Rolling into some Team Canada talk for the WJC, here's a few ramblings of players I've been meaning to mention. ---------------------- Ty Ronning (NYR, 7th Rd 2016) had a terrific night on Saturday, firing 6 shots on net, ending up with two goals and two assists. He's seeing a surge in offense this season jumping from 0.78 [...]
Getting excited for tomorrow's start to the World Junior Championhips in this Christmas Sunday Ramblings... *** 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! [...]
The most wonderful time of the year is right around the corner as 9 OHLers vie for 22-spots on Canada’s National Junior Team for the upcoming 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship. A total of 32-players from across the CHL and NCAA were invited to Selection Camp in Blainville, QC coming up on December 10-14th. [...]
Knicks and knacks from the hockey world, and peeking at Sweden's leaked WJC roster in this Sunday Ramblings... *** Rumors are never worth banking on, but in the case of the Team Sweden World Junior Championship roster leaked by Swedish newspaper Expressen, things seem to check out. The official confirmatinon will happen tomorrow. {source}<blockquote [...]
World Junior Camp Rosters have been announced for Canada and USA, the NHL Draft is tomorrow! […]
It’s finally here! No, not Christmas! I’m talking about the World Junior Championships – the best annual hockey competition on the planet. The World Juniors offers a time for people at all levels to invest in hope. The hope that their country’s youngsters lead their nation to hockey supremacy. The hope from players that they’ll [...]
Wednesday, December 3rd
It’s the most wonderful time of the year – World Junior countdown is on! 23 days remaining until puck drop!
Hockey Canada released it’s 29-player list for the National Junior Team Roster on Monday and as always, there was a lot of upset people at their decisions. Canada’s decision to only invite two goaltenders to the final camp seemed to be one of the biggest stories and it appears Zach Fucale (Montreal Canadiens) and Eric Comrie (Winnipeg Jets) will be the only two goaltenders vying for the starters position. While it is Fucale’s spot to lose, there has been lots of criticism about his underwhelming save percentage with the Halifax Mooseheads this season. I’m not overly concerned with stats but save percentage is one of the more telling stats for goaltenders. In the end, I trust Fucale and he’s proven (most recently at the Subway Super Series) that he can win games on individual talent alone. The Habs pick is going to be there and should be there.
In saying that, I don’t agree with only bringing two netminders into final camp. In a short tournament, it’s all about riding the hot players and why not add a couple more goaltenders to challenge for spots. This is especially true in a year where Canada’s goaltending is particularly strong with veteran puck stoppers such as Philippe Desrosiers (Dallas Stars) and Tristan Jarry (Pittsburgh Penguins), both equally as deserving to be considered for spots. Ironically, Tristan Jarry was named Vaughn CHL Goaltender of the Week one day after getting snubbed from the roster.
