2006 U18 Jr World Cup: Janus Leads Slovakia

CAN |

CZE | FIN

| RUS

| SVK

| SWE

| SUI | USA

2006 U18 Junior World Cup: Janus Leads (posted 9.7.06)

Slovakia

Preliminary Games

SVK 1 - SWE 2 so Piestany, SVK

SVK 1 - SUI 2 Piestany, SVK

SVK 1 - CAN 4 Piestany, SVK

Seventh-Place Game

SVK 5 - FIN 2 Piestany, SVK

Top Performers

Jaroslav Janus (2008), G

Tournament wrap-up: best tournament goaltender in save percentage (.9444) .. finished second among tournament goaltenders in minutes played (124:34) .. finished third among tournament goaltenders in GAA (1.44) .. Slovak starter on the tournament .. registered strong back-to-back performances in the games against Sweden and Switzerland .. showed above-average poise .. stayed square to the shooter and could make key saves when it was needed most .. saw lots of rubber behind the porous Slovak defense .. showed a willingness to move the puck regularly .. boosted his stock for the 2008 draft .. the Slovak MVP on this tournament by a fair margin after a good performance.

Scouting: blessed with okay size .. moves efficiently in the crease and stays square to the shooter .. decent side-to-side movement for a big man .. above-average footspeed for a player of his size .. decent reflexes .. strong anticipation of plays ranks among his strongest assets .. okay resilience and athleticism but still could use more dexterity .. relies on his fundamentals rather than on acrobatic saves .. doesn't seem to feel any noticeable pressure .. possesses above-average fundamentals and doesn't flop around in the crease .. stays square to the shooter .. patient on the scoring chances .. waits for the opponent to make the first move .. doesn't allow many rebounds .. hard to beat down low .. gets back up in okay time .. okay orientation in the crease .. tough to beat on the initial shot .. cuts the angles adequately well .. willing to go out of the crease to limit the options of the shooter .. decent handling of the rebounds .. a decent glove hand .. doesn't show trouble with shots aiming at his blocker .. a solid stickhandler .. willing to go behind the net to play the puck .. doesn't really stand out in any asset but gets the job done with above-average effectiveness .. a late '89 born goaltender.

Juraj Valach (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: tied with Adam Bezak and Lukas Vartovnik for leading Team Slovakia in +/- (+2) .. asked to fill the role of the defensive anchor of an unimpressive Slovak defensive unit .. proved that he tops his peers on the Slovak junior national team but failed to register noticeable progress in his play which hurts his pro potential .. didn't support the offense well and was limited by average stickhandling skills .. lacked top-end speed against the quicker Swedish forwards in the first game .. resembled a friendly giant during the tournament games and failed to take advantage of his impressive size tools .. didn't meet the expectations put on him .. would be only a slightly above-average defenseman on a team with a bigger defensive depth .. will need to turn his game over in the WHL.

Scouting: a decent skater for a player of his size .. could use a more explosive first step and a faster acceleration but should be okay once he gains more bulk to lower-body .. decent agility .. okay backwards skating and lateral movement .. decent balance but still needs more lower-body strength .. could use a bigger top-end speed .. a stay-at-homer .. reads the developing plays well and mostly chooses the most safe play when moving the puck .. prefers risky-low plays but tends to make fuzzy decisions with the puck when hard-pressed .. occasionally dishes out a long outlet pass but doesn't have the hockey sense and creativity to be an effective passer .. shows average stickhandling skills .. uses a long stick and can be an effective pincher but can't handle the puck smoothly when asked to do so .. willing to use his shot from the point with a solid hardness and adequate accuracy .. slap shot should be less telegraphed .. useful as a powerplay pointman using a solid variety of shots .. could use more smarts when playing on the offensive blue line .. adequate in-close finishing skills .. works adequately hard down low .. is able to throw a solid hit but isn't a steady physical presence .. bulking up is essential .. adequate at clearing the crease .. okay safe positional play .. a solid force in the defensive zone .. spots his man quickly and stays with him .. shoots right.

Peter Kopecky (2007), LW

Tournament wrap-up: the younger brother of Detroit Red Wings' prospect Tomas Kopecky served as the gritty member of the Slovak first line .. played a fearless first game against Sweden .. played a feisty game around the opposing crease and finished his checks with authority .. limited by average skating skills all tournament long .. lack of quality first-step quickness was revealed especially in the game against Canada .. could match the opponents in tenacity but lacked a quality sixth sense for making the smart plays .. filled the role of the grinder with a solid conscientiousness but would need more offensive prowess to gain strong pro consideration.

