For even the most enthusiastic hockey head, the world championship can have a vegetable element to it: You know you should, but you’re not always super jazzed to consume.
The 2016 event though, is an exception, with excitement building before the main course is even served. It’s not exactly a common occurrence to find fans in Canadian cities scouring the Internet for a live stream of a pre-tournament game between the United States and Finland, but we’re willing to bet a significant chunk of Toronto and Winnipeg was doing just that during lunch on Tuesday as people scrambled to get a glimpse of their next great hope.
While the world championship doesn’t officially kick off until Friday in St. Petersburg and Moscow, there was plenty of intrigue watching Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine — the presumptive first and second picks of the 2016 NHL Draft — go head-to-head in a warm-up contest that wound up being a 3-2 overtime win for the Finns on home ice.
Watching draft-eligible players on a big international stage usually involves tuning into the world junior championship just after Christmas.
Both Matthews and Laine dazzled in that tournament too, but that was well before Leafs and Jets supporters could rub their hands together secure in the knowledge their teams will have their hooks in these guys in about six weeks.
While there’s near universal agreement that Toronto will select Arizona native Matthews with the first pick before Winnipeg snags Laine at No. 2, it’s actually the latter who’d more easily draw the eye of a passive observer. (Jesse Puljujarvi, expected to go at No. 3, would almost certainly be suiting up for Finland, too, if he wasn’t a little banged up from a long season.)
A six-foot-four winger with an all-world right-hand shot, Laine was impossible to miss against the U.S. thanks to darting ability you’d expect from a guy half his size. During the 4-on-4 extra frame, he danced around defenceman Jake McCabe and nearly ended the affair with a low shot that was stopped by the pad of goalie Mike Condon.
Like Laine, Matthews finished the game with an assist, though it’s clear the two prospects impact things in different ways. In fact, if you want to compare the American to a young Finn, the best line to draw is not to Laine, but to his centre on Tuesday, 20-year-old Aleksander Barkov.
The prized Florida Panthers‘ possession uses his thick frame to control the boards and protect the puck in every zone, something Matthews already excels at. Package that with ample offensive ability, and you get the type of all-around pivot teams pray for.
Speaking of higher powers, don’t forget Connor McDavid, last year’s No. 1 overall pick, who will be suiting up for defending-champion Canada when the boys in red and white meet Matthews and the U.S. to kick off the tournament on Friday in St. Petersburg. (Finland is in that group, too.)
And if you’re looking for a swath of people who are definitely fired up for this year’s worlds, there are about 150 million of them in the host country. Russia was humiliated on home ice during the 2014 Sochi Olympics and while this event might not equal the prestige of the Games, it’s still critically important they make amends.
Just one more reason this spring’s annual international gathering should garner more attention than usual.
