After two years of cancellations due to the pandemic, the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge has returned to the hockey calendar this fall. Seven teams from five nations are facing off in Langley and Delta, B.C. from Nov. 3 to 12.
The competing players are still two or more years away from being drafted. But this tournament offers an opportunity to get an early look at some of the top talents from across the hockey world — and start cranking up the hype machine.
Three days remain in the round-robin portion of this year’s event. Then, the top four squads will play for the medals on Saturday.
At this stage, it looks like we have a pretty good idea of which teams will square off for gold. The bronze-medal competition remains much murkier.
American Beauties
Team USA has dominated, winning all five of its games through Tuesday and outscoring opponents 31-10 for a tournament-leading plus-21 goal differential.
Tuesday night, James Hagens led the way with his fourth and fifth goals of the tournament as the United States cruised to a 6-1 win over Canada Black (2-0-2-1) in front of a lively crowd of about 1,000 at Sungod Arena in Delta.
Hagens leads all players with 14 points in five games. And while his linemate, Cole Eiserman, collected a tournament-leading nine goals in his first four games, the pair switched roles on Tuesday night. Eiserman assisted on both of Hagens’ goals and kept pace with him in the scoring race, where he sits second with 13 points.
With Tuesday’s win, the U.S. team has clinched first place in the standings and guaranteed itself a spot in the gold medal game. The Americans will wrap up their preliminary round on Thursday against Canada White (0-1-2-1) and will be the only team that will go into Saturday’s medal games following a rest day.
Finns Are Flying
After taking down Sweden by a 6-3 score on Tuesday at the 5,000-seat Langley Events Centre, Finland has now won three of its first four games, losing only to the Americans. That’s good enough for second place in the standings with nine points, with the remaining games on Wednesday against Canada Red (1-1-2-0) and Friday against Canada White.
With 17 goals scored and 10 allowed through four games, Finland’s plus-7 goal differential is second-best in the standings. Roope Vesterinen took over his team’s scoring lead on Tuesday with two goals and an assist against Sweden, bringing his total to seven points. Akseli Pulkkanen earned player-of-the-game honors for a breakout three-point game of his own, with a goal and two assists for five points in total.
The Finns are this close to clinching second place and the opportunity to battle the Americans for gold. A win of any type over Canada Red on Wednesday would do the job.
Canada’s Triple Trouble
There’s still a small chance that all three Canadian teams can finish in the top four and play for medals, but it’s looking increasingly unlikely.
After eking out a 6-5 overtime victory over winless Czechia on Tuesday, Canada White is in the most precarious position. That group sits sixth in the seven-team standings with a 0-1-2-1 record for just three points and has arguably its two toughest matchups still ahead: the Americans on Thursday and Finland on Friday.
Canada Black currently sits third in the standings with seven points but has played one more game than the other teams it’s jockeying with. Team Black prevailed over both other Canadian squads but lost to Finland and the U.S. in regulation and to Sweden in overtime.
The Black team has also been shorthanded, especially in terms of offensive punch. Malcolm Spence, who has 11 points in 13 games as a rookie with the OHL’s Erie Otters, has been limited to just two games so far. Macklin Celebrini, who put up 117 points in 52 games with Shattuck-St. Mary’s U-18 team last season and has 14 points in nine games this year with the Chicago Steel of the USHL, also didn’t dress for Tuesday’s game.
Canada Black now gets two days off before closing out its schedule on Friday with what should be a winnable game against Czechia (0-0-3-1).
Canada Red, perhaps, has the best chance of being a disruptor through the late stages of the round-robin. This group’s offensive leader has been Berkly Catton of the Spokane Chiefs, with seven points. Michael Misa, the 15-year-old who was granted exceptional status to play in the OHL this season, also has five points.
Canada Red and Sweden both currently have five points in four games, leaving them tied for fourth place. Only one will get the opportunity to play for a bronze medal.
On Friday, they’ll go head-to-head. Wednesday, Canada Red faces a tough matchup against Finland while Sweden squares off against Czechia.
All round-robin games can be streamed on Hockey Canada’s website. Saturday’s medal games from Langley will both be broadcast on TSN3, with the bronze-medal game at 3 p.m. ET and the gold-medal game at 8 p.m. ET.
