SB Nation - Konrad Abeltshauser

My Lockout Hockey Fix

Mike MacLean — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 13:00:31 -0000

There are some silver linings to the NHL being locked out.

The American Hockey League. the NHL's top development partner, clearly benefits the most. NHL teams are sending their top young stars down to the "A", when they would otherwise be fixtures with the big club. Guys like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle, Jeff Skinner and Adam Henrique were sent down, boosting interest and the overall talent level in the league. Unfortunately, my hometown of Halifax no longer has an AHL team of their own.

Another silver lining to an NHL lockout follows the same reasoning as my above statement regarding the "A"- some of the NHL's brightest young stars, those who are not AHL-eligible, that is, are sent down to play another year of junior while the league remains locked out. Columbus' young blueline stud Ryan Murray is a prime example of a player who under any other non-CBA circumstance would not be suiting up in the CHL at this point of the season, ordinarily he would be in training camp with his NHL team.

The Canadian Hockey League is the top junior league in the world, and Halifax is home to the Mooseheads, who are primed for a huge season. Let me give you a few reasons why the Mooseheads are more than filling my hockey void while the NHL remains locked out.

The CHL is cyclical. Generally speaking, teams build in three year cycles, aiming to be successful in their third year. Some teams follow that plan to perfection- they stink for a season, draft high, and take baby steps toward season two. In that second season, they still have relatively high draft picks, but teams tend to make more deals to acquire talent. In year three, the homegrown and acquired talent is topped off with a shrewd trade and/or Euro signing (I refuse to refer to it as a draft) and the team makes a push for a title. The teams that can pull this method off tend to be regulars in the playoffs. Other teams either don't draft well, or can't make the right deals or sign the right Euros to compete with the big dogs.

Back in the 2007/2008 season, the Moose were led by former Jacket Jakub Voracek. The team was primed to win it all, but they went all-in to acquire local boy Brad Marchand late in the season. The move backfired, as Marchand was arsenic in the locker room and on the ice, and the Moose were bounced from the playoffs. That season marked the pinnacle of a development cycle, with the following season the start of a new one.

Unfortunately for the Moose, because they sold the farm to get Marchand and his lisp, they couldn't rebuild properly. What resulted was two seasons of misery, where the Moose were statistically the worst team in the entire CHL. A change in the front office and some good drafting prior to last season saw the Moose enter 2010/2011 with more promise. Though they weren't the worst team in the QMJHL again, they barely made the playoffs and were eliminated in the first round.

The summer of 2011 was arguably the most important in Mooseheads history. They had gathered some decent young talent the previous couple of years, but still lacked star power. Going into the 2011 Q Draft, a young forward from Cole Harbour, NS (my hometown that I share with a fellow who plays for Pittsburgh, wearing number 87) named Nathan MacKinnon was the consensus number one pick. The Baie-Comeau Drakkar, one of the league's outposts, held the top pick. MacKinnon had stated publically that he didn't want to play for the Drakkar, and was exploring the US college route. In fact, he was skating with a USHL team during the Q draft.

The Mooseheads held the fourth overall pick, and also acquired the eleventh overall pick in the dispersal draft, which was necessary after the Lewiston MAINEiacs folded. The Mooseheads, seeing a huge opportunity in MacKinnon both on the ice and from a marketing standpoint, worked night and day to acquire the top pick from the Drakkar. Baie-Comeau held firm, however, and drafted MacKinnon anyway. On draft day, the Moose were able to swing a deal to move up to second overall as a consolation, and picked up a forward with a ton of offensive ability in Jonathan Drouin. They kept the eleventh overall pick, and took the first goaltender of the draft, Zach Fucale.

After the draft, when it became abundantly clear that MacKinnon would not report to Baie-Comeau, the Drakkar began shopping him. The Mooseheads swung some side deals, picking up extra first round picks, and put together a package that the Drakkar couldn't resist. MacKinnon was a Moosehead, his hometown team.

Last season, Drouin stayed in Quebec until the midway point of the season, but MacKinnon and Fucale, only 16 years old, led the team early on. When Drouin arrived, he joined his draft mates, and incumbents Marty Frk, Konrad Abeltshauser, Alex Grenier, Matt Boudreau, Darcy Ashley and Cameron Critchlow, among others. The Mooseheads surprised, and ended up going all the way to the Q semis.

This offseason, the Moose made only a few changes, relying on the trio of MacKinnon, Drouin and Fucale to lead them to their first league title, and a berth in the Memorial Cup. This past summer, the trio were a huge part of a gold medal-winning Team Canada at the Ivan Hlinka tournament. The three are all in their draft years, and many think they could all go in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft. MacKinnon is considered to be the top overall prospect in the entire draft, while Fucale may be the first goaltender taken.

I'm a partial season ticket holder with the team, and while the NHL remains locked out my focus is solely on the Moose, in what could be a truly historical season. Also, Halifax was named as the host city for the CHL Top Prospects game in January, but here's hoping the NHL is back by then.

How are you going to get your hockey fix?

Using NHLE to evaluate the Sharks' prospect pool

The Neutral — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 16:00:13 -0000

A little over a month ago, Jon Allred gave us a terrific overview of the prospects in the Sharks' pipeline and I'd definitely recommend giving that a read if you haven't already. Seeing as San Jose has welcomed a new draft class since that report and discussing the apparently apocalyptic CBA negotiations is kind of a bummer, I thought it might be informative to take a look at the year that was for Sharks prospects, at least in terms of offensive production.

