Gold standard
It doesn’t matter how each country performed, Canadian NHL teams won at the world juniors
BUFFALO — Canada defeated Sweden to win the world junior hockey championship, but for most of the Canadian teams the focus was more on individual performances than nationalist pride.
From Calgary’s Dillon Dube and Montreal’s Victor Mete to Toronto’s Joseph Woll and Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson, every Canadian team had something to smile about after the two-week tournament.
Here’s a look at how each team made out.
CALGARY Dillon Dube, Canada
Defenceman Juuso Valimaki had a goal and three assists for the Finns, but it was Dube who stood out the most for the Flames.
As one of seven returning players for Canada, the Kelowna Rockets forward was placed in a leadership role as the country’s captain, a role he took to heart. The Cochrane, Alta., native led the Canadians to a gold medal by scoring three goals and five points in seven games, including a huge goal in the championship final. But it was more than his offence that could have him in the Flames line-up next season.
Dube, who was a second-round pick (56th overall) in 2016, was valued for his versatility. He finished third in the tournament with 30 shots on net — 11 more than the next-highest Canadian — but because of his speed and tenaciousness ended up seeing as much time on the power play as he did on the penalty kill.
Actually, forget next year, the Flames could use him now.
EDMONTON Aapeli Rasanen, Finland
If they wanted to, the Oilers could have loaned Jesse Puljujarvi to the world juniors. Instead, the team sent Kailer Yamamoto back to the Western Hockey League where the expectation was that the first-round pick would be able to participate — and dominate — at the world juniors.
It didn’t quite go as planned.
While the U.S. won bronze and Yamamoto scored two goals and added two assists in seven games, it wasn’t the kind of offensive splash expected from someone who had played in nine NHL games. Luckily for the Oilers, the team also had Rasanen at the tournament.
A sixth-round pick, the Boston College forward who is from the same small town as Patrik Laine put on a Laine-type offensive show with a team-leading four goals in five games for Finland. It wasn’t enough to get the country into the semifinal, but it should get Edmonton fans excited about the future.
MONTREAL Victor Mete, Canada
Technically, Mete is not a prospect. After all, he had played in 27 games for the Canadiens this season, where he picked up four assists and saw playing time alongside Shea Weber, before getting loaned to the world juniors.
The NHL experience served Mete well, who when healthy used his speed and offensive creativity in a toppairing role. The 19-year-old finished with three assists in six games and logged nearly 22 minutes in the championship final — secondmost amongst Canadians — where he also assisted on the empty-net goal that sealed the gold-medal win.
Though Team Canada GM Sean Burke said Mete was “on the radar” for the Olympics, the Habs appear to have thwarted those plans by indicating that the fourth-round pick in 2016 will be re-joining the team next week.
OTTAWA Drake Batherson, Canada
Of all the players on Team Canada, Batherson might have been the lowest-profile. He was passed over in the 2016 draft and didn’t get picked until the fourth round in 2017. And yet, once the tournament shifted to the medal round, the 19-yearold, who has 17 goals and 39 points in 24 games this season for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, showed his true mettle.
Scoring twice against Switzerland in the quarterfinal, the 6-foot-2 centre-turned-winger also netted a hat trick in the semifinal by tipping puck after puck for a goal.
It wasn’t quite the MVP performance that defenceman Thomas Chabot turned in a year ago, but for an Ottawa team that is likely headed toward a rebuild, it provided a glimmer of hope for the future.
TORONTO Joseph Woll, USA
Despite practising with the team in Buffalo, defenceman Eemeli Rasanen (59th overall in 2017) was cut from Finland’s roster days into the tournament in favour of an extra forward. But the rest of Toronto’s prospects had a productive world junior experience.
First-round pick Timothy Liljegren, who was on loan from the Toronto Mar- lies, won a silver medal with Sweden, where the offensive defenceman was more notable for his two-way game. But it was the play of U.S. goalie Joseph Woll that earned the most accolades.
Although he couldn’t shut the door on Sweden in the semifinal, the third roundpick in 2016 stood tall against Russia in the quarterfinal, helping the Americans to their third straight medal.
“He’s a winner,” U.S. head coach Bob Motzko said of the Boston College goalie.
VANCOUVER Elias Pettersson, Sweden
Not everyone is Brock Boeser, said Jim Benning the other day.
The Canucks GM was talking about how the 20-yearold, who leads all rookies in scoring, went from winning a bronze medal at the 2016 world juniors to
starring in the NHL a year later.
That being said, the Canucks have high hopes that Pettersson (fifth overall in 2017) and defenceman Olli Juolevi (fifth overall in 2016) will be able to make similar jumps after a successful — at least individually — tournament for both players.
Playing in his third straight tournament, Juolevi had a goal and three assists for a Finnish team that was upset by the Czechs in the quarterfinal.
Pettersson was even better. The Swedish centre dazzled opponents with his skill, scoring a highlight-reel goal that caught Benning’s eye (“Yeah, I had like five people send it to me on Twitter,” he said) and finishing the world juniors with five goals and seven points in seven games.
WINNIPEG Kristian Vesalainen, Finland
First-rounder Logan Stanley was one of Canada’s final cuts on defence and goalie Mikhail Berdin didn’t get into a single game for Russia, but Vesalainen made sure the Jets were well-represented at the world juniors.
The 24th overall pick in the 2017 draft entered the tournament with 19 points in 26 games in the Finnish league, and continued that production in Buffalo, where he scored twice and had four assists in five games.
Though the Finns were ultimately upset by the Czechs in the quarterfinal, Vesalainen was hardly to blame. He had a goal and two assists, as well as a shootout goal, in the 4-3 overtime shootout loss.
The only thing he couldn’t do was strap on the pads and play goal.