Scouting: only an adequate skater .. possesses decent agility and footspeed .. average acceleration and first-step quickness .. needs to develop a bigger top-end speed .. solid balance and lower-body strength .. possesses decent stickhandling skills but should corral the difficult better more effortlessly .. doesn't make many nifty dekes in tight space .. should cover the puck with a bigger effectiveness .. plays a belligerent game but average vision and hockey sense limits his creativity .. should recognize the passing lanes more quickly and shorten his decision-making time .. decent backhand passes .. okay wrist shot and snap shot with a quick release .. needs to use his slap shot more frequently and upgrade on accuracy .. persistent around the goal area .. looks for the loose rebounds .. decent defensive awareness .. a two-way forward .. returns back to his own end .. backchecks tenaciously .. spots his man quickly but should play better in position .. useful to his team with his tenaciousness and fearless approach .. protects the teammates .. willing to throw hard hits when playing along the boards .. forechecks tenaciously after a lost faceoff of his team .. doesn't tend to take off-shifts.

Martin Stepan (2007), RW

Tournament wrap-up: tied with Lukas Vartovnik for second-best Slovak passer (2 assists) .. exceeded the expectations with a spirited showing with okay offensive savvy during the first game against Sweden .. took advantage of his quickness and could find holes in the Swedish defense with his quick passes .. wasn't such a factor in the second game against Switzerland but still ranked among the best Slovak forwards .. one of the few players who could create on the powerplay units .. didn't play afraid in the game against Canada but got outpowered .. played an okay final game against Finland .. too small for pro success despite the acceptable tournament showing.

Scouting: a solid skater with decent acceleration .. possesses okay top-end speed .. possesses above-average agility .. could use more balance .. possesses okay stickhandling skills .. a decent passer with an okay vision and awareness of his linemates .. prefers passing to shooting .. anticipates the deflections of the puck well .. needs to develop a bigger variety of shots .. fires a hard wrist shot .. decent snap shot .. average slap shot with a sub-par accuracy .. possesses okay in-close finishing skills .. waits for the goaltender to make the first move and is adequately patient with the puck .. not a big force in traffic but doesn't play afraid and works hard along the boards .. occasionally mucks for the loose pucks along the boards .. throws the occasional hit, but is relying more on finesse than on toughness .. shows a commitment to the defensive play but hampered by odd downs .. blocks the passing lanes of the opposition fairly well .. adequately quick at marking his man .. an active force on the penalty killing units .. leads the play of the penalty killing box .. uses an active stick on the penalty kill .. adequate intensity and determination .. a diligent player but prone to inconsistent shifts .. an okay forechecker.

Dalimir Jancovic (2007), RW

Tournament wrap-up: the son of the doctor of the Slovak senior national team pulled off an above-average performance in the tournament opener against Sweden .. repeated his showing from the exhibition game against USA with a slick creative play with the puck and a willingness to get physically involved despite the modest frame .. an okay factor on the powerplay units .. had problems with winning the corner battles in the contest against Canada .. arguably the most creative Slovak forward at the tournament .. registered a decent showing but his subtle frame and a lack of size continue to spoil his pro potential.

Scouting: possesses a smallish and subtle frame .. blessed with okay skating skills .. possesses a solid acceleration and footspeed .. okay stride and agility .. should further upgrade on his top-end speed .. only needs to add more balance and lower-body strength .. possesses a solid vision and hockey sense .. an effective playmaker .. aware of his linemates .. plays with his head up .. reads the plays quickly .. smooth stickhandling skills and a strong hand-eye coordination enabled him to make accurate passes on both short and long distance .. very good when corralling a difficult passes using either his stick or skates to gain possession .. makes passes from both sides of the stick .. capable of quick takeaways .. a decent factor on the powerplay units as a passer from the half-board area .. limited on the defensive side despite his willingness to return back .. should upgrade on his defensive positioning .. should spot his man more quickly and block the opposing passing lanes more conscientiously .. willing to play in traffic and throws the odd decent hit .. not a real factor along the boards thanks to his obvious size deficiency .. can avoid a bone-cruncher with his quickness .. should further upgrade on his conditioning.

