EDMONTON, AB – The U-20 World Junior Championships (WJC) sponsored by the International Ice Hockey Federation is at the mid-point of the Preliminary Round with all teams having played two games through last night’s action. Russia in Group A and Canada in Group B are the only teams in the tournament to date to avoid losses half way through the first round schedule of four games played by each team.
The tournament is initially divided into two preliminary round groupings. Group A participants include Latvia, Russia, Switzerland, Slovakia and Sweden while the B Group consists of Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland and the United States. Preliminary round games are being held in Edmonton for Group B participants and in Calgary for Group A teams.
Teams are awarded three points for a regulation time win, two points for a win in overtime and one point for an overtime loss. After the round-robin preliminary series, the top three teams in each group advance to the playoff round.
The top seeded teams in each group after the preliminary round get a bye in the Quarterfinal Round thus moving directly into the Semi-Finals. The other playoff qualifiers play in the Quarterfinals for the right to move into the Semi-Finals. The Quarterfinals and all subsequent action will be held in Calgary with the Gold Medal game scheduled for January 5, 2012.
Standings through last night’s action are as follows:
Group A: Russia-6 points, Sweden-5 points, Slovakia-3 points, Switzerland-1 point and Latvia-0 points.
Group B: Canda-6 points, Finland-3 points, USA-3 points, Czech Republic-3 points and Denmark-0 points.
Four games were skated Wednesday divided between Edmonton and Calgary. A short synopsis on each game played follows:
Group A Action:
Switzerland 3, Sweden 4 (SO)
A Swiss rally fell just short as Sweden captured a 4-3 shootout win to stay within a point of Russia in Group A action in Calgary. The Swiss comeback in the third period forced the game into extra time and then after a scoreless extra five minutes the contest went to a shootout for a decision. The rally allowed the Swiss to earn one point despite the defeat. The Swedes were cruising with 3-1 lead when Joel Vermin got his second goal of the game at 12:51 on a power play to pull the Swiss within a goal at 3-2. The Swiss forward had scored an earlier goal in the second period. Next a late unassisted goal by Switzerland’s Dean Kukan with just 2:04 left in regulation time sent the game to overtime. Sweden’s goals came from Max Friberg, Joakim Nordstrom and Ludvig Rensfeldt. Sebastian Colberg and Max Friberg had goals for Sweden in the shootout. Lukas Meili made 50 saves in goal in the loss while Swedish goal tender Johan Gustafsson made 24 saves in the win.
Slovakia 1, Russia 3
The Slovaks skated and completed with the Russians for a full two periods at the Saddledome in Calgary before 15,987 fans. It wasn’t quite enough however as the Russians used two third period goals to pull away for the win. Mikhail Naumenkov, Igor Ozhiganov and Nikita Kucherov scored to make the difference for the defending gold medal team. The Naumenkov and Kucherov goals came in the third period to give the Russians a 2-1 lead and then the final 3-1 margin of victory. Milos Bubela got the lone Slovakian strike. The Russians outshot Slovakia 40-32 as Andrei Makarov outdueled his counterpart in net Juraj Simboch for a win in his first WJC start.
Group B Action:
Finland-4, USA-1
Finland shocked a favored American team 4-1 to beat the Americans at Rexall Place in Edmonton. John Gibson in goal for Team USA played well but his counterpart Sami Aittokallio of Finland made 37 saves on 38 shots and was the difference. Finnish forward Joel Armia led his team with three points on two goals and an assist. Brandon Saad had the lone goal for the Americans. The third period proved to be the undoing for Team USA. While they tied the score at 1-1 early on, Finland responded with three unanswered goals. Armia became the instant hero for Finland at 9:07 when he walked around an off balance defenseman and beat Gibson with the game winner. While the crowd was processing that score an attempted pass by Finland’s Mikael Granlund hit the skate of a USA defenseman and deflected past Gibson for a 3-1 lead 29 seconds later at 9:36. Next up at 16:27 the American’s defense coughed the puck up in their own zone and the mistake ended up as Armia’s second goal and the 4-1 margin of victory.
Canada-5, Czech Republic-0
Canadian goal tender Scott Wedgewood recorded a shutout in his first WJC action backstopping one of the tournament gold medal favorites to a 5-0 win in Edmonton before a crowd of 16,417 fans. Wedgewood who plays in the Ontario Hockey League for the Plymouth Whalers also earned an assist on the second Canadian goal. He stopped 26 shots in the win. The Canadians got leadership on offense from Mark Schefele who scored twice in the last period. Other goal scorers for Canada included Ryan Strome, Mark Stone and NHL Tampa Bay Lighting player Brett Connolly. Strome (2g-4a-6 points) and teammate Jonathan Huberdeau (1g-5a-6 points) are tied for the overall tournament scoring lead. Czech goalie Petr Mrazek swept aside 33 of the 38 shots he faced in the loss.
On Thursday’s Canada will play Denmark in Edmonton while Russia will play Latvia in the Saddledome in Calgary. Friday’s action features four games. The United States plays the Czech Republic, Slovakia skates against Sweden, Denmark plays Finland and Latvia and Switzerland clash in the last game of the day.
Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
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