makes this an extremely well rounded and deep team from top to bottom. No real big “star” players, but loads of talent everywhere. This team is going to be exciting!
Give and Go 