Three games into the 2018 CIBC Canada-Russia series and plenty has been learned about both the CHL and the Russian teams.
At the halfway point, here’s a few takeaways:
Full Val-ue: The Russians will once again be coached by Valery Bragin. He’s become somewhat of a legend for his success with the Russian national U20 team, and last year was the first in which he failed to win a medal with the U20 program.
While he came into the event with a positive, light-hearted disposition, you can bet he’ll have his game face on once WJC play begins in December. Bragin’s teams play well defensively, block shots, and usually have enough skill to score regularly. No doubt his team will be ready go Dec. 26.
Wide Open Spaces: One thing is abundantly clear: this year’s Canadian WJC selection camp is truly wide open. With only one player from last year’s team currently available (Alex Formenton), Tim Hunter and his staff will have its work cut out just to get 32 names invited to camp.
It’s safe to say Formenton is a lock to make the team. Portland’s Cody Glass emerged as the top candidate from the WHL portion of the series, and through one game in the OHL leg of the Canada-Russia Series, names such as Evan Bouchard, Barrett Hayton, Nick Suzuki and MacKenzie Entwistle stick out.
Cagey Russians: Without a doubt, the goaltending tandem brought over by the Russian federation is the best I can remember in my 14 years of covering the series. Columbus prospect Daniil Tarasov made 21 saves in defeat in Game 1 and added 20 more difficult saves in a 3-1 loss in Game 3.
Pyotr Kochetkov was outstanding in winning Game 2 with a 33-save effort. He entered the tournament not having played since October 23 in Russia’s VHL.
To decline or not to decline: Going into Game 2 on Tuesday night, the Russian power play was 1-for-36 since 2010 in this series. Go figure, my partner called that they would score the game-winner on the power play — he often says it’s not how many power play goals you score, it’s when you score them. Nice work RJ.
Kids Can Play: In total we got a look at five first-year, draft-eligible players in the WHL portion of the CIBC Canada-Russia series, and four of them made our November rankings. Of the four, I was most impressed by Nolan Foote.
He’s still growing into his body, his speed had increased immensely and he was actively engaged in board battles, winning most of them. We didn’t get much of a chance to see his NHL shot, but with due process, those opportunities will come. It’s rare that first-year draft eligibles make Canada’s team, but Foote is a late-2000 birthday, which gives him a leg up on the true 2001-born players (Cozens, Dach, Byram). Dillon Hamaliuk of Seattle played in Game 2 as an injury replacement and didn’t look out of place. He, too, is a late-2000 birthday, and he projects as a speedy power forward.
Oh Where Art Though: One prominent player missing in this series is Gabe Vilardi of the Kingston Frontenacs. Vilardi played just 32 games in 2017-18 but put up 58 points. He’s been slowed each of the past two seasons by injury and the Kings are taking their time with the talented centre. He’s yet to surface, but there are rumours he may be ready to go to selection camp. Based on past play he should be in the mix, but will have his work cut out for him in order to make Team Canada after so much time off.
The Real Deal: A relative unknown to the hockey world, Prince Albert right winger Brett Leason has had the best start to the season of any CHL player. He’s tallied a point in every Raiders game and he is amongst the CHL leaders in several offensive categories.
At 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, Leason has great top-end speed, and some undercover stick skills. He was notable in the first two games of the Canada-Russia series, picking up an assist on the game-winner in Game 1. Whenever he was out there in Game 2, it seemed like Team WHL had offensive zone possession and he was in on creating several chances. I think he did enough over two games to earn an invite to selection camp, which is rare for someone who has never before been in Hockey Canada’s program of excellence.
United By Sport: It was interesting to see the dynamic with Team Russia playing against Team OHL, which had Americans Derian Hatcher and David Legwand behind the bench. Hatcher and Legwand are co-owners of the Sarnia Sting and with no OHL coach on Hockey Canada’s staff, the easiest fix was to use the staff of the home team. In Hatcher’s interview with our Faizal Kahmisa, he clearly could not have been happier to participate.
Goal of the Tourney: Best way to witness this is to watch it, then watch it again and again. Notice the subtleties in the play. First Ryan Merkley avoids contact and makes a great five-foot pass to Hayton, who was supporting the play with speed. Next, on the left side of your screen, watch Entwistle avoid the off-side.
[relatedlinks]