A terrific tool for evaluating prospects' offensive outputs, seeing as most teams' systems include players from a wide array of teams and leagues around the world, is NHL League Equivalencies or NHLE, a methodology developed by Gabriel Desjardins of Behind the Net fame. The theory behind it is essentially that players in major junior, collegiate and European leagues can usually expect to only retain a certain amount of their offense when taking their talents to the NHL. By comparing the NHL production of players who made the jump to their totals the previous season, Gabe was able to discover the translation rate for points per game between the NHL and most of its feeder leagues.

While NHLE isn't flawless (we're essentially ignoring defense and only looking at a player's point total in one season--I know I wouldn't draw any concrete conclusions about a NHL player's talent level based on how many points he scored last year) and other considerations need to be made (age and ice time, which is usually unavailable, being the key ones) it still provides a good indication of how well a prospect is progressing offensively when viewed in context and is easily the most efficient way of making comparisons across a group of prospects. After the jump, we'll take a look at the NHLE scores compiled by Sharks prospects last season. Each player's NHLE is prorated to 82 games.

Forward	Age	League	GP	G	A	P	NHLE G	NHLE A	NHLE P
Travis Oleksuk	23	NCAA	41	21	32	53	17.0	26.2	43.2
Tomas Hertl	18	CZE	38	12	13	25	19.2	20.8	40.0
Matthew Nieto	19	NCAA	37	16	26	42	14.5	23.6	38.1
Freddie Hamilton	20	OHL	60	35	50	85	14.4	20.5	34.9
Sebastian Stalberg	21	NCAA	34	12	19	31	11.9	18.8	30.7
Sean Kuraly	18	USHL	54	32	38	70	13.1	15.6	28.7
John McCarthy	25	AHL	65	19	24	43	10.5	13.3	23.8
Chris Crane	20	NCAA	35	14	10	24	13.4	9.6	23.0
Cody Ferriero	20	NCAA	17	9	6	15	13.0	8.7	21.7
Brandon Mashinter	23	AHL	65	16	18	34	8.9	10.0	18.9
Colin Blackwell	18	NCAA	34	5	14	19	4.9	13.8	18.7
Justin Daniels	22	NCAA	33	7	10	17	7.1	10.2	17.3
Christophe Lalancette	18	QMJHL	63	16	31	47	5.8	11.3	17.1
Brodie Reid	22	AHL	66	11	15	26	6.0	8.2	14.2
Chris Tierney	18	OHL	65	11	23	34	4.2	8.7	12.9
Curt Gogol	23	AHL	53	6	4	10	4.1	6.8	10.9
Daniel O'Regan	18	USHS	27	21	35	56	4.0	6.6	10.6
James Livingston	21	AHL	68	6	13	19	3.2	6.9	10.1
Marek Viedensky	21	AHL	52	5	7	12	3.5	4.9	8.4
Max Gaede	19	NCAA	30	3	4	7	3.4	4.5	7.9
Drew Daniels	22	NCAA	34	0	7	7	0.0	6.9	6.9

Tomas Hertl did extremely well last season playing in one of the more difficult pro leagues outside the NHL. As I've mentioned previously, the only other 2012 first-rounders to score a higher NHLE this past year were No. 1 pick Nail Yakupov and overager Tanner Pearson. Hertl's draft-year NHLE also compares very favorably to that of past elite prospects. For example, Jonathan Toews produced the equivalent of 31.2 NHL points in his draft year, Logan Couture scored 35.5, John Tavares scored 41.3, Taylor Hall scored 45.7 and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored 36.9. I'm not implying Hertl will turn out to be as good as any of these guys but these numbers, along with what's been reported about his impressive two-way game and possession skills, are very encouraging.
Undrafted free agent center Travis Oleksuk, signed by the Sharks in late March, tops the list after finishing fourth in scoring in all of Division 1 college hockey. While I doubt the franchise expects him to make the big club this fall, nor should they, it probably wouldn't be entirely surprising to see the 23-year-old secure a roster spot with a good showing in training camp, especially considering the final forward spot is largely up for grabs as the depth chart currently stands.
Given more minutes and a larger role, Matt Nieto had a terrific sophomore campaign at BU. Nieto's NHLE last season was actually higher than that of his former teammate (and former Sharks prospect) Charlie Coyle, and that includes Coyle's stint on the powerhouse St. John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL.
The team's fifth round picks in each of the last two drafts, Daniel O'Regan and Sean Kuraly, posted very high raw point totals but did so against some middling to below-average competition which knocks them down a few notches here. Still, everyone from Craig Button to Doug Wilson has compared O'Regan to Joe Pavelski which tells me he should be fine. And Kuraly's adjusted totals here still look quite good considering his age and draft position.
Someone who follows the Worcester Sharks closer than I do could likely provide a better perspective but it looks like Marek Viedensky had a really tough time adjusting to the pro game after dominating the WHL as a 20-year-old the season prior.

Defenseman	Age	League	GP	G	A	P	NHLE G	NHLE A	NHLE P
Lee Moffie	21	NCAA	41	7	25	32	5.7	20.5	26.2
Matt Irwin	24	AHL	71	11	29	40	5.6	14.7	20.3
Matt Tennyson	21	NCAA	41	11	13	24	9.0	10.7	19.7
Konrad Abeltshauser	19	QMJHL	57	8	36	44	3.2	14.5	17.7
Dylan DeMelo	18	OHL	67	7	40	47	2.6	14.7	17.3
Joakim Ryan	19	NCAA	34	7	10	17	6.9	9.8	16.7
Sena Acolatse	21	AHL	65	8	12	20	4.4	6.7	11.1
Justin Sefton	18	OHL	63	4	15	19	1.6	5.9	7.5
William Wrenn	20	WHL	60	3	13	16	1.2	5.3	6.5
Isaac MacLeod	20	NCAA	44	0	6	6	0.0	4.6	4.6
Nick Petrecki	22	AHL	68	1	7	8	0.5	3.7	4.2
Clifford Watson	18	USHL	58	0	8	8	0.0	3.0	3.0
Taylor Doherty	20	AHL	65	0	5	5	0.0	2.9	2.9

