France has been to the World Juniors just once in their history and that was back in 2002. They won just a single game that tournament and were outscored 42-6 over six games. They were relegated from the tournament and have not been back since. In order to get back into the World Junior tournament you have win the Division 1 tournament, something France has not been close to doing since 2001. France has medaled just three times, all bronze, in the D1 tournament since getting relegated in 02.
This year France has a real chance to win the D1 tournament and get promoted to the 2019 World Juniors. One of those bronze medals was won last season and France is returning nine players from that team, the big one being Blue Jackets prospect Alexandre Texier. Texier was the youngest player on Team France last year but still finished third in team scoring and fifth in the tournament with eight points in five games. This time around Texier will be the top player for France and will try and lead them to a gold medal and a promotion to the big stage.
Texier has spent this season playing for KalPa in the Liiga. He has eight goals and four assists in 30 games, which is solid production for a player of his age in a professional league. Where Texier really stands out is in his underlying numbers. The Liiga website is very good and tracks some advanced stats. Among players who have played at least 10 games, Texier leads his team in Corsi at 56.6%. Making this all the more impressive is KalPa is not a strong possession team, they are in the bottom half of the league at 48.3%. The closest teammate to Texier is Montreal Canadiens second round pick Joni Ikonen at 51.9%. For whatever reason Texier doesn’t play a ton of minutes but when he's on the ice he makes an impact.
#CBJ 2017 2. pick Alexandre Texier has had good shot impacts in #Liiga this year with very little ice time. Nice amount of points too and more should be coming with bit more luck #KalPa pic.twitter.com/83n5egWqdh
— Simo Teperi (@SimoTeperi) November 30, 2017
Texier is very skilled but what makes him so good is his composure with the puck, take a look at this assist.
Alexandre Texier (#CBJ) walks everyone and sets up a tap in. What a play. He has been fantastic this season. pic.twitter.com/FuMurqDxo9
— Mitch Brown (@MitchLBrown) November 25, 2017
He walks the defencemen, and has what looks like a clear two on one, most players especially young ones, probably just take that lane and take a shot. Texier elects to turn back, gets away from another defender, opens up even more space for himself and puts a perfect pass across for the tap in.
His hands are incredible and even playing professionally he has no fear taking the puck to slot and putting himself into great scoring areas.
Alexandre Texier scores another beautiful goal. Kid is a highlight reel machine. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/Ca1kMk6SkX
— Mitch Brown (@MitchLBrown) December 2, 2017
Even when he's not scoring he's getting prime scoring chances.
Alexandre Texier scored his 5th. If he keeps this pace up, he will be top-10 among Liiga U19s in goals since 2010. Also, he can dangle. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/h6DO9qJQ4N
— Mitch Brown (@MitchLBrown) November 3, 2017
He is a very strong skater and as you can see some very good hands. He's raved for his smarts and awareness on the ice. The hope for France is that they can find some players to keep up with Texier. Texier can do a lot of things on his own, but he is going to need someone to be there to score those easy tap-ins. Texier when he has space has a very good shot.
#Liiga: C Alexandre Texier (CBJ 2nd/2017) scored Kalpa's lone goal in a 3-1 loss to Assat. Has 2-0-2 in 7 GP pic.twitter.com/xaT39aNm8J
— Steve Kournianos (@TheDraftAnalyst) September 23, 2017
It’s highly unlikely he gets this much space at the tournament unless he walks through everyone. Teams will certainly be zeroing in on him and doing everything they can to stop him. Texier is expected to be the tournament top scorer and should take a run at the record for most points scored in a tournament. Tobias Rieder holds the record with 13 points in five games for Germany back in 2012. Texier has a shot at that, as this is not a tournament loaded with prospects. Texier will be the highest drafted player there and the only other real notable is Leon Gawanke a defencemen taken in the fifth round by the Jets this summer.
Even with Texier this is not going to be easy for France. With the exception of Hungary, promoted from Division 1B, the other four teams (Austria, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia) all have relatively recent appearances in the top tournament. The Division 1 tournament does not have a playoff format just the group stage, making each game extremely important. A positive thing for France is that they are hosting this year. Hopefully they can use the home crowd to their advantage.
The Division 1 tournament gets underway this Sunday. France plays its first game against Austria on Sunday at noon eastern. For the rest of the schedule and more information check out the IIHF website.
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