Other Players

Jan Brejcak (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: finished second on Team Slovakia in penalties (8 PIM) .. displayed a willingness to get involved physically and an okay straightaway speed in the exhibition game against USA but failed to take advantage of those assets in the tournament games .. hesitant to hit or take a chance on a quick pass in the first game against Sweden .. repeated his so-so performance also in the second game against Switzerland .. looked overwhelmed in the third game against Canada .. didn't reveal much pro potential in himself past his size after a showing which lacked a really quality performance.

Scouting: possesses above-average size tools .. an adequate skater for a player of his size .. possesses decent footspeed .. could use a more explosive first step and a faster acceleration .. decent agility .. okay straightaway speed once he gets going .. adequate backwards skating and lateral movement .. decent balance but could use more strength to his thin lower-body .. could use a bigger top-end speed .. prefers risky-low plays and plays a simple game in his own end .. doesn't have quality offensive vision .. dumps the puck under heavy pressure .. doesn't rush forward very often .. usually isn't able to return back in time when rushing the puck .. isn't beautiful when moving the puck .. shows average stickhandling skills .. uses a long stick and can be an okay pincher but is stiff when asked to make a quick move .. likes to fire the puck .. used as a powerplay pointman .. possesses a shot from the point with a decent hardness but should pick up on accuracy .. shows decent aggressiveness in his own end .. works adequately hard down low .. is able to throw a decent hit but tends to loose position when going for a hit .. solid at clearing the crease, but isn't an all-time physical presence .. spots his man quickly but should stay with him all the way .. could use a bigger prowess in one-on-one situations .. should be more effective on the special units.

Marek Daloga (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: most penalized Slovak player (10 PIM) .. draw immediate interest with an unique skating style and as the most fluid skater among the Slovak defensemen but a lack of creativity and precipitous play with the puck hurt his performance in the tournament opener against Sweden .. prone to mistakes when asked to play under pressure .. repeated the same performance also in the second game against Switzerland where the Swiss players put the Slovak defense under constant pressure after the game passed the halfway mark .. only an average factor in the third contest against Canada .. pulled off an average tournament showing .. could impress only with his skating.

Scouting: an okay skater .. resembles a spider with his unique hand and feet movement while skating .. possesses okay straightaway speed and agility .. okay acceleration and first-step quickness .. decent turns and lateral movement .. solid backwards skating .. should improve on his balance and add bulk to his lower-body .. possesses acceptable top-end speed .. only adequate passing skills .. distributes accurate passes on short distance but doesn't have the offensive vision for long outlet passes .. should recognize passing lanes more quickly .. lacks prowess when playing on the offensive blue line .. isn't effective when asked to create .. should anticipate the deflections of the puck more effectively .. possesses acceptable stickhandling skills .. capable of a quick move but should corral difficult passes more smoothly .. more stiff when corralling the puck on the backhand side .. unleashes a decent slap shot with an okay accuracy .. plays in the defensive zone with decent reliability but gets outmuscled by bigger opponents .. reads the developing opponent plays adequately well .. only adequate toughness .. should throw more hard hits along the boards .. should clear the crease with a bigger intensity but is willing to protect his goaltender against the opposing players.

Martin Baca (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: the gritty warrior on the Slovak defense dropped the gloves with USA's Nick Petrecki in the exhibition game but it ultimately became his only notable moment of the whole tournament .. hampered by a lack of mobility and extra gear during the first contest against Sweden .. seriously lacked offensive creativity and passing prowess .. an average factor in the second matchup against Switzerland .. couldn't take proper advantage of his solid size tools .. overwhelmed by the pace of the game against Canada .. filled a defensive role and met the expectations which weren't very high on him after an unimpressive showing.

Scouting: only an average skater .. average first-step quickness .. adequate acceleration .. should upgrade on top-end speed .. should keep his feet moving to be more effective .. decent lower-body strength and balance .. only adequate turns and lateral movement .. more of a defensive-minded blueliner who doesn't have the needed offensive vision for a two-way game .. adequate stickhandling skills .. prone to odd costly giveaways .. isn't capable of quick dekes .. needs to corral the pucks more smoothly at a high tempo .. shows a limited offensive upside shows a wrong timing of his offensive raids .. falls back behind the developing plays .. precipitous when distributing the puck in the offensive zone .. unleashes a heavy slap shot with adequate accuracy .. fires a quick snap shot with average accuracy .. decent presence in his own zone but his costly mistakes hurt his reliability .. a decent factor in one-on-one situations .. should become more of a diligent combatant along the boards and in front of the crease given his solid size tools .. willing to drop the gloves and fight but should hit more often .. could become a more determined crease-clearer .. prone to the odd undisciplined foul .. should be more effective on the special units.

