Bobby Spang, Brody Antignani, Oliver Ozogany put up huge numbers at tournament
The World Youth Championships wrapped up in Prague on Sunday, with three teams securing titles. West Can Prime, East Coast Prime and Pro Selects Slovakia emerged victorious in the 2011, 2010 and 2009 divisions, respectively. All entered the playoff round as the respective No. 1-seeds of their birth year.
What a great last day in Prague at the World Youth Championships! Congrats to our winners 2011 WestCan Prime, 2010 East Coast Prime & 2009 Pro Team Selects! Finished off the day with a river cruise of the Vlatava River 🚢 @PrimeHockeyNA pic.twitter.com/r9X0x8SVAQ
— PLAY Hockey (@playhockeyna) June 4, 2023
Three tournament champions from three different countries hoisted the WYC trophy. American 2010-born Bobby Spang, Canadian ‘11 Brody Antignani and ‘09 Oliver Ozogany from Slovakia were key contributors in their respective divisions. All helped their squads claim gold in Europe over the weekend.
Antignani, Van Kemenade propel ‘11 West Can’s perfect run
A large reason why West Can was able to find itself with a perfect 5-0-0 record heading out of pool play was the team’s dynamic offense. The biggest contributors of that attack were Brody Antignani (15G, 13A) and Beck Van Kemenade (7G, 21A). Picking up where they left off, West Can shut out Europe Hockey Selects in the quarterfinals, 5-0. Van Kemenade’s incredible play-making ability was on display, helping him record a goal and three assists. In the championship, the duo combined for another seven points in a 6-2 victory over Midwest Prime.
The two forwards ended as the second and third leading scorers across the entire tournament. They were second only to Max Prudovsky, who finished with 18 goals and 29 points for East Coast Prime.
East Coast Prime completes sweep of West Can for ‘10 trophy
In the preliminary round, East Coast Prime bested West Can Prime by a score of 7-2. In that game, Matthew Lynn had his best game of the tournament for East Coast by scoring three goals and two assists. Helping Lynn propel East Coast into the championship game was Bobby Spang. Spang entered the playoffs as co-leader of the team with Lynn 12 points. Over the next two playoff contests, Lynn added three points (1G, 2A) and Spang nabbed six (4G, 2A). A solid showing that allowed Spang to end up as the second overall scorer among the 2010 division behind West Can’s Liam Pue. Pue was the best goal scorer of any 2010-born skater, putting up 19 goals.
In the championship game, East Coast’s defense and goaltending held Pue off the scoresheet. Without production from its leading scorer, West Can struggled to put up offense. However, Spang and Lynn continued their production, combining for four points. With the 5-1 win, East Coast secured the 2010 division.
Slovakia’s fearsome offense continued into ‘09 playoff rounds
No other team in the 2009 division was able to produce quite like Pro Selects Slovakia. Across seven games, the team produced a tournament-best goal differential of plus-34. Heading the charge were Oliver Ozogany and Elias Matousek, who finished their runs with 20 and 16 points, respectively. The two ended as the top point-getters for ‘09 players. The next three following them in the Top 10 also hailed from Slovakia.
In the final meeting, East Coast Prime had the daunting task of trying to halt Slovakia’s potent firepower. But armed with some of the most gifted players at the tournament, Slovakia secured a 10-1 win. Ozogany and Matousek alone combined for eight points. Slovakian forward Michal Lazovsky totaled the most goals among 2009-born skaters with 10.
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