I'm not convinced NHLE is all that great for evaluating prospect defensemen (it's no surprise defense-first blueliners like Wrenn, Petrecki and Watson rank low on this list) but there's some interesting stuff to pick through here nonetheless.
Lee Moffie is far from a household name but given his productive junior season for Michigan, it doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility he could follow in the footsteps of previous blueliners drafted in the seventh round by San Jose, Jason Demers and Justin Braun, somewhere down the road. His NHLE this past year is already around what Braun's was at during his senior season at UMass Amherst.
Pleasanton product Matt Tennyson, signed as an undrafted free agent in late March, likely has a bomb from the point given the rate at which he filled the net last year.
Swedish-born, Cornell-educated defensemen have been good to the Sharks in the past and here's hoping their final selection of the 2012 draft, Joakim Ryan, carries on Douglas Murray's torch although he appears to be Murray's polar opposite as a player.

I tried to include all of the organization's significant prospects here but it's totally possible I missed somebody. Let me know in the comments if I did and I'll add them.

German Juniors Heading to Ufa for 2013 World Juniors

Bruce Peter — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 08:00:17 -0000

In a result that surprised no one, Germany easily qualified for the 2013 U20 World Juniors in Ufa, Russia, by winning the 2012 U20 Division 1A tournament in which they hosted in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria. In the end, it wasn't even close, as Germany won all five of their games in regulation while outscoring their opponents 34-9. It was a different procedure this year, where only one team would be promoted from Division 1, and the Division 1A pool was made up exclusively of the teams ranked 11th-16th in the world. This was supposed to make the tournament more competitive, but Germany is really a nation that does not belong at this level, and may find themselves a more or less permanent fixture at the elite level starting in 2013, as they have consistently been the 9th best junior hockey nation in recent years.

Oilers prospect Tobias Rieder led the tournament in scoring with 13 points in just 5 games, and six Germans in total finished in the top 10 in tournament scoring. Despite this, Rieder didn't win the honour of being named the tournament's top forward, that went to Sondre Olden of Norway, a Maple Leafs prospect. Olden helped Norway to a bronze medal with 8 points. German defender and Sharks prosect Konrad Abeltshauser was named the tournament's top defencemen, and German goaltender Mathias Niederberger was named the top goaltender. Great Britain, as expected, were relegated to Division 1B after a miserable tournament with five regulation losses and being outscored 37-6. Belarus won the silver medal with a 3-0-1-1 record.

In other IIHF U20 tournaments last week, France pulled off the rare back-to-back gold medal performance by winning the Division 1B tournament in Poland, a year after winning the Division 2A tournament. France will join the Division 1A level next year, taking Great Britain's spot. Meanwhile, Ukraine took advantage of their home ice and won the Division 2B tournament to earn promotion with a near perfect 3-2-0-0 record. Ukraine will be taking Japan's spot in the Division 1B group, as Japan finished last in that level with a 0-1-0-4 record. Romania dominated the Division 2B level in Estonia, finishing with a perfect record. Romania will be promoted to the 2A level, replacing South Korea who lost the Division 2A tournament. Mexico finished last in the 2A tournament, and will be back in Division 3 next year. The Division 3 tournament for 2012 will take place in Dunedin, New Zealand, in January.

Join me after the jump for the total ranking of these nations, along with the best players for each team as named by the coaches of each tournament:

**IIHF U20 Div. 1 & 2 Results**
Rank	Country	2012 Result	Best Player
11	Germany	Div. 1A - GOLD	Konrad Abelthauser, D
12	Belarus	Div. 1A - SILVER	Roman Graborenko, D
13	Norway	Div. 1A - BRONZE	Magnus Hoff, F
14	Slovenia	Div. 1A - 4th	Gasper Kopitar, F
15	Austria	Div. 1A - 5th	Patrick Obrist, F
16	Great Britain	Div. 1A - ~~6th~~	Jack Musil, F
17	France	Div. 1B - GOLD	Nicolas Ritz, F
18	Kazakhstan	Div. 1B - SILVER	Pavel Poluektov, G
19	Italy	Div. 1B - BRONZE	Tobias Kofler, F
20	Poland	Div. 1B - 4th	Kamil Kalinowski, F
21	Croatia	Div. 1B - 5th	Mate Tomljenovic, G
22	Japan	Div. 1B - ~~6th~~	Makuru Furuhashi, F
23	Ukraine	Div. 2A - GOLD	Viktor Zakharov, F
24	Lithuania	Div. 2A - SILVER	Mantas Armalis, G
25	Hungary	Div. 2A - BRONZE	Attila Nemeth, F
26	Spain	Div. 2A - 4th	Oriol Boronat, F
27	The Netherlands	Div. 2A - 5th	Mickey Bastings, F
28	South Korea	Div. 2A - ~~6th~~	Kye Hoon Park, G
29	Romania	Div. 2B - GOLD	Matyas Biro, F
30	Estonia	Div. 2B - SILVER	Robert Rooba, F
31	Serbia	Div. 2B - BRONZE	Dimitrije Filipovic, F
32	Belgium	Div. 2B - 4th	Lorenzo Maas, D
33	Australia	Div. 2B - 5th	Marcus Wong, D
34	Mexico	Div. 2B - ~~6th~~	Allan Cukier, G

Ufa Wins Series Opener, Lulea Bounces to a Two Game Lead

Bruce Peter — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:00:33 -0000

Kontinental Hockey League (Russia)

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4, Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3: Igor Grigorenko and Patrick Thoreson had a goal and an assist each as Ufa takes the early lead in the KHL's Eastern Conference Final. Metallurg stayed in the game with three power play goals, with Sergei Fedorov and Evgeny Varlamov had a goal and an assist each with the man advantage. Ufa leads series 1-0.

