2020 has certainly beeninteresting. Every sport and league has been affected bydelays and cancellations due tothe COVID-19 pandemic, and for a whileit looked as if theIIHF World Junior Championship would fall into that category as well. But now the premier junior hockey tournamentis officially here.
The 2021 edition kicks off on Christmas Day with a triple-header, capped off with what will be a magnificent battle between two of the top teams going for gold Ru sia and the United States.
'GOLD OR BUST':
To break down that game and how things should shake out over the next 12 days, Sporting News chatted with longtime NCAA hockey analyst Dave Starman, who will be joining play-by-play caller Stephen Nelson for all Team USA games on NHL Network.
(Editor's note: This interview was edited for clarity and length. It should also be noted that it was conducted before Miles Mikolas Jersey the .)
SN: You were just in the bubble with the NCAA's National Collegiate Hockey Conference, so you kind of know how the bubble works. There are no fans, which is obviously the big one of the biggest draws of world juniors. What's it going to be like for these players when they go out and play these games now?DS: You know, it was interesting. When we were Jose Martinez Jersey in the pod with the NCHC in Omaha Nebraska , it was unique that there were no fans.But here's what was important: the fact that they pumped crowd noise in. Even though it wasjust kind of a low roar that was going on, it wasn't dead silence. It felt like there was at least a buzz going on throughout the arena, and then obviously with the music and the horns and the whole nine yards when goals got scored or between whistles, it just added to the ambiance.
I think it's going to be very unique for them to not have anybody there. But on the other hand, listen, we all as youth hockey players played in arenas where it was family and friends and there were 30 people watching the game.So it's not like this is a group of players that is unused to the empty seats. I think it's a matter of manufacturing your own emotion, and I think that each team will have its own unique challenge in that respect.
WORLD JUNIORS 2021: |
SN: There'sdefinitely one team that will probably be impacted the most by not having the crowd, as the Canadians arethe home team. Is this really just Canada's tournament to lose?
DS: That's a good question. Yes and no.I will say yes because whenever you'rethe host country, you figure to have a little bit of a leg up. But onthe other hand, when you're the host country especially them the pre sure really increases because the exposure increases.
When you've got so many really good players, you've got one puck, and that puck's got to get shared, and there are a lot of guys that are going to be on the ice that are used to having that puck on their stick for a little longer than they're going to get in this tournament. So I do think the adjustment to the first couple of games is going to have to happen for a team like Canada, and a team like the United States.The one thing the U.S. has going for them is they got the Ru sians right away, so they're gonna get a pretty stifftest.
Canada's got three teams before New Year's Eve, when they play the Finns, that aren't exactly powerhouses; they're good but they're not the traditional powerhouses that Canada and Finland are.So Canada on New Year's Eve,that might be the first game where they really find out what they have. Will it be too late to make the adjustments that they need to be succe sful on Jan.2 when the playoffs start ,where they're going to probably play the fourth-place team in the other pool?I wonder about their level of battle-testedne s once they get to Jan.2.SN: Speaking of with Canada, goaltending is always a big question. Devon Levi you actually know pretty wellbecause he plays at Northeastern. Can he be the No. 1 goalie for head coach Andre Tourigny?
DS: I've often said that coaches pick starters and No. 1goaliestend to pick themselves....He does play at Northeastern University in Hockey East,which is a really good offensive conference that's got some talent in itand produces some really good NHL players. So he's playing against quality players on a night-by-nightbasis,and I think it's a good way to evaluate whata goaltender could be at the next level.
He's a big kid who's really athletic. He uses his gloveand his feet extremely Red Schoendienst Jersey well. He's aggre sive in the crease. I like the way he plays. Northeastern likes to play a real up-and-down style, and they can grind you, they can defend well,but they're also willing to get out quick and at times your goaltender might face a 2-on-1once or twice a period. I think he's the kind of kid that is probably used to seeing quality opportunities on a night-by-night basis and that, to me, gives him a little bit of a leg up to what he's about to face in the world juniors.
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SN: Is there anyone Canadian roster who you think fans should keep an eye on?DS: Oh, keep an eye on the Alex Newhook kid from Boston College. He's just an exciting player. He's explosive, and he so fits the mold of what Boston College is. Back a ways, they had a line with theHayes brothers Kevin and Jimmy and Chris Kreider on Mark McGwire Jersey it,and he's a little bit of a combo of the three of them in a lot of different ways. He's a big kid who can skate, handlesthe puck well, can go to the net with it, makes plays. He's smart.He's got a little snarl tohis game. He brings a lot of components. He's not nece sarily a jackofalltrades, master of none, because I think his skating is really good; he fits the mold of that bigBoston College player that is multi-dimensional and can impact games on every shift.
SN: The United States plays Ru sia in its first game on Christmas Day. Must- Yadier Molina Jersey see TV. Does facing the Ru sians help set the table going forward in the tournament?DS: I think they're gonna find out a lot about themselves in this game. ... Game 1s are funny. They're funny from a TV perspective; they're even more up in the air from a hockey perspective, and I think you're gonna get a chance to see some things. I think the one thing head coach Nate Leaman would love to see in this game is this game, for the most part, played 5-on-5. ... So he can start to establish more his top-9, bottom-3 and seewherethe depth sorts out. ... To me, I look at the U.S. and Ifigure that there's a really good battle to who the depth guys on that back end are going to be. And the more that he can roll seven D, the better chance against a good team, the better chance he's going to get to figure it out because I d
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