WJC Countdown News & Stories
Insights, analysis, and news about WJC Countdown from the Elite Prospects editorial team. Stay updated with expert coverage on WJC Countdown, including key stories and in-depth articles.
2018-12-26, 23:16World Juniors 2019WJC PLAYERS TO WATCH: NHL reinforcements Tolvanen, Jokiharju front and center for Finland
Finland hasn’t medaled at the World Junior Championship since earning their second gold in three tournaments in 2016. A disappointing 2017 tournament saw the country fail to qualify for the...
2018-12-26, 17:05World Juniors 2019
WJC PLAYERS TO WATCH: A focus on the blueline for the blue and yellow
Sweden has been a perennial medal favorite when it comes to the IIHF World Junior Championship. This year’s tournament will offer a similar expectation. Sweden, who has been in the...
2018-12-26, 11:52World Juniors 2019Moving Christmas to Vancouver – Leason hopes to celebrate holidays with gold
Brett Leason – Calgary product and standout star of the Prince Albert Raiders in the Western Hockey League – didn’t imagine his family would have to make the pivot to...
2018-12-26, 09:18World Juniors 2019WJC PLAYERS TO WATCH: Kravtsov, Kostin highlight hungry Russian team
It’s been eight years since Russia has struck gold at the IIHF World Junior Championship. They’ve medaled in every one since, with the exception of 2018. A fifth-place finish a...
2018-12-26, 07:43World Juniors 2019Previewing the WJC underdogs – is another upset in the cards?
It’s been a long time since somebody outside the Big 5 has won a gold medal at the World Juniors. When looking at the tournament, you expect to see the...
2018-12-25, 23:52World Juniors 2019WJC PLAYERS TO WATCH: Czechs boast a lethal offense, talented snipers
It’s been a long, long wait for the Czech Republic. Going on 14 years in fact. That’s how long it’s been since the Czech Republic has come away from the...
2018-12-25, 12:43World Juniors 2019WJC PLAYERS TO WATCH: Gems to be found outside the top nations
In 2016, Slovakia captured bronze. In 2005, it was the Czech Republic who finished third. That, and a third-place finish from the Czech Republic in 2005, is the the only...
2018-12-25, 11:30World Juniors 2019OHL standout Keyser eyeing USA starter job: “I want to be in every single game”
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario – – Robb Tallas’ main job as goaltending coach with the Panthers is to focus on Florida’s puck stoppers, but the former Bruins goaltender frequently keeps an eye...
2018-12-25, 09:00World Juniors 2019Trending downward – Finland must figure out how to improve on North American ice
Finland’s greatest three-year stretch at the World Juniors has been followed by a noticeable hangover. In 2014, a dominant goaltending showing from Juuse Saros and a tournament-leading 15 point performance...
2018-12-24, 22:45World Juniors 2019In the midst of golden era of junior hockey, WJC means win or bust for Team USA
There’s no doubt that the United States is enjoying its golden age of junior hockey. The United States won their first-ever World Junior gold back in 2004 on a fluke...
2018-12-24, 11:41World Juniors 2019Without the stars of tournaments past, Sweden trusts in depth for WJC’s
Team Sweden won’t have the star-studded lineup with household names and top draft picks we saw in Buffalo last year. Instead, Sweden will be operating as more of an underdog,...
2018-12-23, 08:01World Juniors 2019Underdog Walker angling for spot at WJCs: “My competitiveness is my strength”
As USA Hockey prepared to start their USA Hockey U20 World Junior Hockey Championships a couple of days ago in Everett, Washington, they invited many of the players who were...
2018-12-19, 16:00World Juniors 2019Only one WJC returnee – but Canada has golden opportunity to repeat
Winning the World Juniors isn’t an automatic for Canada like it used to be. Canada dominated the Juniors in the 1990s, winning gold in seven of 10 tournaments. In the...
2018-12-17, 19:57World Juniors 2019Red Wings Filip Zadina ready to join Czech WJC squad – and to be a leader
Filip Zadina is constantly adjusting his game whether it’s to the smaller rinks in North America, the pace of play or playing against men. This season, his adjustments are stretching...
2018-12-16, 17:09WJC CountdownA 2018 to remember: St. Ivany hopes to wrap up great year with WJC gold
It has been a whirlwind year for Jack St. Ivany. The 19-year-old native of Manhattan Beach, Calif., was in his second season with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede a year...
