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Catching up on news around the hockey world

Jan 04, 2019

A couple notes…

World Juniors

USA plays Russia today at 4:00PM EST. The Russians are led in scoring by first-round Detroit pick Grigori Denisenko, who has 3 goals in the KHL this year as an 18 year old. The Americans have a very strong team this year, led by St. Cloud stand-out Ryan Poehling, a Montreal Canadiens 1st-round look in 2017.

A tournament that had been at one point cited as a showdown between two star centers: potential 2019 1st overall pick Jack Hughes for the Americans and likely 2020 1st overall selection Alexis Lafreniere has been anything but. Hughes has found himself regularly out of the line-up and Canada have found themselves out of the tournament in the quarterfinals thanks to Finland.

The Finns, led in scoring by Penn State freshman Aarne Talvitie (Devils 6th rd) will play Philipp Kurashev (Blackhawks 4th rd) and the rest of Switzerland’s team later tonight. I’m looking forward to these last few games, although it is odd to have no Sweden or Canada.

In other World Junior news, Kazakhstan relegated Denmark from the top World Junior division, meaning Germany will replace them and the Kazakhs will stay.

Women’s Worlds U18

It’s in Japan this year, and I spent some time learning about the teams. The defending champion US team is coached by former UMD head coach Maura Crowell, who was an associate coach last year. Josh Sciba, Brianna Decker and Alli Altmann round out the coaching staff. There are plenty of players from the same team, six from Shattuck Prep, four from Selects Academy. They’re captained by Dominique Petrie, a Hermosa Beach, California native who won gold last year as well. Petrie is a freshman at Harvard this year.

The Swedish team have a mix of players from their pro and lower leagues. 2001 F Josefin Bouveng has 10 goals so far in her 2nd season of pro hockey. 2003 F Maria Lindberg has 9 points for IF Troja-Ljungby of Division 1 alongside teammate 2002 F Elin Svensson who has 11. 2001 D Mina Waxin has 15 points in her second year patrolling the blue line for MODO. 2001 F Estelle Forsberg plays for AIK, as has 2001 F Felicia Nordlund. 2002 F Hanna Thuvik has skated in 28 games for Göteborg this year, earning 8 points. Late 2001 F Jenny Antonsson is a staple of the U18 national team and has over 50+ games for HV71 under her belt in the last two seasons.

The Russian team seems young, researching players from their press release. 2002 F Polina Luchnikova has 23 points in 25 games for Agidel Ufa this season. 2003 F Sofiya Lifatova has 14 points this year for Biryusa Krasnoyarsk, in the Russian pro circuit. 2003 F Kristi Shashkina has been producing in pro hockey as well, with 11 points so far.

The Canadian team is captained by Maggie MacEachern (Durham West, PWHL) with Alexie Guay (North American Hockey Academy, JWHL) and Grace Shirley (Saskatoon, SFMAAAHL) as alternates.

Other

Per Todd Milewski, Wisconsin will look to add former Harvard forward Ty Pelton-Byce to the roster, who has two seasons of eligibility remaining. I thought Pelton-Byce was a terrific player in high school, and he had 25 points last year for the Crimson.

USHL Top Prospects Game Rosters are out. The game is on January 8th in Lincoln, NE. All 40 players set to compete are draft-eligible.

Kimball Union Academy receives an anonymous $20M donation

College Hockey Reads

Ledyard Bank Classic has sentimental meaning for Dartmouth, Gaudet, Riley family - USCHO

Ohio State’s Jobst says Buckeyes have ‘a lot of fuel in the fire to get the job done’ - USCHO

Holy Cross' Top Scorer Transferring to Miami - CHN

UMass adds former Cornell defenseman Bliss as graduate transfer for second half of ‘18-19 season - USCHO

High School Hockey

Class 2A defending champ Minnetonka beats Maple Grove to keep its undefeated record intact

MN Hockey Hub’s Loren Nelson writes about Teddy Lagerback (ASU) and how he’s figured in to the mix for the red-hot undefeated defending state champions

Chaska knocks off No. 2 Edina in one-goal victory

Loren Nelson with another look at the win over Edina by Chaska. A group that have high expectations this season are still floating just over .500, but Minnesota recruits 01 D Mike Koster and 01 F Rhett Pitlick showed their ability posting 4 point nights in the 4-3 upset. Mike Koster’s powerplay winner:

How high school hockey in Minnesota has changed since Jack Jablonski's injury

Star Trib’s David La Vaque and Alan Palazzolo write about what they see as a change (reduction) in serious checks from behind since Jack Jablonski received a check-from-behind that rocked the hockey world. Jablonski’s former coach Ken Pauly ‘isn’t ready to declare victory. He said he sees “a couple of dangerous hits every night” and pointed to the possibility of officials being more reluctant to call the more serious penalties because of their ability to sway the outcome of games.’

General Links

The 88 Summit: A Swap Meet of Hockey Knowledge

SI’s Alex Prewitt talks about the 88 Summit, where Darryl Belfry brought together a number of the game’s top talents to meet and talk about their game this summer. It’s a great look at how the top players approach the game: “As a fellow offensive-minded, right-shot defenseman, Carrick was interested to hear how Boston’s system encourages McAvoy to activate inside the blue line, asking the same of Gostisbehere and the Flyers. In other words, the studious Carrick was getting his fill at a swap meet of trade secrets. “That would be the day, if it’s not facilitated, Charlie McAvoy would pick up his phone and tell me what he’s thinking on this clip,” Carrick says with a scoff. “That’s not happening. That’s not how guys are. But it was good to have someone act on our better interests, and all of us had interests in improving.”

How Spanish hockey announcers translate the game

ESPN’s Greg Wyshinski with a fun piece: "Checking is something that I really can't translate," Rivera said. "So I use 'get close to someone,' which is something you use to describe a boyfriend or girlfriend. Why not make it fun, you know? Respecting the people that are giving 100 percent on the ice, but also respecting the people who are new, and have never seen this sport before."'

Arizona flexes its growing national influence as women’s hockey keeps growing

Nice look at hockey talent from the desert by The Athletic’s Cat Silverman

Meet Dan Shrader, the full-time sanitation worker who the Winnipeg Jets call upon for draft advice - Grand Forks Herald

Jack Eichel Wants It All as the Sabres Rediscover Relevancy - SI

Finding Patrik Laine: The incredible origin story of the Jets eccentric star - The Athletic

For [Jesper] Boqvist the older, slow and steady wins the race: “Not surprised he is this good” - Elite Prospects Rinkside

Riley Tufte growing as both a leader and player - The Athletic

NCAA rules are 'incomprehensible,' says Condoleezza Rice - USA Today

Brace yourself for the end of one-and-done. Emoni Bates, 14, is the potential first pick in the 2022 NBA Draft - The Athletic

A black hockey player faced ugly racist taunts. Then his teammates went to work. - Washington Post

Augustana (South Dakota) likely to go Division 1

Tua Tagovailoa Still Has Much to Prove—For His Name and His Culture - SI