Featured Article
Thrashers 2006 WJC preview
Written by: Holly Gunning on 12/16/2005 
Ondrej Pavelec is one of the three goaltenders who will be in camp for the Czech Republic. He will compete with Marek Schwarz, drafted 17th overall in 2004 by the St. Louis Blues, and Radek Fiala, who was undrafted in 2004 and 2005. Schwarz, 19, is regarded as the likely No. 1 despite an inconsistent season with Sparta Praha. He returned there this season after a year in the WHL, and is 7-8-0 with a .920 save percentage and 2.57 GAA.
The Czechs should not hesitate to use 18-year-old Pavelec, however, who has been exceptional this season for Cape Breton of the QMJHL. The rookie is first in save percentage in the league at .927, third in goals against at 2.51, and has a 15-10-0 record.
The Thrashers’ 41st overall pick in 2005, Pavelec previously helped Czech Republic place fourth at 2005 World Under-18 Championships held in Ceske Budejovice and Plzen, Czech Republic, notching 4-3-0 record, one shutout, 2.05 GAA and .931 save percentage in seven games. He ranked second among all tournament goalies in GAA and third in save percentage.
Pavelec is one of a total of 15 Czech players in camp who are playing in the CHL this season.
Defenseman Boris Valabik and right wing Juraj Gracik are in camp for Slovakia. Valabik, 19, is a lock to anchor the defense. The Thrashers’ first round pick in 2004, he has four points and 109 penalty minutes in 25 games with the OHL Kitchener Rangers this season.
Valabik played on the Slovak team at 2005 World Junior Championships in Grand Forks, N.D., and Thief River Falls, Minn., notching one assist and 20 penalty minutes in six games. The 6’6 blueliner also helped Slovakia finish sixth at 2004 World Under-18 Championships, notching three assists and 26 penalty minutes in six games.
Gracik, on the other hand, is not a lock, but is likely to make the team. He will need to play well in camp and in the exhibition games beginning early next week. A fifth round pick in 2004, Gracik has 24 points in 29 games for the Tri-City Americans of the WHL, and is on pace to triple or even quadruple his output from his rookie year.
The 19-year-old played for Slovakia at 2005 WJC’s, notching two penalty minutes and +1 rating in six games.
Defenseman Andrei Zubarev will be suiting up for Russia. Last year he captained the Russian squad that finished fifth at 2005 World Under-18 Championships and shared third among the team’s defensemen with two points (one goal, one assists) in seven games.
Zubarev is having a very good year with Kazan Ak-Bars, with 10 points in 31 games as one of the two youngest players on the team. He was a sixth round pick by the Thrashers in the 2005 Entry Draft.
Not going to Vancouver
Center Alex Bourret, taken in the first round in 2005, participated in Canada’s summer camp, but was not invited to the pre-tournament camp. He was a member of Canadian Under-18 national team participating in 2003 Junior World Cup, notching two points (one goal, one assist) and 16 penalty minutes in five games. He also played for Team Canada at 2002 Under-17 World Hockey Challenge, notching one assist and four penalty minutes in six games. Bourret was just named offensive player of the week in the QMJHL for the week of Dec. 5-11 and has 55 points in 32 games this season.Left wing Jordan LaVallee, a fourth rounder in 2005, had a good showing in Team USA's National Junior Evaluation Camp held in Lake Placid, N.Y. last summer, but has been injured the entire 2005-06 season. The US team is the strong favorite for the tournament.
Copyright 2005 Hockey’s Future. Do not reprint or otherwise duplicate without permission of the editorial staff.
HF Quick Navigation