Friday's Game: Atlant Moscow Oblast @ Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (5:00 PM CET/12:00 PM EST). Atlant leads series 1-0.

National League A (Switzerland)

SC Bern 4, Kloten Flyers 1: Bern has decided to make this a series, jumping off to a 2-0 lead in the first period and not looking back to make sure they played one more home game. Ryan Gardner had three assists, while Ivo Rüthemann and Simon Gamache had a goal and an assist each in the win, while Patrick Von Gunten apparently fired 11 shots on goal for Kloten. Kloten leads series 3-2.

Rapperswil Lakers 5, Ambri-Piotta 4 (OT): Michael Riesen scored at with 16 seconds left in overtime as Rapperswil has come back from an early 0-2 series deficit to put Ambri on the brink.... of having their season continue. Such is the bizarre 'loser still plays' format in the NLA. If Ambri loses, they will play the top team from the NLB in a series where they must win to stay in the top league next year. Lakers leads series 3-2.

Elitserien (Sweden)

Luleå 4, Skellefteå 3 (OT): A lucky bounce off a defender on a dump-in by Joonas Vihko tied the game late in the 3rd period for Luleå, who went on to win the game in overtime on a nice rush by Simon Hjalmarsson. The win gives Luleå a 2-0 series lead, despite a solid game from David Rundblad, who finally broke out for a goal and an assist in this game. Luleå leads series 2-0.

Färjestad 4, AIK Stockholm 2: AIK is quickly learning that sometimes, great goaltending isn't enough. On home ice, they were outshot 38-18 as Färjestad squeaked out a 4-2 victory (fourth goal on an empty net), overcoming a 2-1 lead heading into the third period. Outshot in every period, they were demolished on the shot count by a 17-4 margin in the final frame, going into a defensive shell and not being able to push back when the score was tied. Färjestad leads series 2-0.

Friday's Kvalserien Games: Växjö @ Södertälje; MODO @ Rögle; Örebro @ Mora (all games at 7:00 PM CET/2:00 PM EST, Round 5)

Tipsport Extraliga (Czech Republic)

HC Viktovice Steel 3, HC Pardubice 2 (OT): Peter Vrana scored the tying goal late in the third period, and then the OT winner as Viktovice takes a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Roman Malek again outshone Martin Rucizka in goal, making 32 saves for the victory. Viktovice leads series 3-1.

Friday's Game: HC Ocelari Trinec @ HC Slavia Praha (6:10 PM CET/1:10 PM EST, Series tied 1-1).

Slovnaft Extraliga (Slovakia)

HC Banská Bystirca 2, HK Poprad 1 (SO): Jan Sykora got the shootout winner while Ivan Fedor made 36 saves for the win, as this series will go the full seven games. Game 7 goes on Saturday in Poprad. Series tied 3-3.

Ontario Hockey League (Canada/USA)

Niagara Ice Dogs 7, Brampton Batallion 1: Darren Archibald scored not once, not twice, not thrice... but four times as Niagara routed Brampton to open their OHL first round series. Jesse Graham provided three assists from the back end. Brampton actually outshot Niagara 40-25 in this one. Niagara leads series 1-0.

Oshawa Generals 7, Kingston Frontenacs 3: Draft eligible forward Boone Jenner got two goals and one assist to lead Oshawa in this opening round game. 50 goal scorer Christian Thomas decided to be a playmaker in this one, getting three assists, while Danish draft eligible forward Nicklas Jensen had a goal and two assists in the win. Oshawa leads series 1-0.

Erie Otters 2, Windsor Spitfires 1: Phil Varone got a goal and an assist while Erie rode the stellar goaltending of Ramis Sadikov, who made forty saves in the big road win. Star defenseman Ryan Ellis was held pointless and finished a -2 on the night. Erie leads series 1-0.

Mississauga St. Michaels Majors 4, Belleville Bulls 1: Jordan Mayer had three assists, Mika Partanen had a goal and an assist while Maxim Kitsyn scored and finished +3 in this relatively easy win for Mississauga. Dave Cameron's team limited the young Bulls team to just 18 shots total as this one was never really in doubt. Mississauga leads series 1-0.

Friday's Games: Guelph @ Saginaw (7:11 PM EST); London @ Owen Sound (7:30 PM EST); Plymouth @ Kitchener (7:30 PM EST); Oshawa @ Kingston (7:30 PM EST, Oshawa leads series 1-0). All games are Game 1 except as indicated.

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (Canada/USA)

Montreal Junior 5, Halifax Mooseheads 3: Nicolas Chouinard led the Junior with a goal and two assists, who also got goals from Philippe Lefebvre, Charles Landry, Louis Leblanc and Louis-Marc Aubry. Konrad Abeltshauser had two goals for Halifax, while Martin Frk had two assists but was a -4 in his playoff debut. Montreal leads series 1-0.

Friday's Games: Cape Breton @ Saint John (6:30 PM EST); Victoriaville @ Acadie-Bathurst (6:30 PM EST); Val-d'Or @ Quebec (7:00 PM EST); Halifax @ Montreal (7:05 PM EST, Montreal leads series 1-0); Chicoutimi @ Drummondville (7:30 PM EST); Rimouski @ Gatineau (7:30 PM EST); PEI @ Shawinigan (7:30 PM EST); Moncton @ Lewiston (7:30 PM EST). All games are Game 1 except as indicated.

