Man among boys: Dominating the World Juniors at 17
On Monday morning, we found out what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object as Canada met Russia in the final preliminary game of the World Junior Championship.
The tournament’s best offense met up with a stifling defense that has only allowed three goals in three games with Canada outshooting Russia 48-22 while securing a 4-1 victory. What should have been Canada’s biggest threat could hardly mount an attack, or stop one.
These were the two best teams of the tournament, but Canada made it look almost too easy, beating the Russians to loose pucks and dominating play for long stretches. The best news for Russia after this loss is that their goaltending continues to be superb. Andrei Makarov made 44 stops and kept his team in the game as best as he could while Andrei Vasilevski, who has split the four games with Makarov, is leading the tournament with a 0.96 goals-against average and .973 save percentage.
Canadian Captain Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is having an amazing tournament so far, leading the championship with eight assists and 11 points; four more than teammate Jonathan Huberdeau (of the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs) and Team USA’s Alex Galchenyuk (of the OHL’s Sarnia Sting), but that really shouldn’t be a surprise after proving he can be a top scorer as a rookie in the NHL last season.
He has a chance to produce one of the greatest individual performances in Canadian World Junior history, as he is only seven points behind the Canadian single-tournament record set by Dale Hawerchuk in 1977 and matched by Brayden Schenn in 2011.
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However, to the surprise of many, one of Canada’s best forwards, and perhaps biggest individual story of the championship so far, has been 17-year-old Jonathan Drouin of the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads.
A top-10 prospect for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Drouin is making a strong case to be the top selection ahead of Nathan MacKinnon who has not played up to par in the preliminary round. Two years younger than most of the players in this tournament, Drouin has done a tremendous job dishing out the puck, setting up plays and finishing like this beauty of a wrap-around against Russia on Monday. He has received a ton of hype for a kid who wasn’t in major junior until halfway through last season and almost didn’t make the team in the first place.
According to Tim Wharnsby of the CBC:
His speed and goal-scoring ability are remarkable for a kid that began last season playing midget hockey with the Lac St-Louis AAA Lions.
He began 2010-11 in Lac St-Louis with an astonishing 22 goals and 53 points in 22 games. The start forced the Mooseheads to make some room at midseason for the then 16-year-old Drouin. A year later, he’s with Canada at the IIHF World Under-20 Championship.
Canadian head coach Steve Spott has raved about the skill and hockey intellect of the five-foot-10, 185-pound Drouin since selection camp opened in Calgary three weeks ago.
But during a Christmas Day practice, he collided with a teammate and suffered a charley horse. Hockey Canada didn’t add him to the final roster until the next day after he had shown that he had recovered enough to suit up for the tournament opener the following day.
Drouin keeps pushing himself up the draft rankings, which is good for him, but bad for any NHL team who thought they could select him as an under-the-radar choice. This tournament always has a major impact on the draft as teams get to see how players respond to high-pressure situations and Drouin is outperforming many, including Halifax teammate Nathan MacKinnon, predicted by many to be the top selection, but who has failed to play to expectations thus far.
A year ago, Drouin was only in midget hockey. Now he is dominating the highest-pressure tournament these for players at this stage in their careers. Drouin already has two goals, four points and a plus-5 rating. Brenda Branswell of The Montreal Gazette chronicled his past year and the jump from midget to World Juniors, the likes of which his St. Louis Lions coach Jon Goyens has never heard of before.
This tournament, always a big deal for Canadians, is getting fans riled up as they witness a collection of talent that, in a few years, they’ll look back on in disbelief like the 2005 team that was also bolstered by a lockout. Even the usually complacent Malcolm Subban of the OHL’s Belleville Bulls displayed enthusiasm usually reserved for his brother P.K. after stopping Vladimir Tkachyov on a penalty shot with 19 seconds remaining in the third period.
The red and white look unbeatable, thanks in large part to a number of players who should be halfway through their first NHL season right now, including forwards Ryan Strome (OHL’s Niagara IceDogs) and Mark Scheifele (OHL’s Barrie Colts) and defenseman Dougie Hamilton (OHL’s Niagara IceDogs). The United States has been the only team to keep a game close when they lost 2-1 to Canada on Sunday, and that was with two forwards, L.C. Lipon and Boone Jenner, both out of Canada’s lineup due to suspensions. They have been so good, The Hockey News may have to revise their top 10 list of the best ever World Junior teams.
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