Getting excited for tomorrow's start to the World Junior Championhips in this Christmas Sunday Ramblings…

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Happy Holidays everybody! To those celebrating Christmas today, thanks for reading, I know for myself there's just something that feels right about relaxing after a hectic morning and getting some hockey reading in. So lets get to it!

As always, Boxing Day tomorrow mark s the start of the World Junior Championships. The schedule is:

GROUP A

Denmark vs. Sweden @ 10am EST

Finland vs. Czech Republic @ 2pm EST

GROUP B

Latvia vs. USA @ 12:30pm EST

Russia vs. Canada @ 7pm EST

Sweden, Finland, and USA are the obvious favorites in their respective matchups, while Russia vs. Canada should be an exciting start to the tourny for two high-powered clubs. With Russia, Canada, and the USA all in Group B, every game and every goal of the round-robin will matter so everyone will be looking for a strong start. 

With so many big names not included on the Team Canada Roster (Marner, Chychryn, Konecny just to name a few), there's even more pressure than normal on the young talent this year. The same can be said for USA missing Werenski, and Finland missing Laine and Puljujarvi, but we all know that the home country always has the extra pressure on them in a hockey-crazy nation. As such, if the big names like Dylan Strome (ARI), Tyson Jost (COL), and Matthew Barzal (NYI) can prove to up to the task and leaders by example I'm going to have an extra positive outlook for them going forward (not that they need it). Some high-scoring junior names like Taylor Raddysh (EDM), Julien Gauthier (CAR), and Nicolas Roy (CAR) with have every chance to shine as the team looks for some balanced offence. Both goaltenders Carter Hart (PHI) and Connor Ingram (TBL) have had excellent pre-tournaments so far, setting us up for a great battle for the crease for some added drama!

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As usual, I can't end my Ramblings without some highlights of the freshest NHl faces scoring their first goals in the league. On a day meant for cherishing the positive, here's some more content to brighten your day:

Anton Blidh of the Bruins goes to the net with his stick on the ice:

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Anton Blidh’s first NHL goal! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NHLBruins?src=hash">#NHLBruins</a> <a href="https://t.co/7up0gPF5O0">pic.twitter.com/7up0gPF5O0</a></p>&mdash; Weekend at Bergy's (@weekendatbergys) <a href="https://twitter.com/weekendatbergys/status/811394458629668864">December 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

Wade Megan of the Blues scored on his first NHL shot:

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wade Megan scores his first NHL goal on his first shot! You can't script it any better! 2-0 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/stlblues?src=hash">#stlblues</a> <a href="https://t.co/BgptSYa684">pic.twitter.com/BgptSYa684</a></p>&mdash; Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) <a href="https://twitter.com/CMS_74_/status/812102907961212928">December 23, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

Brendan Perlini scored a beauty of a first for the Coyotes:

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">1. Brendan Perlini scores his first career goal with an excellent shot, celebrates appropriately <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Yotes?src=hash">#Yotes</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SixSnipes?src=hash">#SixSnipes</a> <a href="https://t.co/ujpcD3Uqbi">pic.twitter.com/ujpcD3Uqbi</a></p>&mdash; Shane O'Donnell (@shane1342o) <a href="https://twitter.com/shane1342o/status/807959212118646784">December 11, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

and just for good measure – here's his equally impressive sceond NHL goal:

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Brendan Perlini with a sweet goal. Flying snipe. <a href="https://t.co/Dhx18gB8rP">pic.twitter.com/Dhx18gB8rP</a></p>&mdash; Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) <a href="https://twitter.com/BradyTrett/status/810238116573380608">December 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

I missed this one  few weeks ago, but Ryan Carpenter proved to be worth his call-up in San Jose:

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">He's got number one! Congrats to Ryan Carpenter of the <a href="https://twitter.com/SanJoseSharks">@SanJoseSharks</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NHLFirsts?src=hash">#NHLFirsts</a> <a href="https://t.co/zFZdzcCD1p">pic.twitter.com/zFZdzcCD1p</a></p>&mdash; NHL (@NHL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NHL/status/804191356612583424">December 1, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

Chad Ruhwedel got his first goal thanks to an unfortunate deflection:

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Last night, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pens?src=hash">#Pens</a> D Chad Ruhwedel earned his 1st career <a href="https://twitter.com/NHL">@NHL</a> goal<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LetsGoPens?src=hash">#LetsGoPens</a>  <a href="https://t.co/VN3d7QOtZD">pic.twitter.com/VN3d7QOtZD</a></p>&mdash; 412 Sports (@412_PITsports) <a href="https://twitter.com/412_PITsports/status/812644137585491968">December 24, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

Taylor Leier got his first for the Flyers:

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">He's got it! The <a href="https://twitter.com/NHLFlyers">@NHLFlyers</a> on the board thanks to career goal #1 for <a href="https://twitter.com/23TLeier">@23TLeier</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NHLFirsts?src=hash">#NHLFirsts</a> <a href="https://t.co/k8hzAYWwQ8">pic.twitter.com/k8hzAYWwQ8</a></p>&mdash; NHL (@NHL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NHL/status/810211470088622080">December 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

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Have a happy and safe holidays everybody! And always feel free to tweet at any of the @DobberProspects writing/scouting team during this exciting time of year – we're always around to provide up-to-date information and opinions on the top prospects we're lucky to watch this coming week.

Hayden Soboleski

@soboleskih