The Hlinka Gretzky Cup has wrapped up in Alberta and I have finally finished transcribing all my interviews from the World Junior Showcase in Kamloops, so I'll do one more mostly prospect-oriented blog here, then plan to shift gears for a bit back to the big club next week.
Despite falling into an early 2-0 hole, Team Canada skated away with gold medals and the new Hlinka Gretzky trophy on Saturday after scoring six straight goals to put away the Swedes.
It was a strong showing from the Canadian team, with 16-year-old Alexis Lafreniere showing why he's the next-one-after-Jack-Hughes with an outstanding two-goal performance.
Lafrieniere just completed his rookie season with Sidney Crosby's old team, the Rimouski Oceanic. He finished in a tie for sixth in goals in the QMJHL last season, with 42, and ninth overall in points with 80. And check out this beauty from Saturday:
Canada's victory is tainted by the team's questionable win over Team USA in Friday's semifinal. The Canadians won the game in overtime after forcing the extra frame thanks to Dylan Cozens' apparent buzzer-beater that tied the game at 5. The officials called it a good goal on the ice, and because video review wasn't being used in the tournament, the call stood even though TSN's broadcast showed that time had expired before the puck entered the net.
If the call had gone the other way, it would have been a huge win for the Americans, who build their roster for this tournament each year without including any of the elite talent from their National Team Development Program. But instead of playing for gold, the U.S. team ended up falling just short in a 5-4 loss to Russia in Saturday's bronze-medal game.
Vasili Podkolzin was the standout player in that game, with a hat trick for Russia.
With its debut in North America, this is the first time that this tournament has been televised, so it has given us all a chance to see what the fuss is about with these 2019 and 2020 draft-eligible players. TSN's Craig Button, who has been attending for years in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, shared his current top five for next year's draft during Saturday's broadcast:
Craig Button's 2019 Top 5
1. Jack Hughes 2. Dylan Cozens 3. Philip Broberg 4. Kaako Kakko 5. Vasili Podkolzin
One of the reasons why World Juniors is so fun every year is because the U20 kids make more mistakes than their NHL counterparts. That leads to more wide-open action, more goals, more lead changes—more drama, all the way around.
These games in Edmonton shared those qualities and were a ton of fun to watch.
Over the next four years, the tournament will alternate between its "Hlinka" roots in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and the new "Gretzky" component in Alberta. I'll bet that in 2020 you'll see much higher attendance and a greater overall degree of hype for Round 2 in Edmonton and the surrounding area.
Next up—if you missed it, Luke Fox of Sportsnet has followed up on his teaser, where Dylan Larkin talks about Quinn Hughes as a potential Norris Trophy candidate, with his full story:
"Maybe a Duncan Keith but a better skater."
Quick Shifts: NHL stars have high praise for Quinn and Jack Hughes | Max Pacioretty's trade value takes a hit | Artemi Panarin's teammates want him in camp + 9 more NHL things... https://t.co/QseYlGHDzmpic.twitter.com/tO05wy1P8o
Larkin's quotes came from last week's Power Edge Pro skills camp, where the Hughes brothers continued to dominate the conversation even in the presence of superstars like Connor McDavid.
"The kind of defenceman I love playing with is a good-skating, puck-moving defenceman — and that’s exactly what they’re getting," said Larkin of Quinn, who he played with on Team USA at the World Championship in Denmark. "He could be a Norris Trophy defenceman with his offensive instincts. He’s a great skater; he can skate around anybody. And he’s a great passer. Maybe a Duncan Keith but a better skater."
Last week in Kamloops, Quinn had a pretty astute assessment of Michael DiPietro as he watched his fellow Canucks prospect struggle in giving up five goals on 18 shots in half a game's worth of action as Hughes' United States White team beat Canada Red 7-5 on Tuesday—the game where Quinn set up his brother Jack for the late winner.
"I think the gameplan going in was—we all knew how good of a goaltender Mikey was, so try to make it hard on him—get screens, traffic," said Quinn after that game. "The best goaltenders in the world sometimes have off nights and I'm sure that's what's going on with Mikey right now. He'll be back on his A game soon. Especially at Vancouver camp, I got to see how really good he is and how talented and focused and dedicated he is. I don't know if he'll sleep tonight but the next game he plays, I guarantee he'll be on his A game."