Western Hockey League (Canada/USA)

Friday's Games: Moose Jaw @ Kootenay (9:00 PM EST); Edmonton @ Red Deer (9:30 PM EST); Brandon @ Medicine Hat (9:30 PM EST); Kelowna @ Prince George (10:05 PM EST); Vancouver @ Tri-City (10:05 PM EST); Spokane @ Chiliwack (10:30 PM EST). All games are Game 1 of their WHL Conference quarterfinal series.

Deutsche Eishockey Liga (Germany)

Friday's Games: Krefled @ Hannover (7:30 PM CET/2:30 PM EST, Krefeld leads series 1-0); DEG Metro Stars @ Mannheim (7:30 PM CET/2:30 PM EST, Mannheim leads series 1-0); Berlin @ Ingolstadt (7:35 PM CET/2:35 PM EST, Berlin leads series 1-0); Wolfsburg @ Köln (7:35 PM CET/2:35 PM EST, Wolfsburg leads series 1-0).

IIHF World U18 Championships Division 2A (Romania)

Friday's Games: Croatia vs. New Zealand; Serbia vs. Estonia; Austria vs. Romania.

Winner of the Austria/Romania game is promoted to Division 1B next year.

World Juniors - Quarterfinal Day Brings A Change In Goal For Canada

Derek Zona — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 18:30:31 -0000

Quarterfinal play begins today at 3:30 PM when Canada takes on Switzerland and continues this evening as the pesky Finns play the confusing Russians. While those games will certainly have all of the thrills we've come to associate with the World Juniors, it's the relegation round robin that should produce true desperation. Relegation is a uniquely European concept - punish the worst teams in the league by placing them in a playoff and forcing the loser into a lower division. Rather than reward failure like North American sports do, European leagues promote the best team or two teams from a lower division. Though it's not possible because of arena size, if the NHL and AHL were to use such a system, the Oilers and Leafs would be in the AHL this season and the Hershey Bears and Texas Stars would be in the NHL.

When it comes to relegation, players, coaches, managers and owners are desperate to avoid demotion. Want to see people perform as if their jobs depend on it? Put them in a relegation tournament.

Next Game

Relegation
Slovakia vs. Norway
3:30 p.m. | Television - Unavailable

Key Matchup: Slovakian Forwards vs. Lars Volden (G-NOR)

Martin Marincin is still out with a suspension, but Slovakia is the far more talented team in this matchup. Norway's only hope is goaltender Lars Volden, the kid who held the Russians at bay for two periods. Volden stopped 37 of 40 shots through two periods against Russia and Norway was down 3-2. For Norway to have a chance, Volden is going to have to play at that same level for an entire game.

Slovakia needs a win in regulation and a Czech win over Germany to ensure they return to the top division for the 2012 tournament.

Next Game

Relegation
Czech Republic vs. Germany
7:30 p.m. | Television Unavailable

Key Matchup: Czech Forwards vs. Philipp Grubauer (G-GER)

Germany is trying to send the the Slovaks to the second division and needs a win against The Czech Republic to do so. The Germans have been rather unimpressive in this tournament and the biggest letdowns have been those players drafted by NHL teams. If they want to keep their countrymen in the top division in 2012, it's time for Philipp Grubauer, Tom Kuhnhackl, Konrad Abeltshause, Mirko Hoefflin, and David Elsner to come up with their best games of this tournament. One German player of interest is Matthias Plachta. Plachta has four points in six U20 games and even though he's not a scorer in the German leagues, he's got size and he's willingly engaged physically throughout the tournament. Our man on site claims Plachta was the best player on the ice in the Germany - Finland game and the best German on the ice against Slovakia. A down on their luck NHL team might want to give Plachta an invite to some sort of camp.

A Czech win keeps them in the top division for 2012.

Next Game

Quarterfinal Game
Canada (1-0-0) vs. Switzerland
3:30 p.m. | Television - TSN, NHL Network

Oilers Prospects: Olivier Roy (G-CAN), Curtis Hamilton (LW-CAN)

Key Matchup: Canadian Defense vs. vs. Nino Niederreiter (LW-SUI)

Mark Visentin draws in for Canada, replacing Olivier Roy. Visentin was a shocking first round draft choice by the Phoenix Coyotes but he's played brilliantly for the Niagara Ice Dogs this year. The Swiss have solidified themselves as one of the new big six teams internationally, but they aren't talented enough to play with the Canadians or the Americans. Nino Niederreiter has been brilliant thus far, and if the Swiss have a chance, it's Nino's size and skill that will have to deliver the scoring chances. Goaltender Benjamin Conz has been outstanding and except for a split second against the United States when his shoulder came off of the post, he shut the Americans down. If Conz should put on a similar display against the Canadians (minus the wrap-around gaffe), the Swiss could make life miserable for Canada.

I've made repeated jokes about Canada being a "hard-working team" lacking talent, and I've picked on the media involved in spreading this nonsensical narrative. Against Sweden, the TSN team talked about how slow the Canadians were in comparison to the Swedes and how the Canadians needed to play hard and hit hard to take the skill out of the game. I think Canadian coach Dave Cameron believes in this too. I get that Canadian hockey is all about hard-working prairie kids and Don Cherry, but let's not kid ourselves - Team Canada is the most skilled team in the tournament, even if they are using a fourth overall pick as their checking center. They're scoring loads of goals not because they wear a hard hat, but because they're good. Olivier Roy gave up two weak goals against Sweden, but Robin Lehner made Roy look like Patrick Roy in that game. I think maybe it's time for Canada and Canadians to embrace their speed, skill and size and win the tournament.

