An extended layover in London, trans-atlantic flight and 12 hours of sleep later, I have some final thoughts on the 2014 World Junior Championship in Malmo, Sweden.
We'll start with the gold medalists - Finland - a team that usually has a handful of players with very strong individual talent but can never seem to put together the proper supporting cast to really go far in this tournament….until now. Having Teuvo Teravainen and Rasmus Ristolainen return from last year's team that finished 7th was a glimmer of hope as Olli Maatta (PIT) and Alexander Barkov (FLA) weren't made available by their NHL clubs. If this team was to find success in this year's tournament, it was evident that they would have to play the perfect team game and that's exactly what they did. Their offense was fueled by Teravainen's speed and creativity with Saku Maenalanen as a big beneficiary of it cashing in with seven goals as his linemate. Their defense was lead first and foremost by goaltender Juuse Saros who was fantastic throughout the entire tournament and came up huge when they needed him to against Canada and Sweden in the medal round. They say goalies can't win games, they can only prevent you from losing and Saros gave the Finns a chance to win every single night. At that point it was just a matter of sticking to the game plan and executing tremendous team defense to offer him as much support as possible. This roster wasn't full of the tournament's best players but it a great example of not needing the best players to win….you just need the right ones and, this year, Finland had the right mix and a gold medal to show for it.
For Sweden, they had an embarrassment of riches throughout their lineup and it was evident in every game. Even when they didn't play at their best, they were still good enough to win…until the gold medal game. It was truly a shame that someone had to lose that game because it was well played by both teams. The Swedes didn't do anything wrong to cost them the game, it was just a matter of the Finns doing everything right and capitalizing on the few opportunities they had. This was one of those instances where the best team doesn't always win because this was their tournament to lose and everyone knew it. Maybe this is why it was just a bit more devastating than usual when they lost the gold medal game…in overtime…on home ice. Sweden had a great team and even though they earn a different color medal than they were aiming for doesn't change that.
Despite a medal, I'm not convinced Russia was anything more than mediocre. Their biggest strength was special teams and Andrei Vasilevsky between the pipes. He kept them in games with big save after big save and their power play and penalty kill came through when they needed them, but 5-on-5 they were mediocre at best. They were like a predator waiting for just the right time to pounce on their prey. That game plan earned them a bronze medal, so kudos to them for executing, but I can't say they necessarily deserved it.
As for Canada, I feel like they grossly underachieved. This team was capable of so much more and despite ample opportunity to do so, they just never showed it beyond a few flashes of brilliance. Too many little mistakes with a few bigs ones mixed in and it cost them against Finland and Russia. They were opportunistic and were lucky to get by USA which ultimately put them in position to play for a medal and that win aside, there wasn't much to be excited about in this tournament outside the legion of fans that traveled to see them play. Fortunately for them, the games they witnessed were highly entertaining even if it wasn't the outcome they were looking for.
For the Americans, they deserved a better fate. As Craig Button and I discussed in our podcast (posted bellow), outside of ten minutes - five against Canada and five against Russia - this team was stellar. They had great goaltending, special teams, dominated face-offs, puck possession, 5-on-5….they were great. While it would have been easy to point the finger at someone else (like the officials), Team USA took full responsibility for the mistakes that cost them a chance to earn a medal and was a great reflection of their coaching and leadership. Disappointing result, but not a true indication of how good this team was.
Finally, the Germans had the youngest team with 14 players eligible to play next year and their goal was to stay in the Top Division this year so they could have the opportunity to have an experienced, older team next year with the hope of making the quarterfinals. That plan was nearly bumped up to this year had Slovakia defeated Czech Republic in the preliminary round and then it was nearly thwarted as Norway won the first game of the best-of-three relegation series and then forced them to come from behind in Game Two to force a winner take all Game Three. Fortunately for the Germans, they were able to pull through and will have the opportunity to see their master plan come to fruition in Toronto and Montreal.
While there was an All Tournament Team - Saros, Zadarov, Ristolainen, Forsberg, Teravainen and Mantha - my partner in sarcasm - Jacob Nystrom and I were more interested in an All Disappointment Team…the players we expected more from. Making our list are...
Leon Drasaitl - Germany Jonathan Drouin - Canada Marko Dano - Slovakia Matt Dumba - Canada Derirck Pouliot - Canada Jon Gillies - USA
Drasaitl was Germany's best player and their captain and he earned himself two match penalties in very important games. Dano was a complete non-factor, much like Pouliot. Drouin played well but like Dumba….we expected a lot more from players who were expected to be in the NHL this year. We didn't want to include a goaltender because we didn't feel like any of them played particularly poorly or cost their team the game, but we couldn't just omit one so we flipped a coin between him and Fucale. Both were solid in net, but not solid enough to have the big time saves at big time moments in big time games.
Looking ahead to next year, Canada had the same focus as Germany with bringing a young team that would benefit from this experience in Sweden and be more prepared to go for gold next year on home soil. They can bring back 11 players even though they aren't expecting all of them to be available. Team USA has seven as does Sweden with Finland having eight. Know what that means? The 2015 World Junior Championship will be yet another great tournament.
In all, Malmo was a fantastic host city and this tournament crushed European attendance records with over 144,000 tickets sold. With five different countries winning this tournament in the past six years, it's a great thing for the growth of the sport and future success of this tournament outside of Canada. After next year in Toronto/Montreal, it will be Finland's turn and regardless of what happens next year, this gold medal will be a huge boost for their marketing efforts to continue the success of this tournament in Europe.
And with that….there will be no more talk about the World Junior Championship until the Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid in August. For now, my focus turns back to the NHL and the NCAA as the second half of the season gets into full swing.
Julie
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