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The World Junior Championship is a festive hockey tradition like no other.
This year is an exception.
The tournament is still coming your way during the peak holidays, only now it’s mid-summer instead of after Christmas. confused? Let’s summarize.
WJC 2022 was due to be played as usual last December. Due to concerns about COVID-19, the location was moved to Edmonton, Alberta under restrictive “bubble” conditions. The International Ice Hockey Federation had hoped that strict protocols would allow the event to go ahead as scheduled. Spoiler: It didn’t.
Four days later, the IIHF was forced to call things off after the United States, Czech Republic and Russia lost preliminary round matches due to rising cases of COVID among their ranks. At the time, the IIHF did not know if the tournament could be rescheduled.
A new plan was announced in April. The IIHF said it will resume its 2022 repeat of the event from Aug. 9-20 in Edmonton. The results of games played last December will be thrown out. Players born in 2002 or later will retain their eligibility. So here we are.
When prelims begin (again), all eyes will of course be on perennial tournament favorites USA and Canada. These countries highlight two groups of participating nations: Group A includes the USA, Austria, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland, while Group B is Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Latvia and Slovakia.
Austria retained their place in the top division despite finishing 10th last year. Normally he would have faced relegation, but the cancellation of various U20 tournaments changed the rules and they remain in the mix.
The top four teams from each group will play in the quarter-finals starting on August 17. This will be followed by the semi-finals on August 19 and the gold and bronze medal games on August 20.
Before things get underway, we check out some of the major storylines and more intriguing players present in this year’s tournament. As hockey fans know, there is no comparison for the drama that the World Juniors can bring. (Editor’s note: A version of this story was published in December before the tournament originally started. This has been updated to reflect changes between then and now)
Can Team USA go back-to-back?
Spencer Knight made 34 saves and Trevor Zegras recorded two points as Team USA defeated Team Canada 2-0 to win gold at the 2021 World Juniors.
It marked the fifth WJC title for Team USA, along with wins in 2004, 2010, 2013 and 2017. What the USA has never accomplished is winning gold in back-to-back years. And there’s no time like the present to give it another chance.
Head coach Neil Leamon will be behind the bench again this year after leading Team USA to gold in 2021. Leamon coached the men’s team at Providence College for 11 seasons and won an NCAA title in 2015.
Team USA has four skaters returning from the 2021 championship-winning roster in Brock Faber, Landon Slagert, Brett Berard and Tyler Kleven, and retained 17 of the 25 players originally slated to participate in tournament in December.
Prominent in the USA’s path to a repeat will be Team Canada, although they suffered significant losses in numbers from before. Nine players from Canada’s December roster are not returning this time around, including Owen Power and Kayden Guele. However, Canada boasts impressive goaltending depth, highlighted by Canadian Hockey League Goaltender of the Year Dylan Garrand.
Canada was also the last team to win back-to-back WJC titles, winning five straight gold medals from 2005 to 2009. Will the USA be the next to make back-to-back?
Can Connor Bedard dominate – again?
Technically, the last 16-year-old to play for Canada at the World Juniors was some guy named Connor McDavid.
In December, another Connor followed in McDavid’s footsteps – and (then) 16-year-old Connor Bedard got off to a great start. Bedard entered Canada’s winter selection camp with an outside chance to be the team’s 13th forward. He made the final roster and became the youngest player in tournament history to score four goals in a game during Canada’s preliminary round against Austria. A day later, the IIHF suspended the championship.
Bedard then returned to the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League and scored an electrifying 76 points in 38 games.
It’s no wonder, then, that Bedard enters this tournament not only back on Canada’s front line with Mason McTavish, but also the No. 1 overall favorite in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.
Canada head coach Dave Cameron said Bedard’s three months of playing time between championships had a “huge” impact on his overall game. The center agrees, telling reporters this week that he felt better than the second half of last season, especially when it came to his fielding percentage. Bedard will be looking to showcase this progress on an international stage.