Marek Bais (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: won a spot alongside Juraj Valach on the top defensive pairing after some solid showings during the previous season but revealed his limits against the top flight international competition .. hampered by a lack of first-step quickness and lateral agility in the first game against Sweden .. couldn't create plays under the pace of the international game .. tried to generate offense in the second game against Switzerland but couldn't recognize the passing lanes quickly enough .. didn't make proper use of his solid size tools in the third game against Canada .. didn't impress with his tournament showing.

Scouting: an adequate skater .. could use a smoother stride and a better acceleration .. average agility .. slower first-step quickness limits him on transitional plays .. average straightaway speed .. shows trouble with players who can make him moving .. doesn't get knocked off his skates very often thanks to a decent balance .. possesses adequate lateral movement .. average stickhandling ability .. keeps the plays simple and makes accurate passes only on a short distance .. a player who is at his best when playing a defensive style of play .. prone to mistakes when rushing the puck .. dumps the puck too quickly when pressed .. can't think offensive plays quickly .. possesses only an average hockey sense .. prone to precipitous plays when playing on the offensive blue line .. fires okay hard slap shot but accuracy is an issue .. is adequately reliable in his own end and doesn't make many positional mistakes but lack of mobility limits him .. works hard down low .. decent crease-clearer .. gets physically involved but is no physical menace .. an adequate hitter .. prone to occasional dirty fouls .. an adequate player in one-on-one situations .. a better factor on the penalty killing units than on the powerplay units.

Peter Novajovsky (2008), D

Tournament wrap-up: the only two-way defenseman on the Slovak team who could generate offense .. would be more effective if he would avoid downs in his offensive support .. handled the pace of the tournament opener against Sweden without glaring problems and could dish out a number of accurate outlet passes however didn't really stand out in this game .. an average factor during the second contest against Switzerland .. got outmuscled by the bigger Canadian defensemen in the third game .. an okay two-way factor against Finland .. would need a bigger consistency to get a better rating but didn't really disappoint.

Scouting: a decent skater with an okay stride .. solid backwards skating and lateral movement .. okay turns and agility .. possesses okay acceleration .. bigger top-end speed would make him more effective, but his straightaway speed is okay .. needs to strengthen his lower-body and upgrade on balance .. takes advantage of his mobility to support the offense .. okay puckhandling skills .. okay pinching .. an offensive-minded blueliner .. displays a solid poise when jumping into the rush .. makes plays from both sides of the stick .. confident enough to lead attacks and gain offensive zone for his team .. distributes quick passes .. decent offensive creativity but his offensive smarts tends to be particularly inconsistent .. only adequate vision when quarterbacking a powerplay .. willing to his accurate fast-released slap shot, but needs to work on hardness .. doesn't show much aggressiveness in his own zone, where he relies on his above-average smarts and vision .. doesn't play afraid but can get outmuscled by the bigger opponents .. isn't an intimidating hitter .. prone to losing position when hitting .. average at clearing the crease .. should upgrade on his positional reliability .. thinks about offense too much which negatively affects his reliability .. prone to mistakes when solving an one-on-one situation .. a late '89 born defenseman.

Ondrej Rusnak (2007), C

Tournament wrap-up: a very hardworking player during both the exhibition game against USA and the tournament opener against Sweden .. filled the role of a defensive center conscientiously .. regularly tried to add a playmaking dimension to his game but didn't show the needed vision to be fully effective in this role .. showed some raw ability in the second game against Switzerland but proved that he will need to upgrade on his skating to be a quality factor .. stepped up on his play in the final game against Finland .. gets quality marks for his determination but the rest of his play was too missing to include him as a top performer.

Scouting: a decent skater for a player of his size but could still use a more explosive first-step .. okay smooth stride will help him to pick up on skating .. could upgrade on his acceleration .. average agility .. decent footspeed .. possesses average balance and lower-body strength .. an adequate puckhandler who isn't a whooping dipsy-doodler .. should corral difficult passes more effortlessly and upgrade on his play in one-on-one situations .. makes passes from both sides of the stick .. blessed with adequate smarts and understanding of the game .. an adequate playmaker .. could be more aware of his linemates and dish out the passes with a better timing .. can park himself in front of the opposing slot and look for rebounds but needs to get stronger to be effective .. adequate in-close finishing skills .. should be smoother when finishing the scoring chance .. fires a quick wrist shot .. should use the slapper more often and upgrade on hardness .. should be more meaner and upgrade on his effectiveness in the corner battles .. willing to execute regularly in his own end .. limits the options of the opposing players effectively .. decent defensive positioning .. a decent factor on the penalty killing units .. breaks up opposing passes with his stick .. very intense in the defensive zone .. an adequate faceoff force.

