There are usually only two things on Canadian minds during the holiday season. Christmas and the IIHF U-20 World Junior Hockey Championships. After the COVID pandemic forced no spectators to attend the 2021 championships in Edmonton and then the tournament to be postponed to August in 2022, fans are looking forward to some normalcy with the World Junior Championships beginning on Boxing Day in Halifax and Moncton.
Regina Pats forward Connor Bedard will be at the World Juniors for the second straight year after competing in both tournaments that took place in Edmonton in 2022. In nine games at the World Juniors, the Regina Pats captain has collected eight goals and five assists.
On the scoresheet it has been a successful season for the likely number one pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, after failing to register a point in the season opener against Moose Jaw, Bedard has collected points in the following 27 games with Regina before departing for Halifax. He leads the WHL in goals (27) assists (37) and points (64).
Besides his time with the U-20 team, the North Vancouver product was a member of the Canada’s U-18 team in 2021 and 2022.
There are a pair of players from Saskatchewan that will be donning the Maple Leaf jersey this holiday season. Defencemen Kevin Korchinski and Noah Allan, both of the Seattle Thunderbirds will line up on Canada’s blue line. Korchinski leads Seattle with 25 assists so far this season while Allan has picked up five goals and nine assists with the Thunderbirds.
Canada’s World Junior hopes received a boost earlier this month with the inclusion of Shane Wright, Brandt Clarke and Dylan Guenther, as the three players were loaned out by their respective NHL teams.
Wright has struggled to maintain a consistent spot in the Seattle Kraken’s lineup as he has scored one goal and added one assist in eight games this season. The fourth pick in this past year’s NHL Draft has spent time with the Kraken’s AHL affiliate in Coachella Valley where he has scored four goals in five games. Just before the tournament began, Team Canada announced that Wright would be wearing the “C” as Canada’s captain for the tournament.
Clarke has played in nine games for the Los Angeles Kings picking up two assists. He has spent time in the AHL with the Ontario Reign this season.
After being drafted by the Coyotes with the ninth pick of the 2021 NHL draft, Guenther has scored three goals and added eight assists with Arizona this season.
Another player who’s expected to join Bedard as one of the first players selected in the 2023 NHL Draft is Adam Fantilli from the University of Michigan. The freshman forward has eleven goals in 16 games with the Wolverines this season. Fantilli competed with the Chicago Steel of the USHL before joining the NCAA ranks this season.
Returning to the Canadian squad after winning gold in Edmonton is Ethan Del Mastro, Nathan Gaucher, Zack Ostapchuk, Brennan Othmann, Joshua Roy, Logan Stankoven, and Olen Zellweger.
Between the pipes for Canada, the goaltending duties will fall on the shoulders of Thomas Milic of Seattle (WHL) and Benjamin Gaudreau from Sarnia (OHL). Milic was a big part of Seattle’s success in 2021-22 with 27-16-4 record along with goals against average (GAA) of 2.44 during the regular season before leading Seattle to a WHL Championship appearance against Edmonton. This season, the goalie has started off with a 11-2-1 record and a 2.35 GAA.
Dennis Williams will lead Canada as the team’s head coach. The Everett Silvertips coach was an assistant coach for Team Canada at the 2022 World Junior Hockey Championships in Edmonton.
Canada will take part in two more exhibition games before the beginning of the tournament as they will meet Slovakia on Wednesday and Finland on Friday.
The 2023 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships will officially begin for Canada on Boxing Day when they meet Czechia.