The winner of this game gets a quiet but mean United States team in the semi-finals.

Next Game

Quarterfinal Game
Finland vs. Russia
7:30 p.m. | Television - TSN2, NHL Network

Oilers Prospects: Toni Rajala (C - FIN)

Key Matchup: Nico Manelius & Rasmus Rissanen (D-FIN) vs. Vladimir Tarasenko (F-RUS)

Toni Rajala is 29th in scoring in the WJCs with four points - all assists. Curtis Hamilton is 30th in scoring with three points - all goals. I'm not sure who should center these two in Oklahoma City next year, but they seem like a match made in heaven.

The Finns took the Americans to overtime and since then they've not been challenged. The Russians were smoked by the Canadians and shut out by the Swedes, watched Norway's goaltender stand on his head and torched the Czech Republic. The Russians have loads of skill, but the Finns team defense has been tremendous and they may have been the best team in Group A in the preliminary round. These teams play opposite games - team defense versus individual offensive skill. Typically, team defense usually wins that battle, so I think the Finns should be favored in this one, though not by much.

The winner of this game draws Sweden in the semi-finals.

World Juniors Day Four - The Fallout From Dirty Hits

Derek Zona — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 18:30:24 -0000

Day three at the World Juniors Tournament was mostly about the rough stuff. For Edmonton Oilers fans, Anton Lander's wonderful, Jaromir Jagr-like (hey Brent Sutter) goal against the Russians was the play of the day. The Swedes got a masterful performance from Robin Lehner in goal and shut the Russian attack down and out for a 2-0 win. Lehner stopped all thirty shots thrown at him and made a couple of world-class saves. Adam Larsson displayed nearly every trick in his bag and showed the world why he was the consensus number one choice in the 2011 NHL draft just three months ago. Sweden looks to be playing some of the best hockey in the tournament and if Gabriel Landeskog can shake off his ankle injury, the Swedes might give the Canadians a run for their money for gold.

The rest of the big news from the day involved dirty play. After watching the Germans own the tournament in penalty minutes and misconducts, the Canadians and Slovaks took umbrage. Canadian ruffian Zach Kassian decked a Czech with a shoulder to the dome, Edmonton prospect Martin Marincin threw one of the dirtiest hits I've ever seen in World Junior play when he ran Jason Zucker, and the Slovaks in general played a traditional game of "if you can't beat them, hurt them" with the Americans, taking fifty-eight penalty minutes to just four from the U.S. The biggest surprise of the tournament may be the pesky Finns who took a point from the U.S. and looked every bit as good as the Americans and blew the doors off of the Swiss yesterday.

There are only two games on tap today, we will look at them after the jump.

Next Game

Group A
Finland (1-0-1) vs. Germany (0-2-0)
3:30 p.m. | Television - Unavailable

Oilers Prospects: Toni Rajala (C - FIN)

Key Matchup: Teemu Pulkkinen (F-FIN) vs Konrad Abeltshauser (D-GER)

The Finns chug along, hoping for an American misstep so they can gain a bye into the semi-finals. The Germans, have to be disappointed thus far. They've lost two one-goal games to the Swiss and the Slovaks and with more discipline and a bit of luck could be 2-0. The only way into the medal round now is a regulation win over the Finns and again over the Americans, so things don't look good for them. They've played well enough, however, that they should avoid relegation.

If Finland plays like they have in their last two, they should control this game from start to finish. They've played wonderful team defense thus far and have good forward speed from each line. The Germans need to grab a lead at some point and see if they can use their collapsing style to hold onto a win.

Next Game

Group B
Norway (0-2-0) vs. Canada (2-0-0)
7:30 p.m. | Television - TSN, NHL Network

Oilers Prospects: Olivier Roy (G-CAN), Curtis Hamilton (LW-CAN)

Key Matchup: None

Another day, another blowout in store for the Canadians. This one isn't going to be interesting, even on their best day the Norge just don't have enough talent to stay with the Canadians on their worst day. The Canadians will be without Zach Kassian after Kassian's game misconduct for a shoulder to the head of Czech defenseman Petr Senkerik. While I understand the need to support the home kids, TSN's blind support of Kassian and outright falsehoods about where Kassian's shoulder actually landed was laughable. It took ten hours, but Bob McKenzie finally gave in and admitted it was a shoulder to the head. Other Canadians, however, remained steadfast. Kassian's two-game suspension seems light considering his reputation, but unlike the NHL, the IIHF considers the play only - not history or relationship to the person making the decision.

The 2011 Official BoC WJC Preview

RudyKelly — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 17:38:04 -0000

This is about the World Junior Championships. To read about tonight's NHL game and to participate in our thought experiment to see how many readers we can lose in 2 weeks, read Spade's post below.

Welcome to the Official Battle of California World Junior Championship Preview, or the OBOCWJCP for short. The World Junior Championships are fascinating because they're so important to everyone for 2 weeks and then it ends and boom, no one gives a shit. The whole thing is kind of stupid: you take 23 kids who have never played together before, throw them into hotel rooms in a foreign place, make them play a handful of games over a week or so, then use those games to determine their worth as a hockey player and human being. It's really just set up to make Canadians feel like they're cool, which makes it all the funnier when they lose.

That being said, it's still hockey and the World Junior Championships are fun. These kids have a lot of chutzpah and they usually do things you don't see in the NHL because the shit they try would get them put through the boards in the NHL. The crowds are usually roaring and the kids care a lot (if they're not too hungover) and, you know, it's fun.