There is no reason to doubt that it can. Bedard has long been an underachiever, becoming the first player in WHL history to receive exclusive status, joining the Pats as a 15-year-old. So maybe it shouldn’t have been a surprise when Bedard came into camp last winter and was Canada’s leading scorer through an exhibition game with two goals and four assists.
However, Bedard was not expected to play a huge role for Canada. That changed quickly. Expectations are now high for what Bedard can produce for a team hungry to return to the top.
The same goes for Logan Cooley of the USA. He was part of the team’s initial WJC roster, notching an assist in one preliminary round game before the COVID shutdown. Lehmann thought Cooley made great plays in that game against Slovakia and expected to rely more on Cooley from there.
That should be especially true now, given everything that’s happened to Cooley since then. He returned to the US National Team Development Program and had a great year with the U-18 team, collecting 75 points in 51 games. That means Cooley was selected third overall by Arizona in last month’s NHL Entry Draft. Confidence boost? You bet.
Cooley wants to turn pro quickly, but is determined to play in Minnesota next season. The World Junior Championships should be a perfect follow-up to his first year. The Pittsburgh native is a highly skilled center who could take a top-six role for the U.S. and match up with Bedard and other elite skaters in this tournament.
Where is Russia?
This is the first time that a world junior championship will not include the Russian team.
They have participated since the tournament began in 1974 and claim the most medals (37) of any participating nation. Russia was also part of the championship, which took place in December. But in February, the IIHF ruled that all teams from Russia and Belarus were banned from competing in all IIHF-sanctioned events. The sentence came amid Russia’s ongoing incursion into Ukraine.
“The IIHF is not a political entity and cannot influence the decisions that are made regarding the war in Ukraine,” IIHF president Luc Tardif said in a statement at the time. “However, we have a duty of care to all of our members and participants and therefore must do everything we can to ensure that we are able to run our events in a safe environment for all teams participating in the IIHF World Championship program.” “
So with Russia out, Latvia is now in. This will be Latvia’s first appearance in the tournament since 2017 and their seventh appearance overall. Latvia earned their place by finishing second in the Division 1A competition at the tournament in December. Belarus finished first and would normally take Russia’s place in this event, but Belarus is also banned.
Will new faces appear?
All the players from the December tournament could return for this summer showcase. Naturally not all of them will be, requiring some reinforcements in almost every list.
Say hello to (a few of) the new guys.
William Dufour, F (Canada)
Dufour didn’t make Team Canada the first time he tried. But that was then. The New York Islanders prospect put together a stellar 2022 season with the St. John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL leading the league in goals (56) and finishing second in points (116). It was good enough to earn Dufour the QMJHL’s Michel-Briere Trophy as league MVP – and he didn’t stop there. Dufour earned another MVP honor when he led the Sea Dogs to the Memorial Cup championship this spring, scoring the most goals (7) and points (8) in the tournament. Dufour has the scoring prowess Canada needs and should be a lock for big minutes at even strength and power play.
Shawn Behrens, D (USA)
Technically, Behrens isn’t exactly new here. He made the U.S. team roster in December but was unable to travel to the tournament after testing positive for COVID-19. The defender has another crack at the game now and will enter this Championship on a high. The Colorado prospect just finished a sensational freshman season at the University of Denver, scoring 29 points in 37 games and helping the Pioneers to a national title. Behrens is a talented skater with great puck-moving ability, which will make him especially fun to watch in Edmonton.
Thomas Bordolo, C (USA)
This opportunity has been a long time coming for Bordeaux. He was scheduled to play for Team USA in both 2021 and last winter, but was thwarted by COVID-19 protocols both times. The 20-year-old managed to play a small role for the USA during this year’s Men’s World Cup. He should have a bigger role in the juniors. Bordeleau plans to be a top 6 center, using his creativity and high-end skill set to generate a lot of offense for the US team San Jose Sharks, Bordeleau signed his entry-level contract with the team at the end of last season.
Jonathan Lekerimäki, F (Sweden)
Keep an eye on this Vancouver Canucks pick. Lekkerimaki has had a great international season for Sweden…
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