Starting today, Canada will be hosting the World Junior Championships. This year the opening round games will be held in Edmonton and Red Deer, AB.
Teams in each pool will play a round robin competition of four games with the top four teams in each pool advancing to the quarter finals. The bottom teams in each pool will play a best two out of three relegation series to see which team moves back to Division 1-A.
This year, Pool A will feature Canada, Finland, Czechia, Germany, and Austria. All Pool A games will be held at Rogers Place, Edmonton, AB. Pool B will include USA, Sweden, Russia, Slovakia, and Switzerland. All Pool B games will be played at WP Centrium, Red Deer, AB.
Preliminary round games will continue through Friday December 31. The playoff round will begin on Sunday January 2 and a champion will be crowned on Wednesday January 5.
Detroit Prospects Competing in the World Junior Championships
This year, eight prospects of the Detroit Red Wings will be competing in the tournament and last week, I wrote a primer on the eight Red Wings you will see front and center. Each of these players are top prospects in the deep Red Wings prospect pool.
Carter Mazur and Red Savage, both forwards, will represent USA in these championships. Donovan Sebrango and Sebastian Cossa will be playing for the host team from Canada. Top defense prospect Simon Edvinsson and returning forward Theodor Niederbach will represent Sweden. Defenseman Eemil Viro will once again suit up for Finalnd this year. Finally, goaltender Jan Bednar gets a second chance to represent Czechia.
Updates on the World Junior Championships at OT
The Octopus Thrower team will be posting regular observations of all Detroit Prospects as they play throughout the tournament. Our goal will be to spotlight those players representing the Red Wings and bring some more analysis.
World Junior Championships Preliminary Round Schedule
Sunday December 26
- FIN vs GER, Edmonton, Group A, 12:00 MT, 14:00 ET
- RUS vs SWE, Red Deer, Group B, 14:30 MT, 16:30 ET
- CZE vs CAN, Edmonton, Group A, 17:00 MT, 19:00 ET
- USA vs SVK, Red Deer, Group B, 19:30 MT, 21:30 ET
Monday December 27
- AUT vs FIN, Edmonton, Group A, 12:00 MT, 14:00 ET
- RUS vs SUI, Red Deer, Group B, 14:30 MT, 16:30 ET
- GER vs CZE, Edmonton, Group A, 17:00 MT, 19:00 ET
- SWE vs SVK, Red Deer, Group B, 19:30 MT, 21:30 ET
Tuesday December 28
- SUI vs USA, Red Deer, Group B, 14:30 MT, 16:30 ET
- AUT vs CAN, Group A, Edmonton, 17:00 MT, 19:00 ET
Wednesday December 29
- FIN vs CZE, Group A, Edmonton, 12:00 MT, 14:00 ET
- SVK vs RUS, Group B, Red Deer, 14:30 MT, 16:30 ET
- CAN vs GER, Group A, Edmonton, 17:00 MT, 19:00 ET
- SWE vs USA, Group B, Red Deer, 19:30 MT, 21:30 ET
Thursday December 30
- CZE vs AUT, Group A, Edmonton, 14:30 MT, 16:30 ET
- SVK vs SUI, Group B, Red Deer, 17:00 MT, 19:00 ET
Friday December 31
- GER vs AUT, Group A, Edmonton, 12:00 MT, 14:00 ET
- SUI vs SWE, Group B, Red Deer, 14:30 MT, 16:30 ET
- CAN vs FIN, Group A, Edmonton, 17:00 MT, 19:00 ET
- USA vs RUS, Group B, Red Deer, 19:30 MT, 21:30 ET
Playoff rounds will begin on Sunday, January 2. I’ll be previewing those once the field is set.