Adam Bezak (2007), RW

Tournament wrap-up: most productive Slovak player (4 points) .. best Slovak passer (3 assists) .. tied with Juraj Valach and Lukas Vartovnik for leading Team Slovakia in +/- (+2) .. clearly the fastest player on the Slovak team .. showed his strong extra gear regularly in both the exhibition game against USA and the first tournament matchup against Sweden but was hurt by the fact that he couldn't take proper advantage of his quick propulsion .. reluctant to get involved physically on a regular basis against the North American teams .. pulled off more gritty performances in the games against Sweden and Switzerland but still bounced off bigger opponents .. displayed an okay showing in the final game against Finland .. the very good skating ability is appealing but the tournament showed that Bezak isn't a quality pro prospect.

Scouting: possesses a solid acceleration and agility which enables him to burst onto scoring chances .. possesses an okay agility .. should upgrade on balance and gain more lower-body strength .. possesses an okay footspeed and top-end speed .. should make a bigger use of his quickness .. lacks the 'intimidation factor' for the opposing defensemen in his skating .. an okay stickhandler .. often carries the puck into the opposing zone .. makes quick accurate passes on a short distance .. doesn't possess the needed offensive vision for long passes .. prone to selfish plays with the puck .. shows smooth moves when playing on the powerplay but can't create effective chances .. should be more lethal on the opposing crease despite the decent in-close finishing skills .. shows trouble with battling himself into the final position to shoot .. fires an accurate wrist shot .. snap and slap shots should be more harder .. should drive the net harder .. tends to lean on the players rather than hitting .. shows an okay determination and doesn't take many off-shifts but his severe lack of size diminishes his pro potential .. an average defensive awareness .. returns back but should spot his man more quickly and stay with him .. needs to improve on his defensive positioning .. a better factor on the powerplay units than on the penalty killing units

Jozef Molnar (2007), RW

Tournament wrap-up: should serve as the scorer of the first Slovak offensive unit .. particularly hurt by the sub-par play of Lukas Vartovnik in the tournament opener against Sweden .. could display okay skating and an ability to mix things up in the corners but wasn't effective in the offensive zone .. didn't provide the much needed scoring in the second game against Switzerland .. could show a handful of solid shifts in the third game against Canada but wasn't a consistent factor .. should be more effective in the final game against Finland .. not a complete disappointment but not a convincing performance.

Scouting: blessed with a smallish frame .. an okay skater with a decent smooth stride .. above-average agility and footspeed .. reaches top speed in a few strides but still should upgrade on his separation gear .. looks for breakaway chances .. likes to position himself for a possible long outlet pass from a defenseman after a won faceoff of his team .. should upgrade on balance and lower-body strength .. gets knocked off his feet by bigger opponents .. a decent passer with okay tape-on-tape feeds when passing on a short distance .. possesses adequate vision and hockey sense but doesn't have the creativity to control the play of the line .. okay stickhandling skills and hand-eye coordination .. corrals passes adequately well .. prefers passing to shooting .. doesn't play afraid .. battles in the corners but doesn't have the physical tools to battle the bigger opponents physically .. needs more strength to succeed in the trenches .. should be more patient when challenging the goaltender in-close .. an adequate array of shots but should fire the pucks more often .. okay accurate wrist shot .. should use his slap shot to a bigger extent .. returns to his own zone, but is very raw in this asset .. should block the passing lanes of the opposition more conscientiously .. a right-shooting forward.

Lukas Vartovnik (2007), C

Tournament wrap-up: tied with Adam Bezak and Juraj Valach for leading Team Slovakia in +/- (+2) .. tied with Martin Stepan for second-best Slovak passer (2 assists) .. finished second on Team Slovakia scoring (3 points) .. asked to fill the role of the go-to star on the Slovak offense given all his international experience .. largely ineffective in the tournament opener against Sweden after sitting out the exhibition game against USA .. prone to precipitous plays with the puck and off-shifts .. didn't elevate his game when it was needed most in the second contest against Switzerland .. occasionally floated instead of helping out on the backcheck .. an average factor in the third game against Canada despite his willingness to get physically involved .. hurt his draft stock with this unimpressive showing .. the jury is going to be out on his possible WHL success.

