While the end of December and beginning of January signal the holiday season for the average person, for the junior hockey fan it means another year of International Junior tournaments. Obviously I'm talking firstly about the IIHF World Junior (Under 20) Hockey Championships. But also occurring around this time are the World Under 17 Hockey Challenge and the Division IA and IB World Junior Championships. These three tournaments provide great entertainment for hockey fans around the world. However, for Ontario Hockey League clubs (and any junior hockey club in general), these tournaments signal the fact that they could be without their best players for a couple of weeks.
The Division IA and IB World Juniors have just wrapped up (from December 14-20), so the Import players competing in those tournaments have already returned to their OHL clubs ready to resume action after the holiday break (action resumes December 28). For those that don't know, the Division IA and IB tournaments are held so that two new teams can be moved up to the top division of the World Juniors next year. One team from IA, one from IB. This year, Belleville Bulls goaltender Philip Grubauer lead team Germany to a Division IA victory and a spot in the 2011 WJC's, while Norway captured Division IB. Barrie's Simon Gronvaldt also participated in the tournament for second place Denmark in Division IA.
The World Under 17 Hockey Challenge begins December 28 and runs until January 4. The top 1993 born OHL players will be participating in this as part of Team Ontario. Team Ontario is looking for it's third straight gold medal at the tournament.
The World Junior Championships technically begin December 26 and run until January 5, however with training camps and pre-tournament games, players actually start leaving around the middle of December. That means that OHL teams can be without some of their top players for as long as three weeks. And when they return, they usually take some time getting back into OHL action, fatigued from the rigorous schedule of the tournament.
The following is a list of Ontario Hockey League teams and the players they will be missing. Some players have "possibly" attached to their name because Team Finland and Team Czech Republic have yet to make their final cuts for the tournament:
Barrie Colts
Alexander Burmistrov – Russia
Ryan Strome – Team Ontario /17
Stefan Della Rovere – Canada
Simon Gronvaldt – Denmark/Division A
Belleville Bulls
Tyson Teichmann – Team Ontario/17
Philip Grubauer – Germany/Division A
Brampton Battalion
Barclay Goodrow – Team Ontario/17
Erie Otters
David Broll – Team Ontario/17
Ramis Sadikov – Russia
Guelph Storm
Carter Sandlak – Team Ontario/17
Zack Mitchell – Team Ontario/17
Kingston Frontenacs
Alan Quine – Team Ontario/17
Brian Lashoff – USA
Kitchener Rangers
Ryan Murphy – Team Ontario/17
Ben Thomson – Team Ontario/17
Jeremy Morin – USA
Steve Spott – Canada Coach
London Knights
Scott Harrington – Team Ontario/17
Nazem Kadri – Canada
Phil McRae – USA
Mississauga Majors
Stuart Percy – Team Ontario/17
Dave Cameron – Canada Coach
Niagara IceDogs
Petteri Simila – Finland (possibly)
Dougie Hamilton – Team Ontario/17
Oshawa Generals
Alain Berger – Switzerland (injured in pre-tournament game, out 8 weeks)
Calvin de Haan – Canada
Boone Jenner – Team Ontario/17
Ottawa 67’s
Cody Ceci – Team Ontario/17
Owen Sound Attack
Curtis Crombeen – Team Ontario/17
Milan Doczy – Czech Republic
Peterborough Petes
Matt Puempel – Team Ontario/17
Adam Sedlak – Czech Republic (possibly)
Plymouth Whalers
Garrett Meurs – Team Ontario/17
Michal Jordan – Czech Republic
A.J. Jenks – USA
Saginaw Spirit
Ivan Telegin – Russia
Sarnia Sting
Brett Ritchie – Team Ontario/17
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
Daniel Catenacci – Team Ontario/17
Tomas Rachunek – Czech Republic (possibly)
Sudbury Wolves
Justin Sefton – Team Ontario/17
Matias Sointu – Finland (possibly)
Windsor Spitfires
Taylor Hall – Canada
Greg Nemisz – Canada
Adam Henrique – Canada
Ryan Ellis – Canada
Richard Panik – Slovakia
Cam Fowler – USA
As you can see, a lot of quality OHL players will be away from their club teams over the next little while. So if you go to check out a game, be sure to remember who's missing!
Be sure to check out the blog, "OHL Prospects." We did a recent fun article on Christmas gifts related to the OHL recently, and soon we'll have our midseason OHL top 30 for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
Happy Holidays to everyone and best of luck to all our OHL international competitors!
Subscribe to this comment's feed
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
