TORONTO — The schedule makers did the Americans a favour when they gave them Latvia and Slovakia out of the gate at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship.
This isn’t meant as an affront to the players or coaches on those two teams—there are a handful of Latvian and Slovakian skaters who will one day find themselves in the NHL—but Team USA is a legitimate gold medal threat and a cut above both of those European nations.
They proved they were superior to Latvia in a 6-1 win in the Group B opener Monday and outclassed Slovakia in a 5-2 victory Wednesday night to improve to 2-0-0. Those two games served as appetizers with the entrées imminent.
Their final two round-robin games against Russia on Thursday and Canada on New Year’s Eve are where it gets fun.
Slovakia had barely touched the puck and the shots were 10-3 USA at the halfway point of the first period when Tanner Laczynski potted home a rebound to put the Americans up 1-0. That start was a sign of things to come.
The U.S. showcased excellent vision on cross-ice and outlet passes plus patience and strength down low in the cycle game. Slovakia did well putting bodies in the shooting lanes and the Americans seemed content for the most part to stay on the outside and look for one-timers as opposed to getting into the dirty areas. It worked like a charm on Charlie McAvoy’s second-period blast from the point that found the back of the net.
This team showed it can get it done on the fast break too like when Clayton Keller found Colin White on a two-on-one with three minutes remaining in the opening frame, or when Tage Thompson beat Matej Tomek with an early contender for goal of the tournament two minutes into the second.
“There’s a little giddy-up in their step and they get to the net,” USA coach Bob Motzko said after the game when talking about his top playmakers.
The Americans blew things open in the second period. The score was 5-1 and the shots were 37-14 after 40 minutes. Overall, USA outshot Slovakia 50-20 just two days after outshooting Latvia 30-12. They’ll be hard pressed to carry the play with that much dominance against either Russia or Canada.
Even with so much skill and finesse up and down the lineup, they weren’t afraid to throw the body either. Captain Luke Kunin hammered Oliver Pataky about a dozen seconds into the second frame with an open ice hit that would make Scott Stevens proud. They’ll have to continue to play the body against Russia and Canada.
“We’re a pretty physical team so I think the most important thing for the guys is rest,” Motzko said. “We want to play a certain style. That’s what we’re built to do and we need our brains too to not make mental mistakes.”
The only time Slovakia mounted any sustained pressure was when they had a man advantage like when they netted a nifty tic-tac-goal finished off by Martin Fehervary late in the first to cut the lead to 2-1 which briefly made things interesting.
“We’re getting stronger defensively [but] we have to go back to work on our penalty kill,” Motzko said. “It had been very good but we sprung some leaks tonight and we think we can fix those with film.”
Joseph Woll, a 2016 third-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs, was steady in the American net playing in what might one day be his everyday home arena at the Air Canada Centre. He made five saves during a first-period Slovakian power play to keep it 1-0. Whether it’s Woll or Tyler Parsons, who gets the start against Russia, the Americans have solid goaltending to fall back on if there is a defensive or mental lapse.
Leafs prospect and U.S. goaltender Joseph Woll. (Chris Young/CP)
At the end of the day, though, this team will in all likelihood go as far as their best players take them.
Team USA supporters were up in arms when management cut Erie Otters standout Alex DeBrincat prior to the tournament, but this American squad isn’t short on star power. The roster boasts 16 players selected in the first three rounds of the NHL Draft, including seven taken in the first round.
Three of those first-rounders are Thompson, Keller and White. That trio has combined for nine points through the first two contests and often play together on the team’s top power-play unit. They can take over a game quickly if they establish puck control in the offensive zone. At 6-foot-5 and more than 200 pounds, Thompson was selected 26th overall by the St. Louis Blues this past summer and he’ll be a handful for any defender on the Russian or Canadian blue-line.
Motzko has tinkered with the lines throughout the tournament and pre-tournament yet it’s a win-win situation when you have the option to put skill like that on the ice together or spread the wealth.
“This [tournament] is a runaway freight train and a coach can’t change everything,” Motzko explained. “You just try to keep it on the tracks. There’s some truth to that. We can’t patch all the leaks, we can’t fix everything, we just keep guiding the thing down the tracks. They’re good, smart hockey players and we’ll let them perform.”
Both Latvia and Slovakia showed speed, skill and didn’t shy away from physical play—draft eligibles Adam Ruzicka and Slovakia’s player of the game Marian Studenic in particular stood out Wednesday night. This benefitted the American. They dominated both games but it wasn’t soft, easy hockey. Their games against Russia and Canada won’t be either.
“We know that the speed limit’s going up but we’re just going to keep concentrating on our game and take another step forward,” Motzko added.
Team USA passed their first tests with flying colours. Now the real tournament begins.