Scouting: a decent skater with deceptive quickness and change of pace .. possesses decent bursts of speed and impresses with his balance .. could upgrade on his top-end speed .. X-shaped legs hurt his skating smoothness .. an okay puckhandler .. capable of making nifty moves with his stick when needed, but isn't a dipsy-doodler with the puck .. shows decent offensive instincts but only an adequate creativity .. possesses a decent portion of hockey sense and awareness of the positioning of the linemates but is regularly prone to an ineffective play with the puck .. releases a hard snap shot with a solid accuracy, but should work on the accuracy of his slap shots .. needs to progress on the smoothness of his finishing skills .. shows up in heavy traffic despite modest frame .. battles for the loose pucks and often looks for the loose rebounds in the opponent's slot .. needs to pick up on his defensive play .. should further develop his defensive positioning and mark his man faster .. average in the faceoff circle .. hampered by inconsistency .. prone to some moody play where he doesn't give his best effort.

Matej Misura (2007), LW

Tournament wrap-up: best Slovak goalscorer (2 goals) .. played a two-way game in the exhibition game against USA .. lacked the stride effectiveness and explosiveness to be a quality offensive factor .. wasn't a dynamic factor in the tournament opener against Sweden .. tried to bull his way through traffic but couldn't effectively create after gaining possession of the puck .. willing to share the puck on a regular basis but didn't show the hockey sense to be a quality playmaking center .. made that he will need to upgrade on his smoothness to take his game to another level in the second game against Switzerland .. scored an important goal in the final game against Finland .. a responsible defensive center with obvious shortcomings in skill played an average tournament.

Scouting: blessed with average wheels .. should upgrade on his acceleration and footspeed .. average stride effectiveness .. average agility .. decent balance and lower-body strength .. needs a bigger top-end speed .. could use softer hands and smoother puckhandling skills .. needs to corral difficult passes more smoothly .. doesn't stand out in one-on-one situations .. limited creativity .. tends to overlooks odd passing lanes .. adequate vision and hockey sense .. unleashes a hard snap shot with adequate accuracy .. decent variety of shots .. slap shot is too telegraphed .. only adequate finishing skills .. a tenacious player who doesn't shy away from the physical contact .. battles in all three zones with diligence but lack of smarts limit him .. willing to barrel through opponents but could upgrade on mean streak .. looks for the loose rebounds to score garbage goals .. could upgrade on his nastiness along the boards .. performs as a two-way forward .. responsible in his own zone .. breaks up the passes of the opponents thanks to a decent ability to block the passing lanes .. spots his man quickly .. an okay asset to the penalty killing units .. plays a tenacious game when sweeping the crease from the opposing forwards but is inconsistent in this asset.

Milan Kytnar (2007), C

Tournament wrap-up: gave his best efforts on every shift the exhibition game against USA but was noticeably limited by his average skating ability .. repeated the same intense showing also in the tournament opener against Sweden, filling a two-way role .. filled the role of a defensive center conscientiously and tried to make use of his size tools yet didn't become a physically intimidating factor .. was an easy target for the Canadian players when quitting to move his feet in the third game .. stayed back in a defensive role in the final game against Finland .. did the little things and played an okay game on the penalty killing units .. filled his role conscientiously but would need more productivity for a better rating.

Scouting: an average skater .. needs to upgrade on his first-step quickness and acceleration .. adequate agility .. average top-end speed hurts his effectiveness .. average turns .. possesses above-average balance and lower-body strength .. tough to get knocked off his feet .. should keep his feet moving to be more effective .. gets easily blocked by opponents .. a diligent two-way forward .. willing to drive the net hard .. plays with an edge and is a decent hitter along the boards but his physical awareness is inconsistent .. can throw a surprising hit on the opponents .. adequate puckhandling skills .. should make more nifty moves with his stick to be more effective in one-on-one situations .. can gain the offensive zone for his team .. willing to play dump-and-chase .. adequate hockey sense .. doesn't have the needed creativity to be an effective passer in the offensive zone .. fires a hard wrist shot .. hard slap shot should be less telegraphed .. should be more patient once on the scoring chance .. should develop smoother in-close finishing skills .. solid defensive awareness .. shuts down the passing lanes of the opposition and stays with his man .. effective on the backcheck .. limits the options of the opponent adequately well .. a solid asset on penalty killing units .. solid at picking his spots and finding open space .. an average factor in the faceoff circle .. should block the opposing center more effectively after a faceoff.

