Andrew Peeke brings home bronze; Vitali Abramov doesn’t medal (Blue Jackets)

Blue Jackets

Andrew Peeke brings home bronze; Vitali Abramov doesn’t medal

By Paul Berthelot

Jan 7, 2018 • 8:01 am

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The World Juniors wrapped up Friday with Canada defeating Sweden for the gold medal. In the bronze medal game the USA defeated the Czech Republic 9-3. It’s not the result Andrew Peeke and Team USA wanted but it’s still an accomplishment to win a medal on home soil.

Peeke wasn’t a big part of Team USA; he was predominately the seventh defencemen, who played on the penalty kill. He was good in his role, Peeke likes to get out there and block shots, which made him a big asset on the PK. I was able to track six of the seven USA games, missing the New Year’s Eve game against Finland, but in the games I have data for Peeke had strong numbers. He had 56.9% (+62/-47) Corsi at 5 on 5.

Part of Peeke’s success goes to his defence partners. Peeke liked to make quick passes to his d-partner rather than get the puck out of the zone himself. In six games Peeke had just 10 successful breakouts and three failed breakouts. Peeke as a defensive defencemen wasn’t driving the bus or carrying his pairing. Peeke didn’t look that comfortable with the puck on his stick, he routinely opted for the quick d to d pass over looking for the big breakout pass. On the instances where he did have the puck in the neutral zone he dumped it in. He had five dump-ins and no carry-ins, in the games tracked.

Peeke was better off the puck, though he still has room to grow in that area. He was targeted on zone entries a total of 33 times. 17 were controlled entries, 11 were dump-ins and he broke up five plays at the line. Peeke is a pretty good skater, but he can be beat with speed. When he went up against some of the better forwards in this tournament he struggled. In the two medal round games against Sweden and the Czechs, Peeke allowed 11 carry-ins against. He needs to have better gap control and not get beat wide.

Peeke is big player and plays with physicality. That physical edge and size helped him break up the cycle and on numerous occasions he forced players to dump the puck in. He would step up at the blue line and cause less skilled forwards to panic and dump it in. Peeke was not counted on for offense but he did contribute a goal and an assist in the 9-0 win over Denmark.

Peeke has a big shot and on occasion he would pinch in from the point and unleash a big one-timer. He’s not going to be an offensive minded player at the next level, but it’s good to see he is able to make plays in the offensive end of the ice.

Vitali Abramov’s World Junior tournament was not as successful as Peeke’s. Team Russia got off to slow start losing to the Czech Republic in the opening game and never seemed to recover. Russia fizzled out in the quarters losing to Peeke and Team USA. Abramov was expected to be an offensive producer and from that regard he disappointed. Abramov only scored one goal, an empty net goal, against Switzerland.

Despite the relative lack of offense, Abramov had a positive impact on his team. He scored a nice goal in the shootout against Sweden, and had a couple really good chances against Team USA.

I tracked four Abramov games, missing only the lopsided Belarus game. In those four games Abramov had a 52.8% (+47/-42) Corsi at 5 on 5. Abramov was one of the stronger defensive players on the team and was used accordingly. I didn’t track zone starts but Abramov seemed to start a lot of his shifts in the defensive zone. Abramov was solid at getting the puck out of his end; he had seven controlled breakouts and four dump-outs, versus just two failed exits in the four games. He was particularly strong in the quarterfinal game, the USA dominated the game and had some long shifts in the offensive zone. Abramov had three controlled exits and three dump outs in that game.

Abramov was at his best however in the neutral zone. He was a controlled entry machine, getting 14 successful carry-ins over four games. He dumped the puck in just once and was stopped at the blue line twice. His hands are good, defencemen at this level really have no chance of defending him. He can beat you in so many ways, either with speed or can just weave the puck around and get by.

Peeke will be heading back to the University of Notre Dame, where he will try and help the Fighting Irish win a National Championship. Abramov returns to the Victoriaville Tigres, where he will try and help them make a deep run in the QMJHL playoffs.

You can follow me on Twitter @PaulBerthelot

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