IIHF World Junior Championship

[sharpp87]

hi guys,

In less then a month will be the HHIF hockey tournament.

Who will be the player to watch ? Forwards, Goalies, defenseman,from any country, Finland, Canada, USA ,Sweden..whatever....

who should be the next superstar that we should watch them to dominate this tournament ???

thanks you

[Riverboat Danglers]

One guy I really excited to see is Adam Clendening from the US. I think he could have a Carlson like tournament and see his value sky rocket.

I also really think Schwartz is going to become a top prospect after this tournament. I feel that he is still under valued in a lot of circles and I expect him to have some big numbers this year. He should be one of the difference makers for Canada.

Im also really excited to see Klefbom. I think this kid is a natural born leader and should carry Sweden from the back end.

[Dean Youngblood]

I will name a few from each team that I am aware of:

CAN - Schwartz, Rattie (assuming he makes it, I want to see him play with some of country's best), Murphy, Murray, Hamilton

USA - Etem, Coyle, Bjugstad (having a great year), Rau (having great season too), Biggs (I haven't watched much of him), Clendening and Merill (is his behaviour better yet?)

SWE - Aberg (really excited to see him), Johan Larson (ditto), Zibanejad, Collberg, F. Forsberg, Brodin, Klefbom. Also interested to see how Rickard Rakell and Victor Rask do. Sweden is one of my favourites to win it all

FIN - Granlund brothers (obviously), Armia, Pulkinnen, Donskoi, Barkov (very excited to see this 2013 prospect), Ikonen (lighting it up; ), Maatta, Pokka (I want to see him especially), Ristolainen. The Finns are bringing up a ton of talent in the next couple of years so don't be surprised to see them make some noise.

CZE - Frk (if he's available, tons of scouts would love to see him play as it's been forever), Jaskin, Hertl (flying under the radar for the 2012 draft, playing well), Faksa (climbing hard up the '12 ranks), Culek, Musil (Oiler fans want a peak at him too I am sure)

RUS - Yakupov, Grigorenko, Gusev (made a huge name for himself at Super Series), Kucherov (breakaway machine), Kuznetsov, Machenko (DET's 7th round long shot D last year), Nikita Nesterov (D having a strong year)

SLK -Tvrdon (DET), Marincin (EDM)

DEN - I will have to do some research haha

SUI - Baerstchi (ya, he will see lots of ice time)

LAT - I will have to do some more research

Once some of these other countries announce their preliminary rosters we'll have a better idea of who to watch.

[tgraveline]

Is PK Subban's little bro (or is it just name hype) possibly playing in goal for Canada or who else would that be? I'm always fascinated by goalies as it's my favorite position.

Also, I'd love to see who steps up for USA this year. Coyle was a kid I couldn't wait to see come up for the Sharks and he had a great tourney last year. Curious as to how his game is now.

[ridinryan44]

I'm pretty excited to see Nicklas Jensen (Vancouver's first round pick this year) play for Denmark. He's quietly putting together a solid sophomore campaign with the Oshawa Generals. He's second only toe Boone Jenner with 28 points in 26 games - 14 of those are goals. Should be a (if the only) bright mark for Denmark.

[ridinryan44]

Is PK Subban's little bro (or is it just name hype) possibly playing in goal for Canada or who else would that be? I'm always fascinated by goalies as it's my favorite position.

Also, I'd love to see who steps up for USA this year. Coyle was a kid I couldn't wait to see come up for the Sharks and he had a great tourney last year. Curious as to how his game is now.

Unfortunately Subban got left off the list, ironically around the same time he was named goalie of the week/month (I'm not sure which).

[Big Ev]

IIHF is an organization not a tournament

[ridinryan44]

IIHF is an organization not a tournament

Yea, he's someone I wanna see play too! Good call.

[Dean Youngblood]

Yea, he's someone I wanna see play too! Good call.

Tee hee. Good post

[KoHolga]

I cant wait to see kuznetsov I think he will absolutely dominate this tourny... i can not wait to see what he does being the defending champs

Also really hoping to see Huberdeau if he is avaible... Does anyone know if he will be? I think he will do amazing things with strome at center and schwartz on the other wing

[tgraveline]

I know it's not a tournament, but I was thinking more about the WJC, and Ivan Hlinka coming up and all that juicy goodness.

[Dean Youngblood]

I cant wait to see kuznetsov I think he will absolutely dominate this tourny... i can not wait to see what he does being the defending champs

Also really hoping to see Huberdeau if he is avaible... Does anyone know if he will be? I think he will do amazing things with strome at center and schwartz on the other wing

Huberdeau is pretty much a "wait and see" right now. They are hoping he's ready thats for sure.

As for Strome being his center, I am not convinced that Strome is a lock to make the team. IMO, Strome has been average at times this year. He has some games where he's awesome but can become invisible at other times. Either way, if he makes the team then I am not sure he's a lock for the top line.

[KoHolga]

As for Strome being his center, I am not convinced that Strome is a lock to make the team. IMO, Strome has been average at times this year. He has some games where he's awesome but can become invisible at other times. Either way, if he makes the team then I am not sure he's a lock for the top line.

Interesting I have not been paying much attention to the CHL other than the Giants games i have been to this year.... I hope he doesnt turn into a flash in the pan I love his creativity... Who would you predict right now to be the top 6 saying everyone is healthy that could be

[Dean Youngblood]

Steve Yzerman has announced that Tampa Bay will release Brett Connolly to play in the World Junior Championship for Team Canada.

Great move by Stevie Y and a big boost for Team Canada (much needed)

http://tsn.ca/canadian_hockey/story/?id=382307

[bigbabybuda]

Steve Yzerman has announced that Tampa Bay will release Brett Connolly to play in the World Junior Championship for Team Canada.

Great move by Stevie Y and a big boost for Team Canada (much needed)

http://tsn.ca/canadian_hockey/story/?id=382307

That is AWESOME. I just read some were that Smith-Pelly might be released as well. He would make a great addition imo as well.