WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP CHECK IN

Hockey

Written by Chase Howard

With the World Junior Championship semi-finals on Friday, August 19th it seems time we checked in on the action.

Source (Background Photo & Logos): HHOF-IIHF Images

Quarterfinals Results

Finland vs. Germany - Final 5-2 Germany

• Finland handles Germany primarily through an explosive power play to become the first team to advance to the semi-finals

Sweden vs. Latvia - Final 2-1 Sweden

• Likely the tightest of the quarterfinal games. Credit to Latvia for keeping it close but even more credit to Sweden for pulling it out

Canada vs. Switzerland - Final 6-3 Canada

• Canada did what they do best; control the puck and generate a bevy of high danger scoring chances, with apologies to the Swiss this one felt over pretty quick

United States vs. Czechia - Final 4-2 Czechia

• The upset of the quarterfinals as upstart Czechia took down the reigning champ and one of the popular final picks in the United States.

Semi Final Preview

Canada vs. Czechia (4 PM EST)

• Czechia has another tall order on their hands after beating the talented US team, as they now have to get past the juggernaut Canadian team in the semis if they want a shot at their first world juniors title since 2001. Canada is determined not to let them get it, having won their five games outscoring opponents by a combined score of 33-10 including a 5-1 drubbing of Czechia in the preliminary round. Canada's Captain, the highly touted Mason McTavish (Anaheim, 3rd, 2021) leads the tournament in scoring with 14 points (seven goals).

Furthermore, linemate Connor Bedard who is most likely to get his name called first at the 2023 draft has seven points (three goals) and sits third at the WJC with a plus 8. Czechia will have to get to Canada netminder Dylan Garand (New York Rangers, 103rd, 2020) who carries a 2.00 GAA and a .917 in the WJC so far, which based on those numbers will be no easy task. Despite all this Czechia has to feel like they have a good shot after upsetting the defending champs in a complete effort, despite losing their final three games in the preliminary round after getting outscored 14-6. Centre Jan Mysak (Montreal 48th, 2020), Czechia’s captain scored the opening goal against the US and paces his team in scoring this year with six points (four goals).

Czechia has not finished top three in the WJC since finishing third in 2005 and hopes to reach pay dirt again, with what will need to be a hard-fought win. Overall Canada is going to be tough to beat, especially if Garand gets hot. Regardless Czechia has a chance, maybe not a great one but this tournament has been known to produce frenetic finishes and surprise results.

Finland vs. Sweden (8 pm EST)

• As often seems to be the case, these Nordic powerhouses will be facing off in the WJC semis. Sweden is coming off a close-to-two-to-one victory over Latvia in the quarterfinals, in large part due to the high-quality play of Goalie Jesper Wallstedt (Minnesota, 20th, 2021). The 21-year-old has only allowed six goals on 77 shots in three games (.922 Save %). It isn't always easy getting to Wallstedt, as Sweden's stalwart captain and defenseman Emil Andrae (Philadelphia, 54th, 2020) leads Sweden and all defensemen with eight points (four goals). The Swede’s captain scored the winning goal late in the third against Latvia the other day, so you know the team is riding a fair bit of momentum.

Finland meanwhile cruised to a 5-2 victory over a quality German team, and very much the opposite of Sweden is succeeding by the grace of their high-powered offence. In fact, the Fins feature three of the top four scorers in the tournament, as forward Joakim Kemell (Nashville, 17th, 2022) is second with 11 points (three goals) while fellow Finnish forwards Roby Jarventie (Ottawa, 33rd, 2020; four goals) and Aatu Raty (New York Islanders, 52nd 2021; three goals) each are tied for third with nine points.

Overall Finland, who finished third last year, is looking for consecutive top-three finishes at the WJC for the first time since doing it four straight times from 2001-04. This has all the making of a tight matchup, so it tracks that special teams could very well decide this one; following their team strengths Finland has the tournament's best power play at 59.1 percent (13-for-22), while Sweden has the top penalty-killing at 92.9 percent (13-for-14).