2018-12-11, 17:00World Juniors 2019Lafreniere and his quest to make Team Canada
First he followed in Sidney Crosby’s footsteps. Now he’s trying to do the same with Connor McDavid. Alexis Lafreniere, the first 16-year-old to notch 40 or more goals in the...
2018-12-09, 12:22World Juniors 2018FANTALYTICA: The best Fantasy prospects attending the 2019 U20 WJC:s
Welcome to another installment of the Fantalytica column. Every week, Fantalytica provides a granular, fantasy perspective about a group of prospects. Following last week’s analysis of Team OHL, we decided...
2018-12-07, 12:55World Juniors 2019Michael DiPietro has a golden opportunity
It’s been a wild week for Michael DiPietro. A few days after being selected to Team Canada’s World Junior selection camp roster, the Vancouver Canucks prospect joined the Memorial Cup...
2018-12-04, 13:19WJC CountdownVIDEO: EP Rinkside Top 10 Goals of the Week
Greetings, fellow hockey lovers! With all the great young NHL stars coming through the ranks of junior systems these last few years, you’d expect the flow to slow down at...
2017-12-25, 12:20WJC CountdownWJC Countdown: Zibanejad ends Sweden’s gold drought in OT
The gold medal game of Sweden-Russia at the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship was full of talking points and the possibility of being a high-octane, back-and-forth shootout. Russia’s Yevgeni Kuznetsov...
2017-12-24, 08:46WJC CountdownWJC Countdown: Chubarov nets twice in 1999 final
Hosted in Winnipeg as well as five other communities around Manitoba, the 1999 World Juniors was, in many ways, the last of its kind. Playing games in Brandon, Selkirk, Teulon,...
2017-12-23, 21:11WJC CountdownWJC Countdown: David Aebischer leads Switzerland to first-ever World Juniors medal
Since the mid-1990s, Switzerland has been a mainstay at the World Juniors. They’re generally playing to stay in the top division, fighting off regulation rather than competing for a medal,...
2017-12-22, 15:40WJC CountdownWJC Countdown: Peter Forsberg sets tournament record with whopping 31 points
Peter Forsberg is the World Juniors all-time leader in points. In 14 games in the tournament, he posted a whopping 42 points, a total very unlikely to ever be broken. ...
2017-12-21, 22:30World Juniors 2018WJC Countdown: The NHL lockout allowed Canada to ice a historically-good team in 2005
The 2004-05 season was a dark one for hockey fans. For the first time in league history, the National Hockey League had an entire season cancelled due to labour dispute...
2017-12-21, 09:50World Juniors 2018Russia’s Svechnikov fighting for roster spot, high draft position
If there’s a label that’s hanging around Andrei Svechnikov’s name these days, it’s “projected #2 pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft”. But as we’ve seen in the past —...
2017-12-20, 21:50World Juniors 2018WJC Countdown: Kapanen’s heroics etch his name in Finnish history
At the 2016 World Junior Hockey Championship, just about everything went Finland’s way. Hosting the tournament in Helsinki, Finland came out of the round robin flying, picking up 23 goals...
2017-12-19, 12:14World Juniors 2018WJC Countdown: Kazakhstan upsets Canada in front of tiny crowd
Inexplicable is about the only way you could describe the 7th place game between Canada and Kazakhstan at the 1998 World Juniors. Taking place in the town of Hämeenlinna, Finland,...
2017-12-18, 19:35World Juniors 2018WJC Countdown: United States wins first-ever gold medal after bizarre own-goal
The 2004 World Junior Championships in Helsinki, Finland was supposed to be the coming out party for the next wave of hockey superstars. But instead, all of that was just...
2017-12-17, 20:15World Juniors 2018WJC Countdown: Russia snaps gold medal drought in 2011 with three ridiculous comebacks
Over the next 10 days, I’m going to count down to the 2018 World Juniors in Buffalo with some great moments and performances from past tournaments. Since the fall of...
2017-12-16, 10:15World Juniors 2018WJC Countdown: Tavares’ MVP showing and Eberle’s clutch goal lead Canada to fifth-straight gold
Over the next 10 days, I’m going to count down to the 2018 World Juniors in Buffalo with some great moments and performances from past tournaments. Canada had a stacked...