The USA and Sweden are turning up the heat in the World Junior Tournament
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After a tournament that has so far consisted mostly of twisted routes, things are about to get serious in the World Junior Championship.
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The first big showdown takes place Sunday night when Sweden and the USA meet to determine first place in Group B.
This is one of the stronger Swedish teams competing in the World Juniors — they have seven first-round picks and five second-rounders on the team — and they’re 2-0 after beating Switzerland and Austria — but they’ll move up a few weight classes against a American team that has outscored Germany, Switzerland and Austria 19-2.
– It will be a tough match, they are good, says Swedish defender Simon Edvinsson. “If I know our team right, we’re going to step up against the Americans. It’s going to be a fun game. I’m really looking forward to it, actually. It’s going to be a fun game to play. I like those games.”
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Swedish coach Tomas Monten already knows what to expect from the defending champions.
“It will be a real test,” he said. “We played Finland and Canada in pre-tournament games and that will help us a lot. It will be about how hard we can defend. How hard we can play the defensive game and be strong in our own end and keep them on the outside .”
The Swedes are built from the back and out, with one of the stronger goaltenders in the tournament – Jesper Wallstedt, who went 20th overall to the Minnesota Wild in 2021 – and the traditionally strong defensive crop. That’s the kind of foundation you can win with.
“We have a really good goalie, so if we can keep them on the outside and keep the shots from there, we won’t see many goals,” forward Isak said The rose. “That’s the game plan.
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“We would like to continue on this path we started. New game, a more difficult opponent, but if we play this well or better, I think we can beat the USA as well.
After three straight shots, the Americans await an epic battle.
“Obviously they’re very skilled, they can transition very well,” American coach Nate Leaman said. “They have one of the best defenders in Edvinsson, he can break you down yourself, and their goalie is off.
“We know this is going to be a challenge, but we feel like we’re looking forward to it. We’re looking forward to playing in a game where the winner will probably win our division.”
AMERICANS ROLLING
The Americans continued to upset Group B on Saturday, beating Austria 7-0. The Austrians played their second game in as many days after losing 6-0 to the Swedes on Friday.
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Wyatt Kaiser and Carter Mazur had two goals apiece for the U.S., which scored on two of its first three shots, led 6-0 after 40 minutes and outshot Austria 56-15.
“I honestly feel like we have four lines that can go out and put one in the net,” Leaman said. “It’s a good space to be in.”
Rolling over teams 7-0, 7-1 and 5-1 is nice, but it also provides a unique challenge in a short tournament where the difference between the weak and the strong is quite dramatic.
“The challenge is not to get complacent,” Leaman said. “The challenge is to keep playing hard, hard hockey, because as the tournament goes on, it might not be the pretty plays that score the goals.
“It’s going to be heavy, hard, second attempts that might get the goals. The biggest challenge is not to fool ourselves into thinking we can be too sweet and miss too many shots.”
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That might be what Leaman likes best, that his team hasn’t strayed too far from the kind of game it needs to play against Sweden on Sunday or maybe Canada or Finland down the road.
“We were probably the favorite in our first three games and I like the way we worked up and improved through the three games,” Leaman said. “The guys have a good sense of what our identity is and how we want to play the game.”
UNDER FIRE
It’s not often that a goalkeeper who concedes seven goals is named his team’s outstanding player of the game, but Austrian stopper Leon Sommer received his honors after the game with 49 saves against the USA
“I like the kind of game where I get a lot of shots,” he grinned. – Mentally it felt good. I like those games.”
It got off to a rough start, two goals on three shots through the first 2:32, but he settled in and was easily Austria’s most valuable player.
“Mentally I’m pretty strong,” he said. “I forgot about them pretty quickly. I also wanted to get the team going. We’re a good group and help each other out on the ice.”
Believe it or not, 56 shots and 49 saves isn’t even the busiest night of his career.
“Last year against Canada, I had 64 shots and 53 saves. I guess I get the tough games, but I love them.”
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