2006 U18 Junior World Cup: Fourth For Sweden (posted 9.5.06)

Sweden

Preliminary Games

SVK 1 - SWE 2 so Piestany, SVK

SWE 1 - CAN 4 Piestany, SVK

SUI 3 - SWE 5 Piestany, SVK

Bronze Medal Game

RUS 4 - SWE 2 Piestany, SVK

Top Performers

Jens Hellgren (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: needed a few shifts to get going but established himself as arguably the top Swedish defenseman in the exhibition game against Russia with fluid skating and savvy two-way play .. burst out after the tournament started .. the best defenseman in the first game against Slovakia, making use of his size and running the powerplay with a strong prowess .. reduced the number of his offensive supports but filled a more defensive role with a solid conscientiousness in the second game against Canada .. withstood the physical challenge .. guilty of one Canadian goal after easily losing an one-on-one situation .. maintained his strong level of play also during the last two tournament games .. the most pleasant Swedish surprise ranked among the very best defensemen on the tournament.

Scouting: an above-average skater for a big man .. displays good footwork and a fluid stride .. okay bursts of speed .. solid agility and crisp lateral movement .. possesses above-average first-step quickness .. adequate lower-body strength and balance .. difficult to outskate .. above-average stickhandling skills and hand-eye coordination .. uses both sides of the stick when passing .. capable of a quick fooling move and surprise play .. can maintain possession of the puck in traffic .. handles difficult passes well and makes passes from both sides of the stick .. shows solid offensive flair .. possesses a decent portion of offensive vision and awareness of his linemates .. capable of delivering crisp passes .. solid powerplay quarterback .. can make the opponents moving and then dish out an accurate pass across the zone .. decent creativity .. okay hard slap shot with a solid accuracy .. okay snap shot .. is effective with his smarts and a fearless approach .. not afraid to play physical along the boards .. uses his strength to win corner battles .. battles for the loose pucks and subsequently starts the counterattack with a quick pass .. uses his body well against the opposing players to get them out of balance .. adequate pinching .. plays with a solid diligence .. blocks the opposing shots with his body .. stays with his man .. prone to the odd mistake in one-on-one situations .. limits the options of the opponents well while playing on penalty killing units but should progress a bit in his positional play while playing shorthanded.

Johan Motin (2008), D

Tournament wrap-up: challenged Jens Hellgren in terms of offensive prowess in the exhibition game against Russia but was a notch below in terms of smarts .. the tournament games revealed an average offensive ability but Motin flourished in his defensive role .. took advantage of his size and strength to keep the Slovak forwards under control in the first game .. battled the more physical Canadian players with a solid effectiveness .. dependable on the defensive side but occasionally tried to do too much .. a steady defensive factor in the last two tournament games against Switzerland and Russia .. will be very good when he learns to play within his limits .. the most efficient Swedish blueliner in terms of defensive play left a solid impression.

Scouting: an okay skater for a player of his size .. acceptable acceleration and first-step quickness .. okay straightaway speed and lateral movement .. okay backwards skating .. decent turns and agility .. okay top-end speed .. possesses decent lower-body strength and balance .. only adequate stickhandling skills .. should corral difficult passes more smoothly .. distributes quick accurate short-distance passes but doesn't have the offensive vision needed for quality long outlet passes .. uses both sides of the stick when passing .. willing to move the puck out of his own end .. average offensive creativity .. prone to falling back behind the plays occasionally when focusing on offense too much .. holds the offensive blue line in an aggressive way .. prone to the odd bad decision with the puck .. willing to use his slap shot with a solid hardness but should unleash it more quickly .. fires an accurate snap shot .. useful as a powerplay pointman .. plays an active game on the penalty killing units .. a solid force when keeping things simple .. spots his man quickly and stays with him .. doesn't make glaring mistakes when solving an one-on-one situation .. shows okay aggressiveness in his own zone .. strongly build .. a solid hitter .. above-average at clearing the crease .. a late '89 born defenseman .. shoots right.

Oscar Moller (2007), LW

Tournament wrap-up: the best Swedish performer in the exhibition game against Russia .. played a very gritty game and created big trouble for the Russian defensemen with his quickness and a hit-and-go style .. drove the net hard and fired hard slap shots .. wasn't so intense and effective during the tournament opener against Slovakia .. still registered a number of solid shifts but was unusually reluctant to fire the puck .. picked up on his game in the second matchup against Canada .. flourished under the more physical play and was difficult to contain with his agility .. a dangerous factor on the powerplay units .. a solid factor in the game against Switzerland .. played only an average game against Russia with a number of off-shifts .. inconsistency hurt him a bit but still arguably the top Swedish forward in the tournament.

