World Juniors

Branden Crowe of Virden does communication work for Hockey Canada and he's spending this holiday season at his first World Junior Hockey Championship.

It amazing how this all comes together and how many people are involved in pulling this off.” Branden Crowe is in charge of communications at Pool “B” hockey being played in Moncton. This part of the country is beyond excited.

Detroit Red Wings prospect Red Savage made Team USA for the upcoming 2023 World Junior Championship that begins on Dec. 26.

He will be representing Team USA alongside Trey Augustine and Kaidan Mbereko in the upcoming tournament and this will be his second WJC appearance. While it is unlikely that he ends up in Detroit when the 2023 NHL Draft rolls around, it’s always fun to watch a Savage is ready to get back on the ice for international competition after Team USA fell flat in the 2022 WJC after losing to Czechia in the quarterfinals. He is coming off of a strong freshman year as he was named NCHC Rookie of the Week a whopping four times and also Miami Hockey’s Rookie of the Year. Let’s take a look at Savage as well as the other Red Wings prospects involved with this year’s tournament. This time around, the Red Wings will only have one prospect in attendance, and that would be Red Savage.

Fans are eager to watch, but sponsors don't share that same enthusiasm as Hockey Canada deals with fallout over alleged sexual assaults.

We believe this is an important step in a long journey of regaining the trust of Canadians and we, alongside hockey fans from coast to coast, will continue to hold Hockey Canada accountable. This week, a Halifax police spokesman said investigators are pursuing numerous avenues and will take the time necessary to conduct a thorough investigation. The summer redo in Edmonton fared poorly because it was held amid numerous allegations against Hockey Canada. Managers within the IIHF, ice hockey’s world governing body, were also required to take the same training. It said profits from any equipment Hockey Canada purchases in the future would be redirected to programs for under-represented groups. “Downtown Halifax and Dartmouth will be crazy. Ultimately, our position still hasn’t wavered: The time for change is long overdue.” Skinner, CEO Scott Smith and the entire board of directors subsequently stepped down. It is nice to be on home soil and have Canadian fans cheering us on.” Canadian Tire went a step further, cutting ties with the organization permanently. They play their first game of the preliminary round against Czechia on Monday night in Halifax. “They have been cheering us on since we got here, and as players we love that.

The 2023 World Junior Championship is set to kickoff on Monday, December 26, as rosters for all teams are beginning to be finalized.

He would miss the tournament due to an injury he suffered that was similar in nature to the one that eventually landed him on the operating table last season. Instead, the 18 year-old was required to rehab a [ shoulder that underwent surgery at the end of last November](https://novacapsfans.com/2021/12/01/washington-capitals-prospect-report-november-2021-joe-snively-and-bear-hughes-continue-to-surge/). All-in-all, Hanelt had a decent tournament. “All the players who were in Berlin got the virus. We were unable to travel to Canada. Unfortunately for Capitals forward prospect Haakon Hanelt, he will once again miss the annual tournament.

The 2023 World Junior Hockey Championship will get underway on Monday and while the Habs had a couple of players get cut, they will still be ...

Even with that, there’s a chance to put up the points as the Americans are one of the stronger squads in this event. He’s not coming into this tournament as their go-to guy offensively and is going to be more of a secondary guy, at least to start. Defensively, he shouldn’t be a shutdown player for the Swedes but he should see some time on the penalty kill and play in important situations. This would be a good chance to evaluate that idea against what will be some strong competition. That’s good news for the Habs as that means that Kapanen should be an all-situations player logging potentially more than 20 minutes per game compared to the near-17 he had in the summer. I’m not sure that they’re going to score a whole lot in this tourney, however. Rohrer will be the focal point of the attack, the one that plays heavy minutes in all situations, the one that other teams will key in on. This will also be Kapanen’s second stint at the World Juniors in the last few months. If you’re also a believer in momentum, Kapanen has had a good start to his season in Finland which should certainly give him some confidence. Most of his points came against weaker competition but that’s the case for a lot of players. He’s also the only player playing in major junior and is one of just three playing in North America. Austria is a team that, let’s face it, isn’t going to go far in this tournament.

After a one-game pit stop in AHL Laval, the Canadiens urged Mesar to take his act to OHL Kitchener. Clearly it's been a good move, as his skill level has him ...

