By Russ Cohen
Ottawa – – Getting ready to cover the important games leading up to the World Juniors medal games. Here are some thoughts I had about each team.
Canada – Aside from being undisciplined and head coach, Dave Cameron saying it’s a short series and it’s up to the players the way they replaced Matthew Schaefer was abysmal. The team has very little push from the blueline, and their zone coverage has been weak. So they replaced their star defenseman with Sawyer Mynio? They should have summoned Carter Yakemchuk or Zayne Parekh. The team needs goals and offense and either one of these players could have provided that. If Czech goalie Michal Hrabal has a big game, Canada could be eliminated. Denver Barkey would have provided a spark for this roster too.
USA – Cole Eiserman scoring a big goal may fuel this team. They cut his minutes and now he might be getting on track. I talked about that already so I won’t bore you. Also, the top line needs more fuel. Ryan Leonard added some more of that so let’s see if they get back on track as well. Danny Nelson, who I loved in his draft year, has been the most improved player and Cole Hutson does his job expertly with little fanfare.
Sweden – Axel Sandin-Pelikka has become everything I thought he would be and more. He’s a great guy, he’s added muscle and he is a weapon on the power play. You don’t want to put Sweden on the power play if you’re playing against them. Sweden could win this tournament and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least.
Let’s see how far Latvia can go. They’ve been fun to watch and a real revelation. Eriks Mateiko is a big man at 6’6″ and he has three goals. I point him out because he plays in the “Q” and the Capitals drafted him in the third round last year. They always draft and develop exceptionally well. Undrafted goalie, Linards Feldbergs is becoming a hot commodity as we inch closer to the 2025 NHL Draft.