The best part about the WJC's are the confusing of alliances that inevitably take place. Take, for example, Brayden Schenn. I want him to play really well because otherwise the insane Canadian hockey media will claim he's a Scientologist or something, but I want Canada to lose because, again, it's really, really funny when they lose. Alternatively, I want Team USA to win but I want Chris Brown to break his leg because he's from Texas. It's complicated and that's what makes it great.

To help clear up these tangles in alliances, I thought I'd give you a guide on who to cheer for and who to boo (hint: boo the guy from Texas). Or, I'll tell you who to cheer for and you'll do as you're told. Go junior players! Go hockey! Go USA! Fuck Canada (not you, Schenn)!

Team USA! USA! USA!

Players from California: Mitch Callahan, Whittier, CA; Emerson Etem, Long Beach, CA

NHL Prospects We Care About: Charlie Coyle (SJ), Kyle Palmieri (ANA), Emerson Etem (ANA), Derek Forbort (LA)

Why You Should Cheer For Them: Because they're the United States, dickhead.

They're the home team, they're the defending champions, they have the largest penises (presumably). The American team also has the most Californians with 2: grinder Mitch Callahan and speedster Emerson Etem. Callahan is a Detroit prospect who is, in a word, an asshole. He has developed a scoring touch of late, however, and will likely make an impact, either good or bad, at some point in this tournament. You'll remember Emerson Etem from last year's draft, when the speedy winger was passed over by many before finally being drafted by the Ducks late in the first round. Etem has continued his progression from roller hockey player to NHL scorer, as he's averaged over a point a game for the Medicine Hat Tigers while also working on his defensive game.

The US also has the most NHL prospects from the 2 teams that matter and also Anaheim. The Ducks have the aforementioned Etem and Kyle Palmieri. Palmieri will start on the 2nd line with center Charlie Coyle, the Sharks' 1st round pick from last draft. Backing those 3 up on defense will be Derek Forbort, a player whose name I still can't say without sounding like a doofus. Forbort (see?) got off to a great start for the University of South Dakota before getting Mononucleosis and missing a few games. Forbort is a smooth-skating defenseman that has a great first pass and can use his size to stave off plays in the defensive zone. He's raw, though, and he could be exposed in this tournament. I'm worried for him.

Team Canada

Players From California: None

NHL Prospects We Care About: Brayden Schenn

Why You Should Cheer For Them: You shouldn't.

Team Russia

Players From California: None

NHL Prospects We Care About: Maxim Kitsyn (LA), Igor Bobkov (ANA)

Why You Should Cheer For Them: Because you're a big fan of comedy.

Team Russia is always one of my favorite teams to watch because of how goofy they are. Think about Sergei Gonchar, Alexander Semin, or Ilya Bryzgalov; now they think about how they were when they were 19. Whether it's splitting 2 defenders before passing back through those 2 defenders instead of shooting, wiping ice off the blades of their sticks instead of backchecking, or yelling funny little phrases when they score, Russia is always the height of comedy. The Kings' Maxim Kitsyn looks like Ivan Drago before they pumped him full of steroids and the Ducks' Igor Bobkov... well, if you can't find the hilarity in a man named Igor Bobkov then I'm afraid we can't be friends. The Russians will probably lose in hilarious fashion because that's what they always do and it'll be awesome.

Team Sweden

Players From California: None

NHL Prospects We Care About: None

Why We Should Cheer For Them: Team Sweden is expected to be one of the favorites for this tournament and has a fast, talented team. However, they have no players from California and no prospects we care about so... fuck 'em.

Team Finland

Players From California: None

NHL Prospects We Care About: Sami Vatanen

Why You Should Cheer For Them: You have a love of two-syllable first names and three-syllable last names.

Fuck these guys. No offense to our Finnish readers but your team is boring and no one likes you. The problem with the Finnish men's team is that they are filled with marginal NHL'ers and European league players that somehow manage to beat the teams people actually care about; this phenomenon is compounded in the World Juniors because half of these guys won't even become marginal NHL'ers and European league players and they'll still probably beat the US today. Go to Hell, Finland and also Sleza!

Sami Vatanen, who is (of course) an Anaheim prospect, was an international sensation at last year's World Junior tournament for doing this (for the love of God please mute your computers before playing):

Jesus Christ, an Anaheim-owned Finn who has apparently been taking lessons from Scott Niedermayer? We're all fucked.

Team Germany

Players From California: None

NHL Prospects We Care About: Konrad Abeltshauser (SJ)

Why You Should Cheer For Them: No idea, I've never heard of any of these guys.

Everyone else sucks and I hate them.

Today's games on NHL Network:

Russia vs. Canada, 1 PM

Finland vs USA! USA! USA!, 5 PM

Blogs to Follow:

Puck Worlds (SBNation)

TSN Site

2011 World Junior U20 Championship Kicks Off In Buffalo

Derek Zona — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 13:30:28 -0000

For any fan of amateur hockey or NHL prospects, the day after Christmas is when the holiday season actually begins. This week, the epicenter of the hockey world is Buffalo, New York as The United States, Switzerland, Finland, Slovakia, Germany, Canada, Sweden, Russia, The Czech Republic, and Norway come to Western New York to compete for the 2011 IIHF U20 Championship. The U20 is compelling - ten countries, thirty-one games, eleven days, games that alternate between defensive battles and shinny, unknowns can dominate and big names can get run over. According to Pierre McGuire, every single player in this tournament is a future monster, a budding dominant player, ready to elevate his game on this world stage.

