U18 Thoughts - Day 3

Day 3 of the U18 Champs had me running around the country to catch the games I wanted to see, got to enjoy the backroads of southern Czech Republic, experienced a 5 man accordion band in the lobby of my hotel when I got back and saw some old friends.

As far as the games went here are my thoughts from a busy day 3:

USA- CZE
- Another shutout for Collin Olson, people don't understand how difficult it is for a North American to come to Europe for a short term competiton.  The adjustments and fatigue really effect focus, which most positions can get away with.  Goaltenders not so much.
- The US kept the Czechs to 17 shots on goal with most of those coming in the 3rd period with the game firmly in their control.
- The stable of US defenders led by Jones and Trouba is exceptional, they play a smart team game and the transitional attack option they provide is deadly.
- Daniel O'Reagan has been a nice addition to the team and has seen a lot of crucial offensive minutes up front, including PP minutes.  His ability to play the perimeter has made life easy for Nicholas Kerdiles who is getting more chances from the middle ice to shoot.
- Young Czech forward Jakub Vrana had a great game agasint Denmark but was not able to match his performance agains the US and really struggled to win space against the big, mobile US defenders.
- It was a tough showing for most of the Czech players as not many were able to get much going.

RUS - GER
- Germany pulled off arguably their biggest upset win at this tournament in recent memory.  They were a surprising team last year and look to repeat that situation again this year.
- Germany is well coached, play a very disciplined team style and pick their spots.
- 95 born Frederik Tiffels was the catalyst for Germany in this game.  His lightning quick speed and full ice work ethic was contagious after he put it together for Germany's first goal of the game.
- The combination of Marcel Kurth and 95 born Leon Draisaitl was potent on the powerplay.  Draisaitl is a very good playmaker in the offensive end and showed off some tremendous vision, with Kurth battles hard for space and can make things happen around the net.
- German goaltender Marvin Cupper was beyond stellar keeping Russia frustrated in the 3rd period and was the main reason Germany was able to hold on for the win.
- Russia has great young talent up front.  Late 94 birthdate Bogdan Yakimov is a very appealing offensive player.  He has great size, moves well and his technical ability with the puck is impressive.
- Valeri Nichushkin, who plays every shift with Yakimov in all situations, is explosive and has seemingly endless talent.  Great with the puck, he showed outstanding poise and patience on Russia's first goal and sprinkled in strong displays of defensive and physical play throughout the game for a very complete performance.
- Anton Slepyshev is one of Russia's top prospects for this year's draft but has been seriously overshadowed by his younger linemates.
- Andrei Vasilevski, who has a shot to be the first goaltender drafted this year, was unimpressive.  He didn't have a bad game, but wasn't able to come up with the saves he really needed to.  He continues to show holes on his blocker side.  He wasn't bad, by any stretch, but he needs to be better to justify his hype.

SWE-SUI
- Sweden continued their dominance of this event so far with a convincing drubbing of Switzerland.
- The game was never really in doubt for Sweden and their big guns had little trouble creating chances on the Swiss.
- Again, leading the way it was the line of Sebastien Collberg, Alexander Wennberg and Gustav Possler, with Possler taking his turn to score a hat trick in this game.  The 3 are at the top of the tournament scoring chart so far.
- Hampus Lindholm had a strong showing and displayed some of the offensive flare that has him flying up the draft board for most teams.
- Swedish netminder Oscar Dansk, who is my personal vote for top goaltending prospect this year had a mediocre showing.  He was never forced to do too much and went long stretches without much action.
- The Swiss did not have much working for them in this game.  They relied heavily on their top line of Lukas Balmelli, Lukas Sieber and Dario Simion but the trio was not able to muster up many chances.  Sieber's frustration was evident in the 3rd period and he resorted to using his stick a little freely on the defensive side of the puck.

CAN-FIN
- The game started out with a fast pace and some good physical play.  Both teams had some good chances to score but both Korpisalo and Murray proved up for the task
- Canada got on the board with under a second to play in the 1st period as Matt Dumba hammered a one timer off the faceoff to open the scoring.
- Canada had Ryan Pulock and Hunter Shinkaruk dressed and playing even though they only arrived in Breclav slightly over an hour before the game.  Pulock showed the fatigue a bit, struggling to control the puck early and was relegated to mostly PP duty for the game with the odd shift here or there.  Shinkaruk on the other hand didn't seem to miss a beat and was more and more prevelant as the game went on.
- Scott Kosmachuk's work ethic really stood out.  He flies around the ice and always seems to be in the action.
- Darnell Nurse had a rough game, getting called on some tough situations where he was perhaps a bit too overzealous physically.
- Kerby Rychel was arguably Canada's best player in this game, showing great work ethic and desire to get the puck at the net.
- Teuvo Teravainen and Juuso Ikonen were also making their tournament debuts as both just arrived in the Czech Republic.  Teravainen was hands down the best player on the ice for either team and showcased his ability to do a bit of everything.  His stock will continue to climb if he can keep up the efforts like this one.
- Ristolainen and Pokka had very average showings but Niklas Tikkinen was exceptional.  He is a very smooth moving defender with great deceptive skills and tremendous puck distribution ability.
- Arrturi Lehkonen is a 95 born Finnish forward wearing an A.  He played on the top line with Teravainen and Ikonen and had a very strong showing.  He is dynamite around the net and shows great ability to pick up pucks in scrambles and rebounds.  His hands and goal scoring ability are high end.
- Canada's Matt Murray actually kept the score from being a lot worse than it was.  Finland moved the puck extremely well on the PP and managed to find shooting lanes from side to side.  Murray was excellent at getting across and denying chance after chance.  As strong as he was, I felt he was making saves he shouldn't have but didn't make a couple he should have.  All in all though an impressive performance that should help his draft stock.


Today there are two games on tap: Denmark vs. USA in Brno and Latvia vs. Sweden in Znojmo.  Both games are set to start at the same time, so I will likely take in the fun loving Latvians vs. the uber talented Swedes, which could prove to be a more competitive game than it appears on paper.