Putting the various countries aside and purely evaluating things from an LA Kings prospect perspective, Thursday’s quarterfinals did not go as planned.
It was bad enough that the preliminary round seedings resulted in a pair of future Kings facing each other in the quarterfinals (meaning one of Carter Geroge or Jakub Dvorak would be going home early), but then the winners of those four playoff contests left the two remaining prospects (Dvorak and Hampton Slukynsky) matched up in the semis. Why is that bad? Well, it means only one of them will now get to play for a gold medal.
QF Results: Czechia def. Canada
To the shock of nearly everybody north of the border, Canada was ousted in the quarterfinals for the second straight year — something that has never happened in the previous 49 editions of hockey’s greatest annual tournament. Just like last January, it was Czechia who took out Canada. Throughout the tournament, Canada had proven to be a rather undisciplined team. Penalties were again part of the narrative here. There will be millions of words written about Canada’s collapse coming out of this one. If you’re interested in digging in further, we recommend an article by Steven Ellis here as a good starting point.
Geroge shouldn’t factor into any of Canada’s concerns. Even though stats show that the 18-year-old netminder only stopped 22-of-26 shots faced (.846 save percentage) in the quarterfinal loss, George was still named as one of their three best players of the tournament. He’s also expected to return as Canada’s No. 1 goaltender at next year’s World Juniors in Minnesota.
Meanwhile, Dvorak moves on to the semifinals after logging 16:39 of ice time in the victory for his native Czechia. His 28 shifts ranked first among all defensemen on his team. Overall, the 6-foot-5 rearguard continues to play his defensive-first game and provide his coaching staff with a reliable defender whenever he hops over the boards. Even with a minus-1 vs. Canada, Dvorak is still plus-4 in the tournament.
A Canada win in this game would have seen them play Sweden in the semis, creating a possible scenario where USA-Canada could have been the gold medal game. It wasn’t to be, though.
QF Results: USA def. Swiss
In a somewhat surprising move, Slukynsky started for Team USA. It wasn’t totally unheard of, as coach David Carle did something similar last year, where he used his No. 2 goalie in the quarterfinals before turning to Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine for the semis and final game. He’s expected to try that trick again this year, as the U.S. continue their hunt for back-to-back gold medals.
‘Hammer‘ was up to the task on Thursday, even though he only had to face 19 shots. The 19-year-old netminder once again made timely saves and made sure his team was firmly in control. With a 7-2 victory, the Americans not only advanced to the semifinals for the eighth time in the past 10 years, but they also kept their perfect streak alive when playing Switzerland at the WJC (25-0-2 lifetime, including two ties).
As a result of how the seeding works, Czechia will now face USA in the semis. Either Slukynsky or Dvorak will advance to the gold medal game, while the other will be left playing for bronze.
Upcoming Schedule
All games can be viewed on NHL Network.
Saturday, Jan. 4
Semifinal: Sweden vs. Finland – 12:30 pm
Semifinal: USA vs. Czechia – 4:30 pm
Sunday, Jan. 5
Bronze medal: TBD vs. TBD – 12:30 pm
Gold medal: TBD vs. TBD – 4:30 pm
MORE LA KINGS NEWS:
December 2024 – Kings Prospect Report on LAKings.com
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