He will irritate the opponent and when the attention turns to retribution, he will bite with his skill. After a one-game pit stop in AHL Laval, the Canadiens urged Mesar to take his act to OHL Kitchener. A favourite of coach Craig Ramsay for his work ethic and compete.

The winner of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship will be from North America, according to three NHL.com writers.

The United States, Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia and Latvia are in Group B, with its preliminary-round games at Avenir Centre in Moncton. Group A consists of Canada, Sweden, Czechia, Germany and Austria and will play its preliminary-round games at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax. Canada won in 1997. They also chose the top 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft prospect, but with a twist -- they couldn't choose Canada forward Connor Bedard, the projected No. Morreale each predict Canada and the United States will play in the gold-medal game. Each writer also made his pick for best goalie, best forward and best defenseman at the tournament.

December 24, 2022 - Minnesota Wilderness defenseman Gustavs Ozolins will play for his home country of Latvia at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championships.

“The expectations for our team are to go out there, play our hearts out every day and prove that we belong on the ice with those players. An opening came when Russia and Belarus were disinvited from the tournament, due to their participation and support for the Ukraine invasion. That moment when you are going up against the best junior hockey players in the world is everything I play hockey for.”

Here are three players – minus obvious top-notch draft-eligible prospects such as Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli, who are getting a lot of attention for ...

He’s transitioned to the AHL game and scored three of his eight goals in three games before departing for the Maritimes. He will irritate the opponent and when the attention turns to retribution, he will bite with his skill. He has torn it up as a freshman at BU, where he’s scored seven goals and added 11 assists in his first 16 games. The 18th pick in the 2022 draft by Dallas hasn’t played a ton in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), but that will change as he’s expected to be Switzerland’s top defenceman. Jonathan Lekkerimaki, RW: Another enigma, this time from the 2022 draft, Lekkerimaki made his mark as a deft scorer with an NHL-ready shot. Attilio Biasca, C/LW: Biasca will play in his third world juniors after spending the last two seasons going undrafted while with the Halifax Mooseheads. David Jiricek, D: Off to a tremendous start to his North American pro career, Jiricek is scoring a point per game in the America Hockey League (AHL). He has provided great value to the Rockets as the 44th Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Import pick in 2021. Filip Mesar, RW: After a one-game pit stop in AHL Laval, the Canadiens urged Mesar to take his act to OHL Kitchener. He has once again proved he can produce in the Québec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), with 18 points through 27 games on a mediocre Drakkar team. Dans Locmelis, C: The Boston Bruins fourth-round pick from 2022 has had a banner year with Lulea’s U20 team, leading the way with 12 goals and 33 points through 27 games. With one world juniors under his belt, he will likely face the opposition’s best from start to finish.

Prospect analyst Tony Ferrari's keeping his eye on several 2023 NHL draft-eligible players at the World Junior Championship. Here are 12 of them.

If he could be a bit more selfish at times when he has the puck, Ciernik could very well be the MVP for the Slovak squad. Carlsson will dangle one defender and put another on his back on the way to attacking the net and scoring a highlight-reel goal. The big center who plays for the University of Wisconsin will be slotting in as the fourth-line center for the Americans. One of the premier finishers in the NHL draft, Dvorsky is an excellent off-puck threat. The world juniors should be the perfect battleground to boost his draft stock. Offensively, ‘ASP’ could be the best option to lead the Swedish second unit – it will depend on whether the generally reserved Swedish coaching staff will give him that chance. Still, Brindley could be the answer to who will score in the bottom six. Paired with Brindley on the fourth line, they could be an intriguing scoring duo for a team looking to go deep in the tournament. The high-pace, shifty forward looks to be slotting in on the fourth line, and he should be able to make a difference with his speed and puck pursuit while bringing some offensive touch to the bottom six. The young Canadian will be a presence on Canada’s top line at the world juniors. One of the most electrifying prospects in recent draft history, Bedard is an incredibly skilled forward who attacks with pace and pummels his opponents with shots while maintaining a lethal playmaking edge. The 2023 tournament will have several draft-eligible prospects, from top-five picks to players who are expected to be selected in the mid-rounds.