NHL Draft picks and future (2011) picks abound as the United States returns to defend the title, though Canada is the favorite this season. Like last season, the gold medal is not a foregone conclusion because Sweden, Russia, and The United States bring championship-caliber talent to the ice. Even second-tier teams like Finland and Switzerland have an opportunity to sneak into the medal games. As someone with no nationalistic zeal, it doesn't matter to me who wins - I enjoy the tournament for what it is - an exhibition tournament featuring the best non-NHL U20 talent in the world.

Day one has four games on tap, starting with Germany and Switzerland in HSBC Arena, though poor Sweden and Norway have been relegated to playing in 2,100 seat arena at Niagara University while Canada and Russia take the HSBC ice at 4:00 PM EST. The U.S. closes the action against the great Finns at 8:00 PM EST. We will be here throughout the day following the action - drop in and join the discussion.

Next Game

Group A
Germany (0-0) vs. Switzerland (0-0)
12:30 p.m. | Television - Unavailable

Key Matchup: Konrad Abeltshauser (D-GER) vs. Nino Niederreiter (LW-SUI)

Puck Worlds has a breakdown and roster for both Germany and Switzerland. Expect this game to be extremely phyical, as Switzerland's game is built from netminder Benjamin Conz out through a rather large defensive corps.

Portland Winterhawks Nino Niederreiter and Sven Bärtschi will shoulder the burden on offense, and all eyes will be on Niederreiter, who posted six goals and ten points in seven games in the 2010 tournament. Expect Niederreiter and Bärtschi to see enormous German defenseman Konrad Abeltshauser (a San Jose prospect) on nearly every shift. I'm looking forward to seeing Swiss forward Lino Martschini, the seventeen-year-old right wing currently playing for the Peterborough Petes. Martschini is listed at 5'5", 126 lbs and word is his official numbers are generous.

The German offense should be driven by Tom Kuehnhackl, a Penguins draft choice. We profiled Kuehnhackl prior to the draft, and he's done nothing to disappoint in Windsor thus far with 33 points in 33 games.

Next Game

Group B
Russia (0-0) vs. Canada (0-0)
4:00 p.m. | Television - TSN, NHL Network

Oilers Prospects: Olivier Roy (G-CAN), Curtis Hamilton (LW-CAN)

Key Matchup: Russian Power Play vs Canadian Penalty Kill

If you thought the shine was missing from this matchup, look again. Puck Worlds has Russia winning the whole championship and Canada taking silver, according to Bruce, this is a preview of the goal medal game. Russia chose not to invite Kirill Kabanov or Alexander Avtsin to the team, yet they still have as much high-end offensive talent as anyone in the tournament. Canada has the deepest team in the tournament at every position except for goaltending. Goaltending let Canada down against the U.S. in 2010 and they are back with two new Goaltenders but the U.S., Switzerland, and Sweden are all stronger in the net.

Canada has developed a reputation for taking bad penalties in the last few tournaments -- should that continue, the teams with high end forward talent like Russia and Sweden are going to test the penalty kill, and likely beat it. On the other hand Canada's skating depth is going to come in waves - even the depth players dominate their respective leagues in scoring. With any kind of execution on the power play, Canada is going to punish opponents on special teams.

Next Game

Group B
Norway (0-0) vs. Sweden (0-0)
4:00 p.m. | Television - Unavailable

Oilers Prospects: Anton Lander (C - SWE)

Key Matchup: Sondre Olden (RW-NOR) vs. Adam Larsson (D-SWE)

Puck Worlds likes Norway for tenth and for good reason. Norway has little chance of remaining in the top division for 2012. Even though Norwegian hockey is improving, there's not much high-end talent on this roster. Norway winning any game would be a major surprise. Norway does have Maple Leafs draft choice Sondre Olden on the right side and a decent tournament from Olden could capture the imagination of Leafs fans. Olden is 6'4", but only 175 lbs, so he's giving up weight to nearly everyone on the Swedish team.

Sweden counters with depth at every position, especially at right wing and in goal. Gabriel Landeskog, Carl Klingberg and Jasper Fasth will cause problems for even the best teams in this tournament and goaltenders Fredrik Pettersson-Wentzel and Robin Lehner give Sweden some of the best goaltending in the tournament. Anton Lander will captain the team even though this tournament is stacked with depth, anything less than a medal will be a complete failure. Keep an eye on Patrik Nemeth, a defensive defenseman featured here prior to the draft and Calle Jarnkrok, Red Wings draft and another Copper & Blue favorite. Jarnkrok has an NHLE of 38 points.

N

ext Game

Group A
Finland (0-0) vs. United States (0-0)
8:00 p.m. | Television - TSN2, NHL Network

Oilers Prospects: Toni Rajala (C - FIN)

Key Matchup: Teemu Pulkkinen (F-FIN) vs. Derek Forbort (D-USA)

The greatest country in the world takes on the defending champions in the opener, and the Finns are going to be significant underdogs. Puck Worlds has Finland as the second-best team in Group A, though Switzerland could easily take that spot, and has the U.S. out of the medals in fourth place. The U.S. has another strong defense, the second strongest in the tournament, to go with highly-talented, though inconsistent, goaltending and a forward group lacking true high-end depth.

The Finns do have two outstanding talents in Sami Vatanen (D) and Teemu Pulkkinen (F). Pulkkinen has an NHLE of 40 points right now and Vatanen has an NHLE of 29. The Finns success will depend largely on their effectiveness on the power play and Vatanen's ability to control the puck, then skate or pass his way out of the zone.

The U.S. doesn't have nearly the forward depth of the 2010 team, but the defense is big, mean, and enjoys working in their own zone. They are going to be asked to carry the U.S. team into the medal round and through to the finals if the team expects to medal again.