Four Washington Capitals prospects participated in the recently concluded 2006 WJC in Vancouver. Three of the four (Chris Bourque, Oscar Hedman, and Mikhail Yunkov) were making their second consecutive appearance on the U20 stage. Sasha Pokulok, the Capitals first selection in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, was the lone new face.

Chris Bourque

Chris Bourque, who joined Team USA directly from the Hershey Bears, was a tour de force in the opening game of the tournament, rampaging through Norway for five goals, of which three were scored on special teams (2 power play, 1 shorthanded). For his extraordinary effort, Bourque was selected as the Player of the Game for the U.S. Joining Bourque on the top line were Phil Kessel, currently a freshman at the University of Minnesota and the top-rated draft-eligible skater going into this year’s WJC, and Phoenix Coyotes draftee Kevin Porter (whom Bourque was a  linemate of at last year’s WJC). After the tournament opener, this line was the focus of a lot of attention by defenses, and there was precious little space in which to operate. Bourque contributed one more goal during the round-robin portion of the tournament.

Facing the Czech Republic to advance to a date in the semifinals with Russia, Bourque scored what proved to be the eventual game-winner, propelling the U.S. to a 2-1 victory. During the playoff round, U.S. coach Walt Kyle removed Porter from the Bourque/Kessel combination, first replacing him with T.J. Oshie and then Jack Skille. It didn’t seem to matter as the U.S. could only muster three goals total in their last two games.

Coming into the tournament as an overwhelming favorite, the U.S. dropped the bronze medal game to Finland and left Vancouver empty-handed. However, Bourque was the goal-scoring leader (7 goals) and finished as the fifth-leading scorer of the WJC.

Oscar Hedman

This smooth-skating Swedish defenseman was the plus/minus leader of the WJC at +10. Paired with Anton Stralman, Hedman’s decision-making was instrumental for Sweden as he jumped into the offensive rush numerous times (he had 15 shots during the course of the tournament), and demonstrated a lot of composure in his own zone. Hedman only scored one goal, but he made it count, as it was the game-winner against the Czech Republic. Playing with MoDo of the Swedish Elite League, Hedman was much more comfortable on the ice in comparison to last year’s WJC, and he has certainly matured as a player.

Sasha Pokulok

It seems strange that a hulking 6’5, 230-lb defenseman would become a forgotten man, but that was the case for Sasha Pokulok, as he was the seventh defenseman on Team Canada, a young squad which certainly benefited from playing in front of their home fans and won the gold medal for the second consecutive year. While this could prove to be a great learning experience, especially the time spent in practice, the opportunities for Pokulok to show what he was capable of doing, be it as a physical force or as an offensive defenseman, were scarce. 

Mikhail Yunkov

Switching between the third and fourth lines, WJC returnee Mikhail Yunkov did not feature a tremendous amount of offensive prowess, since his main responsibility was defensive play. Yunkov was solid on faceoffs, and is a hard-working two-way forward. There is no flash and dash to Yunkov’s game, but he played well and did provide some leadership.

For the second straight year, Yunkov played in the gold medal game against Canada. Alas, he went home with his second straight silver medal.

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