Quinn was right. DiPietro did play once more in the tournament, taking the second half of Canada's 4-1 win over Sweden last Friday. He came in with the game scoreless after his counterpart Matthew Villalta saw just eight shots in 28 minutes of action. DiPietro stopped 18 of 19 shots to earn the win and most likely maintain his status as frontrunner for the starting job at December's World Junior tournament.
Here's what USA Hockey assistant executive director of hockey operations John Vanbiesbrouck had to say about Hughes:
Quinn's obviously highly picked by Vancouver so people here in British Columbia are paying very keen attention. And they should, because he brings a level of vision to the game that very few have.
I think that right now he's doing a great job of honing his skills; he's with a great program at the University of Michigan. He's going to be a leader on our team, and part of the growth for players is learning how to be leaders. Even though they're young players and they're coming into a lot of things, they're young. Say with Quinn, going to Vancouver's camp for the first time and you're looking around and you just don't know what to expect. With our group, he's a leader—and learning how to lead is a real factor. Playing the game is really important and having skill is really important but learning how to lead is a really big factor. I see that in him.
Vanbiesbrouck was then asked if he felt that Hughes had more to learn when he returns to Michigan this fall:
I think that each player makes their own decision for their own reasons. I think that he's having a great time at the University of Michigan and knows that skill is one thing, playing on a team. My understanding is that he really enjoys his teammates and you're going to become a pro soon enough.
I think he's taking a level head to not doing that too quickly. He's getting some good advice in that regard.
Pro hockey is a big animal for young players today. They're coming in waves, they're coming in quick. Eighty-two games plus playoffs—that's a lot. Mentally, I think you have to understand the mental side of it too—the strain and the stress. His decision was to take in all these things and give it an account. I could say that going back to the University of Michigan for another year is never gonna hurt him.
On the same topic, here's what Quinn himself had to say about his decision to return to college:
"I think I was just thinking about—what's going to help me when I'm 22-23 years old? How am I going to get better? What's going to make me a better hockey player in the long run? What's going to allow me to have a longer career?
"I think if I would have gone to Vancouver this year it would have been great, it would have worked out fine. Obviously, it's the toughest league in the world so there would have been good parts of the season and then obviously some low points for sure. For me, I just realized there's still things I can do at the college hockey level. I really like the group and everything like that that we've got there. I think it was smart for me to head back and I think Vancouver kind of agrees with that."
Is leadership a focus for him?
"Yeah, it's a good opportunity here for me to lead and be a leader for sure. Heading back to Michigan, I'm a sophomore. I can take more of a leadership role there as well. You can always work on your leadership characteristics. I could be a 35-year-old vet and still be learning things so I think it's always something you can work on."
And his thoughts on returning to college:
"I've always said to people that going to Michigan is one of the best things that I've ever done, not only because of the hockey part but as a person. There's so much more to life than hockey and you realize that when you go to college. I had people living next door to me that are trying to be doctors and stuff like that. It's just different there. The football games are great; the basketball team did really well last year and I have two of my best friends that are there, so I'm sure we'll have some fun, too."
My last tidbit from Kamloops: here are a few words from Finnish coach Jussi Ahokas after Canucks prospect Toni Utunen was named his team's player of the game when Finland fell 4-3 in overtime to Canada last Thursday:
"Ah, yeah. He's a good defensive defenseman. Solid two-way guy. That's, I think, where he is. He hits well. Good in the defensive zone and when he keeps his game simple, it's effective."
Utunen captained the Finnish U18 team that won gold in Russia back in April. In Kamloops, he was pointless with four penalty minutes in five games of action.
Finally—back at the NHL level. Give Loui Eriksson and the rest of Team Henke the win as Henrik Lundqvist's crew beat Mats Zuccarello's team 10-7 in front of 20,000 fans at Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo, Norway on Saturday in the Henke and Zucca Summer Classic 2018.
Eriksson and Lundqvist teamed up with Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Carl Hagelin, Mattias Ekholm, Artem Anisimov, John Klingberg, Hampus Lindholm, William Karlsson, Kevin Fiala, William Nylander and Daniel Alfredsson for the win. Zuccarello scored four of his team's seven goals in a group that also included Zdeno Chara and both Filip and Peter Forsberg (no relation, of course).
Good to see Loui on the ice, even if it is only for a charity game. Eriksson peaked in his third season with both his previous teams, going from 14 to 36 goals with Dallas in 2008-09, then 22 goals to 30 with Boston in 2015-16. Maybe he and Elias Pettersson will find some Swedish magic in his third year with the Canucks next season.
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