This week, the World Youth Championships will host the second event of its spring season in Prague, Czech Republic. Players born in 2009, 2010 and 2011 will be split into three divisions of six teams each. Among those age groups will be participants from six different countries. The first stop of the World Youth Championship was held earlier this month in Philadelphia for those born in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Over the course of the next four days, teams will compete in five pool-play matchups. Following that, the top four seeds in each division will advance to a semifinal playoff round. A champion will be determined by Saturday. Teams began arriving in the city last weekend, with many taking in the sights and sounds to get in the spirit.
Unreal first half of the WYC Prague in the books! Now time for some hockey 🏒 pic.twitter.com/NTNTbZ4gHG
— PLAY Hockey (@playhockeyna) May 30, 2023
TSH Selects and Top Speed are two of the 2009-born teams with loads of talent. Viggo Mallmin led No. 1 Swedish-ranked Brinkens IF to gold at the 2023 Uplandia Trophy. He will look to do the same here for Top Speed. Bolstering that squad will be Marks Gusevs from No. 4 SDE Hockey. Priam Lelang — a teammate of Mallmin’s on Brinkens — will be skating for TSH. The forward pair of Eric Wei and Conny Törnqvist will also aid TSH. Both hail from No. 2 Kiekko-Espoo Blues II.
East Coast Prime in the 2010 division will have a few of the top names from the 2022-23 winter season. Among them will be forwards Matthew Lynn and Bo Christini from the No. 1 ranked Philadelphia Jr. Flyers. The two have led the Jr. Flyers in previous tournaments this season such as the Eastern Exposure Cup and Penguins Elite Mid-Winter Classic. Joining them will be defenseman Samuel Fishbone from No. 5 Boston Jr. Eagles and Jack Riehl from No. 9 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite.
For the 2011s, forward Tyler Kyle from former No. 10 U.S.-ranked South Shore Kings will patrol the blue line for East Coast Prime.
You can watch all of the on-ice action this week with live streams of the games HERE.
Want more from the World Youth Championships? WHH will have exclusive coverage of the tournament in Prague all week long. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Discord and YouTube for more!
One of the biggest youth hockey summer tournaments is in full swing this month. Over the course of five weekends, boys and girls from multiple birth years take to the ice in the Montreal Meltdown. The field for the 30th Anniversary event will be made up of more than 200 teams across 10 age groups. Two divisions have already kicked off action earlier this month, with the next installment set to begin this weekend.
This year’s tournament starts with the youngest age groups of the 2014, 2015 and 2016 birth years and goes all the way up to an 18U division for ‘05, ‘06 and ‘07 birth years. Some age groups have as many as three different competition levels, presumably for AAA, AA and A-level teams.
Division 2 and 3-level ‘09, ‘10, ‘11, ‘12 and ‘13 age groups got underway on May 5th. The 18U and ‘08 age groups followed last weekend with 52 teams in action. Friday, 48 more teams from the ‘11 age group as well as ‘12, ‘13 and ‘14 teams will compete. Then, on June 1st, ‘09, ‘10 and ‘15 age groups will take to the ice. There is a AAA-level weekend for ‘12 through ‘16 birth years, however, dates have not been made public.
The pool of teams is made up primarily of Eastern Canada representatives, with a few U.S. clubs also taking part in the festivities from as far south as Tennessee. Matchups have been taking place at either the Sportplexe Pierrefonds or Complexe Sportif St-Raphael. The 2013, 2014 and D1 2011 divisions will each be split into two groups. The 2012 division is one group of nine teams. After this month-long competition, the next big date on the Canadian calendar will be the Brick Invitational. That is slated to begin July 4th and run through July 10th.
Fans can download an exclusive app to keep track of the latest scores, stats and standings HERE. Games will also be streamed live thanks to High Button Sports, which can be found HERE.
For more on the Montreal Meltdown and other upcoming tournaments and showcases be sure to follow WHH on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Discord and YouTube!
