A Look Back at the 2007 WJHC Part 6

[The Comish]

Then: Bryan Little was sitting third in WHL scoring heading into the tournament. He only recorded two points and left me wanting. He was second on the team in penalty minutes, but wasn't overly physical. Little just wasn't getting the job done.

Now: In his last two seasons of junior hockey, he recorded 109 and 107 points. Little finished this season with 48 points, 20 of them coming in the final 30 games. He may be coming into his own offensively. The talent is certainly there.

Then: Tom Pyatt finished with four points in six games, but I don't remember anything special about him.

Now: Pyatt hasn’t yet broken through offensively at the NHL level, finishing the year with seven points in 61 games with Montreal. He did record 81 points in 58 games in his last junior year and in 2009-10, he scored 35 points in 41 AHL games.

Then: The youngest player on the team was the undrafted Sam Gagner. He was tearing up the OHL with linemates Pat Kane and Sergei Kostitsyn. Gagner played on most of Canada's power plays and made some nice plays, but ended the tournament with no points. Still, I came away with the feeling that he was going to be a player; there was an obvious confidence about him.

Now: Gagner only played one season of major junior hockey, recording 118 points in only 53 games. He jumped straight to the NHL and scored 49 points in his rookie campaign. He's averaged over 43 points in each of his four NHL seasons. His 42 points in 68 games this year pro-rates to 51 points. He's got room to grow offensively.

Then: To be honest, I didn't even know James Neal was on this team until I started writing this. He had no points in six games.

Now: Neal's goal totals over his three NHL seasons are 24, 27 and 22. His upside could be huge if he and Crosby (or Malkin) have any chemistry at all. At this past World Hockey Championship, Neal recorded five points in six games for Canada.

Then: Darren Helm embraced the checking line duties and popped two goals in his six games. He was fast and played smart, making sound decisions while playing against the oppositions top players.

Now: As is normal with Detroit players, Helm had to bide his time apprenticing in the AHL for a couple of years before becoming a regular. He finished this season with 32 points. He had 37 points in 55 AHL games in his last year (2008-09) in the minors. Helm has played 180 regular season NHL games, scoring 57 points and in 64 NHL playoff games, he has 16 points.

Then: Fellow checking line member, Brad Marchand was a force, but I mostly remember him for his hitting. Marchand is not a big guy, but he sure can lay out a vicious hit when the mood strikes him. Like Helm, he struck for two goals.

Now: The 22-year-old just finished his rookie NHL season with 41 points. Over two years in the AHL, Marchand recorded 91 points in 113 games. In the next World Junior Hockey Championship, he had six points in seven games. In his last two years of junior, he had 153 points in 116 games. Marchand has been very good in this year's playoffs, sitting fourth in team scoring with 12 points in 18 games.

Then: Cody Franson recorded two points in six games. I remember him as a solid, not flashy defenseman.

Now: Interestingly, Franson was taken in exactly the same draft position (third round, 79 overall) as Brad Marchand, but one year earlier (2005) by Nashville. In his last two junior seasons, Franson recorded 106 points in 130 games. Over his last 82 AHL games played, he recorded 59 points. He had 27 and 29 points in each of the last two years in the NHL.

Then: While Letang and Russell were the two offensive defensemen, Luc Bourdon chipped in with four points in six games.

Now: Vancouver’s first pick, tenth overall in 2005 had 20 points in 36 games in his last season of junior. His future looked very bright, but sadly Bourdon was killed in a motorcycle crash May 29, 2008.

Then: Marc Staal was relied upon to be a shutdown defenseman. He was very effective in that role, although he didn't record a point in the tournament.

Now: Staal had 34 points in 53 games in his final season of junior hockey. The 12th overall selection jumped right to the NHL from junior. He has been encouraged to explore his offensive side more over the last two seasons.

Then: The other half of the shutdown pairing was Ryan Parent. He also finished with no points.

Now: Parent has never been an offensive defenseman. He had 56 points in 227 junior games, 12 points in 113 AHL games and seven points in 106 NHL games. The 24-year-old has been traded three times in his young career.

Then: Kyle Alzner recorded one point in six games during the tournament and didn’t really stand out one way or the other. He was solid, yet unspectacular.

Now: Alzner finished his rookie NHL campaign this year with 12 points. There is some hope for offense as he had 63-47, 60-36 over his last two junior seasons. In 104 AHL games, Alzner scored at a 32 point pace (41 points).

The semi-final match-ups were Russia-Sweden and Canada-USA. After watching Canada squeak by USA in a shoot-out, followed immediately by Russia taking out Sweden 4-2, you got the feeling that the Russians had a decided speed advantage. From experience though, I was confident that Canada would step up in the final against their old nemesis. Thankfully, they proved me right, jumping out to a 4-0 first period lead, holding on to win the gold medal game 4-2.

I hope you enjoyed these looks back as much as I did writing them. If any of you are lucky enough to be able to afford to fly to Europe and watch a World Junior Hockey Championship, I highly recommend that you do. The experience was something I will remember forever.

[agentzero]

Hey Russ, nice write-ups! Well done really and I quite appreciate them. Looks back always help me make sense of things...

I'm kinda worried about your James Neal write-up tho lol. He needs to bring more consistency to the game if he is to surpass 30G and 60 pts......His Junior Championships seemed less than stellar for a guy who should score over 30G per season, as I expect him to...