2013 WJC Review: Finland takes step backward to relegation round Photo: Finnish defenseman and New York Islanders prospect Ville Pokka showed a solid, all-around game at the 2013 World Junior Championship (courtesy of Chapin Landvogt/HF) For North American hockey fans to understand Finland's seventh-place finish at the 2013 World Junior Championship tournament, all anyone has to do is think back to 2013 gold medal-winning USA's experience at last year's tournament in Western Canada. 2013 WJC Review: Canada fails to take medal for first time in 15 years Photo: Although his contributions didn't come on the scoresheet, Team Canada defenseman Scott Harrington was a steady, reliable performer at the 2013 World Junior Championship (courtesy of Chapin Landvogt/HF) The expectation for Canada is always the same: nothing short of a gold medal. But in recent history, the results have fallen short. After a pair of silver medals and a bronze over the last three World Juniors, Canada was once again tasked with bringing home the gold at the 2013 World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia. Pittsburgh Penguins own large, young group of prospects at AHL level Photo: Defenseman Joe Morrow is one of eight Penguins prospects playing in their first year of professional hockey. Morrow was selected 23rd overall by the Penguins in the 2011 NHL Draft. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) Like many teams in the AHL, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are beneficiaries of the ongoing NHL lockout, with several players who would normally be competing for a job in the NHL instead playing in the minors. Despite this flux of NHL caliber talent, the team has struggled all season, particularly on offense, where they rank among the bottom in the league. McCoshen leads USHL prospects for 2013 NHL Draft Photo: Waterloo Black Hawks defenseman Ian McCoshen, shown here playing for Team Housley at the 2012 All-American Prospects Game, is a top prospect out of the USHL for this year's NHL Draft (courtesy of Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) As the USHL season nears its halfway point, Hockey’s Future is offering a look at 10 players that you should have your eye on for this year's NHL Draft. All 10 players are currently on USHL teams and are eligible for the 2013 NHL Draft. Players from the U.S. NTDP squad competing in the USHL were not included in this review. Several Colorado Avalanche prospects finding success in junior leagues Photo: Winger Troy Bourke, currently ranked second on the Prince George Cougars in scoring, is one of the Avalanche prospects that is making his mark at the junior level during the 2012-13 campaign. (courtesy of Marissa Baecker/Getty Images) 2013 WJC Review: Switzerland takes difficult path to playoff round berth Photo: While Switzerland's success at the 2013 World Juniors was based mostly on effective team play, forward Sven Andrighetto provided offense when the team needed it (courtesy of Chapin Landvogt/HF) After last year’s trip to the relegation round, Team Switzerland managed to sneak back into the top-6 at the 2013 World Junior Championship, although this year they took a pretty unusual route to claim one of the four berths in the quarter-finals. 2013 WJC Review: Golden USA squad dominates second half of tournament Photo: Team USA goaltender John Gibson was strong throughout the 2013 World Junior Championship, earning the tournament MVP award for his performance (courtesy of Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) The United States claimed their first gold medal at the U-20 World Junior Championship since 2010, and just their third gold medal ever at this event after defeating reigning gold medalist Sweden, 3-1, in the WJC championship game. Washington Capitals own small group of CHL prospects Photo: Connor Carrick is one of only four Washington prospects currently playing in the CHL. (Terry Wilson/OHL Images) The Washington Capitals do not possess many prospects in the junior level this season and those they do have are all from the 2012 draft class. This is not an indication of thin talent for the Capitals, but that many of their prospects are taking different routes such as NCAA or playing in Europe. 2013 WJC Review: Russia settles for bronze on home ice Photo: Russian forward Valeri Nichushkin was not a standout for his country at the 2013 WJC, but he did acquit himself well in his first appearance at the U-20 event (courtesy of Derek Leung/Getty Images) Team Russia's bronze medal can be deemed as a good result on home soil, though not the result that was hoped for at the 2013 World Junior Championship. They surrendered to Sweden in the semifinals in the shoot-out, but the win over Canada in the bronze medal game surely cheered up the home crowd. NCAA college prospects notebook for December, 2012 Photo: University of North Dakota forward and Florida Panthers prospect Corban Knight had the hot scoring hand in the NCAA during the month of December (courtesy of Brace Hemmelgarn/Icon SMI) With the first half of the 2012-13 season drawing to a close and the second half getting underway, there were plenty of prospect stories making the rounds in college hockey in December. Hockey’s Future takes a look back at the final month of the 2012 calendar year. Unless otherwise noted, all stats are current as of Dec. 31. |
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