On Thursday, SKA Strelna’s improbable run to the U17 Russian National Championship ended in victory with a 6-2 win over Lokomotiv 2004 Yaroslavl. The win snapped an undefeated tournament run for Lokomotiv, who entered the finale as winners of its last six. Ten teams originally set out for the title and were divided into two groups of five. our of those teams were mainstays in the World Rankings.
Heading into the national championship game, no other team had looked as good as Lokomotiv. They had outscored opponents 28-7, with two shutouts and had four of the top 10 scorers in the tournament. The offense was producing, the defense was holding teams to little zone time, and the goaltenders were making timely saves. That is, however, until Strelna met them in the championship game.
Strelna got out to a fast start when Kirill Potapov scored 44 seconds after puck drop. He collected a turnover from Egor Surin and sent a perfectly placed shot over the right shoulder of Semyon Konopsky. That lead would be doubled around the 10-minute mark when Georgy Tatulov sent a shot from the right circle over Konopsky’s glove following a face-off win.
After a late push back from Lokomotiv, Strelna was able to put the game away with a pair of late goals, securing the 6-2 win and ‘06 national championship.
Strelna had a tough task right out of the gate, clashing with CSKA Moscow in its first game. Forty seconds after falling into a 3-1 deficit early in the third period, Strelna cashed in to make it a one-goal game. With just over five minutes remaining in regulation, Artem Valuev collected his second point of the game to tie things up at 3-3. No winner was decided in overtime, thus leading to a shootout. Makar Opolinsky played hero for Strelna by scoring the only goal in the skills competition to secure the win. It was his first game-winner of the tournament, but would not be his last as the tournament wore on.
In the second game, Strelna found itself sitting on 2-0 lead over Siberia in the third period. However, goals from Egor Golovnev minutes apart evened the score and forced overtime yet again. Three minutes into the extra period Egor Kosachev tallied the winning goal for Siberia.
After splitting their next two games of pool play, SKA Strelna entered the playoffs 2-2-0 as the No. 3 team out of Group B.
Stepan Tarasenko notched his first goal of the tournament when he opened the scoring against Ak Bars seven minutes into the first period. Oleg Kuznetsov scored the only other goal in regulation during the second period to tie it at 2-2. Strelna once again found itself preparing for a third overtime game. Despite numerous chances for both sides, no player could find the back of the net. With action headed to a shootout, Opolinsky showed off his skill yet again by scoring the only goal; his second of the tournament.
The victory set up a rematch with CSKA, and Strelna wasted no time in breaking the ice. Evgeny Novikov, Ivan Kornilov and Artem Valuev propelled Strelna out to a commanding 3-0 lead. Strong defense and goaltending from Mikhail Korotkov held Moscow off the board until late in the game. Nikita Frolov, one of the most dynamic scorers of the birth year, netted two goals 43 seconds apart. With renewed hope and momentum, CSKA threw everything they had at Strelna, but their opponent held firm. By way of a 3-2 win, Strelna’s spot in the championship game was set.
Four of the top 10 scorers in the tournament hailed from Lokomotiv, with Egor Surin leading them all. In six games, he had seven goals and 14 points. Not only had Lokomotiv been the only undefeated team in the tournament, they hadn’t lost a game since March 26th. Their 13-game win streak would come to an end at the hands of Strelna in the championship though.
Strelna’s early 2-0 lead was cut into by Surin seven minutes into the second period. Team captain Artem Valuev was quick to restore the two-goal lead, cashing in on a power-play opportunity just a few minutes later. Evgeny Novikov increased the lead to 4-1 and Strelna firmly in control, cruised to a national championship victory.
Ranked as high as fourth in the world among 2006-born teams this season, Strelna’s championship caps off a 36-10-0 record. They entered the national championship after taking first place in the St. Petersburg District. Opolinsky, Novikov and Tarasenko all eclipsed the 40-point mark this season, with five more players averaging a point per game as well. It is also back-to-back national championships for Strelna, as the ‘06 squad won the U16 tournament last year.
Want more coverage of Russia and its top youth hockey players and teams? Follow WHH on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Discord and YouTube for the latest news, updates and more!