Today is day five of the World Junior Championships. Overall, there has been no real surprises so far.
Latvia and Kazakhstan getting great goaltending effort
It’s not too often that the losing goaltender was the best goaltender. Latvia’s Nauris Enkuzens was stellar as he kept the game respectable as Russia defeated Latvia 4-1. He made 40 saves. Andrei Yankov had the pleasure to start against the Canadians. The kid is only 5’8 and 128lbs and he kept the game respectable in the first period.
Sweden is pacing themselves
Sweden is one of the superpowers of this tournament. They haven’t been putting teams away like some think they should. Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson who’s eligible for the 2009 Entry Draft has two goals and three assists. His five points is tied with a defenseman. It’s not the defenseman that you are thinking of. Erik Karlsson also has the same numbers as Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson. Karlsson has been drafted by the Ottawa Senators. Victor Hedman has a two assists. Oscar Moller of the Los Angeles Kings has two assists.
Jamie Benn becoming Canada’s sniper
Coming into this tournament, I thought Jamie Benn would be someone that the Canadians would go to. He has four goals and two assists so far. He went undrafted in the WHL Bantam Draft when he was 14. He was also an outstanding baseball prospect and joined the Kelowna Rockets after he went undrafted in the MLB Draft. He managed to be passed over in the first four rounds in the 2007 Entry Draft before Dallas selected him with the 8th pick in the fifth round.
How Many Goals will the United States score against Kazakhstan?
The only question coming into the United States-Kazakhstan game is the margin of victory for the Americans. Will the United States let up after they get to a seven goal lead? Since there will be no tie breaker scenario because both Canada and the United States will be going into the New Year’s Eve match up both undefeated. The Czech’s should be the third team from this pool to get in but they need to put up two big games against Germany and Kazakhstan. The Czech Republic has four goals and the USA has 12. It could be possible but I think the USA wouldn’t take any chances and run up the score tonight.
That’s My Take
