2013 U18 WJC Playoffs: Canada, Russia could renew gold medal rivalry Photo: Forward Vladimir Tkachev has been the scoring star so far for Russia at the 2013 U18 World Junior Championship (courtesy of Derek Leung/Getty Images) The preliminary round has come and gone at the 2013 U18 World Junior Championship, and Groups A and B each featured one fairly dominant team. 2013 U18 WJC Preview: Avoiding relegation is Slovakia’s main goal Photo: Slovakia will be short on offensive firepower for the U18 WJC, and may be even more so if Gatineau Olypiques forward Martin Reway is not able to participate (courtesy of Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images) Coach Ernest Bokros has been double-shifting this winter as the U20 and U18 Slovakia national team coach, but he’ll only be bringing one player to the upcoming U18 who was also with him at the WJC, namely forward Martin Reway. And that’s only if Reway is healthy enough to go. What he’ll also be bringing along with him are three of the five oldest players at the tournament as well as the tournament’s youngest participant. Dano making a name for himself in KHL and international play Photo: Slovak forward and 2013 NHL Draft prospect Marko Dano (L) has made a name for himself the past couple of seasons with strong play on the international stage (courtesy of Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images) How often does one hear about a draft prospect whose dad was a pro hockey player and now that kid, who hasn't turned 18 yet, is looking to make his career bigger than his father's career and in fact looks like he might pull it off? Several names could come to mind, with Canadians' Griffin Reinhart or Max Domi being two recent examples of talented, young players following in the footsteps of well-known fathers that are now NHL alumni. 2013 WJC Review: Despite strong start, Slovakia performs pretty much as expected Photo: Peterborough Petes defenseman and New York Rangers prospect Peter Ceresnak was the top defender for Slovakia at the 2013 World Juniors (courtesy of Terry Wilson/OHL Images) On the first day of tournament play at the 2013 World Junior Championship, Slovakia fell just short of what might have been the tournament’s biggest sensation when it turned around a 2-0 Russian lead to force the game to overtime, where Russian defenseman Albert Yarullin scored on a power play goal to decide it, 3-2. Notes and quotes from the preliminary round of the 2013 World Juniors Photo: Highly-rated 2013 prospect Aleksander Barkov of Finland has roots in the country that is hosting the 2013 World Junior Championship, Russia (courtesy of Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images) Notes Team Sweden is sporting the best power-play, coming in at 35.71%, while the USA tops penalty killing units at 88.24%. Interestingly enough, no team has been on the power-play more than Sweden and only Russia has been shorthanded less than the USA. |
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