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Canada World Juniors - Hockey

AlbertC

AlbertC

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What a great comeback as Canada take a 6-4 victory against the Yanks yesterday:

www.ctvnews.ca

Lafreniere, Canada roar back to beat the U.S. at world juniors

Alexis Lafreniere scored seven seconds after the United States tied the game late in the third period as Canada beat its North American rival 6-4 on Thursday in the opener for both countries at the 2020 world junior hockey championship.
www.ctvnews.ca
 
I always thought of the Junior tournament as a better judge of hockey talent than the World Championships - which are held during the Stanley Cup playoffs but after the Scandinavian and Russian leagues have ended.
However, Canada has not done that well of late, so maybe I should reconsider this.

As for hockey talent, it would be nice if we could resurrect the Canada Cups - or World Cups. The last time it went horribly wrong when they had a Team North America and Team Europe. Fans saw it for the money grab that it was - instead of the World Cup that it purported to be. I hope they resurrect this as a 12 team tournament - that could be done in September of every summer Olympic year. I like the idea of the NHL in the Olympics, however, I understand the logistical problems of shutting down the NHL in mid-season for 2+ weeks, and suffering the loss of revenue.
 
That's kind of like apples and oranges. In terms of young up and coming talent, then the World Juniors is the better indicator.

The World Championships is for mostly professionals already. It also plays second fiddle to the NHL playoffs. As majority of the best players in the NHL are on teams that make the playoffs. Well, except Connor McDavid because the Oilers haven't been good enough until this season potentially.

When it comes to volume of young players making it into the pros, then Canada is keeping it steady. But for top level talents, then it looks like it's getting more competitive. There's been a fairly even amount of top prospects from countries like the US, Russia, Finland and Sweden to compete with Canada.
 
AlbertC said:
That's kind of like apples and oranges. In terms of young up and coming talent, then the World Juniors is the better indicator.

The World Championships is for mostly professionals already. It also plays second fiddle to the NHL playoffs. As majority of the best players in the NHL are on teams that make the playoffs. Well, except Connor McDavid because the Oilers haven't been good enough until this season potentially.

When it comes to volume of young players making it into the pros, then Canada is keeping it steady. But for top level talents, then it looks like it's getting more competitive. There's been a fairly even amount of top prospects from countries like the US, Russia, Finland and Sweden to compete with Canada.
Click to expand...
Don't forget about university athletic programs.

Collegiate sports are huge. Even NCAA hockey is becoming popular in the United States (and quite a number of NCAA hockey players are from Canada).

Both the World Juniors and NCAA hockey tournaments are very exciting to watch (and I find them superior to the NHL).
 
Johnny Au said:
Don't forget about university athletic programs.

Collegiate sports are huge. Even NCAA hockey is becoming popular in the United States (and quite a number of NCAA hockey players are from Canada).

Both the World Juniors and NCAA hockey tournaments are very exciting to watch (and I find them superior to the NHL).
Click to expand...

Most top Canadian players still stay within the CHL (WHL, OHL, and QMJHL) development system. But the American youth hockey program has been steadily rising. The 2019 Draft has a high portion of American prospects selected in the Top 15. I think it's good to see hockey grow as a sport and become more competitive internationally.
 
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dailyhive.com

Canada wins gold at World Juniors in wild comeback vs Russia | Offside

Akil Thomas scored the game-winner in the final minutes as Canada defeated Russia 4-3 to win gold at the 2020 IIHF World Juniors.
dailyhive.com dailyhive.com
 
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