Scouting: an above-average skater with good footspeed and acceleration .. sharp agility and a solid balance .. solid first-step quickness .. okay lower-body strength .. can carry the puck without having to slow down .. makes plays at top speed and brings defenders out of position .. tenacious forechecker who approaches the opposing players quickly .. sticks his nose into traffic .. willing to hit the bigger opponents despite the size deficiency .. okay stickhandling skills .. able to succeed in one-on-one situations .. covers the puck well .. a decent passer who can find the open man .. fires a hard accurate snap shot .. likes to let his booming accurate slap shot go .. solid attitude and competitiveness .. a tireless worker .. drives net hard .. often performs in the opposing slot where he looks for rebounds .. works in front of the opposing goals at powerplay units .. useful as a set-up man from the corner .. adequate leadership qualities .. needs to pick up his defensive game .. should mark his man faster and stay with him all the way .. shoots right.

Joakim Andersson (2007), C

Tournament wrap-up: registered his most impressive showing in the exhibition game against Russia .. showed some reserves in his skating but took no prisoners along the boards .. drove the net hard after gaining possession of the puck .. played a North American style and frequently fired the puck .. didn't show the same intensity level during the tournament opener against Slovakia .. displayed smooth stickhandling and solid passing ability but didn't make use of his solid size tools and took off-shifts .. repeated this showing also during the second game against Canada .. had the tools to be dominant but looked like waiting for the plays to come to him instead of battling hard .. still one of the best Swedish forwards in the game .. didn't show impressive fire and grit also during the remaining two games .. kept longing for more on the tournament but his potential remains significant.

Scouting: a decent skater for a big man .. bent over when skating which limits his top-end speed .. possesses an okay change of pace .. blessed with decent acceleration but still could improve on first-step quickness .. only adequate top-end speed .. possesses above-average lower-body strength and balance .. emerges as a swift puckhandler with soft hands .. can penetrate into the offensive zone with the puck on his stick and create plays .. doesn't loose puck-possession when deking his way out of the corners .. crisp backhand passes .. dangerous behind the opposing goal .. effective once gaining possession of the puck .. decent takeaways .. blessed with decent smarts and offensive instincts .. more of a playmaker than sniper .. capable of solid hard accurate tape-on-tape passes but should work on timing of passes .. unleashes an accurate hard wrist shot .. fires a hard slap shot .. is willing to work hard his own end to help out the defense, but needs to upgrade his defensive awareness .. inconsistent in his defensive determination .. average quickness of marking his man .. should improve on defensive positioning .. should be more competitive when playing off the puck .. sticks his nose into traffic areas and battles in the trenches .. can run the opponents over and drive the net hard when on his game .. doesn't seem to be willing to play all his shifts at full intensity and occasionally floats .. decent in the faceoff circle.

Mikael Backlund (2007), C

Tournament wrap-up: played a strong two-way game in the exhibition matchup against Canada before his glaring mistake with the puck in the defensive zone caused the first Russian goal .. didn't regain his confidence after this mistake .. went through an off-game in the tournament opener against Slovakia .. wasn't effective in either offensive or defensive zone and floated .. couldn't create quality plays for his wingers .. turned his game over in the second game against Canada .. created solid scoring chances and fired precise shots at the Canadian goaltender .. a solid factor in the defensive zone with his maturity .. slightly inconsistent in the final game against Russia .. couldn't be so effective as against Canada .. didn't live up to the big hype put on him and doesn't look like a candidate for first overall pick any more but still ranked among the best Swedish forwards after an above-average showing.

Scouting: a solid skater .. okay first-step quickness .. possesses a solid acceleration .. solid agility on his skates .. above-average balance and lower-body strength .. doesn't get knocked off his skates too often .. uses multiple gears .. okay top-end speed .. a good stickhandler with smooth moves .. uses his skates well to corral a difficult pass .. can maneuver with the puck in tight space without losing possession but doesn't use this asset very often .. looks for an open teammate more than shooting the puck in the offensive zone .. aware of his linemates .. possesses solid passing skills and creativity .. can make a surprising pass .. can be used as a powerplay quarterback .. distributes smart accurate passes on the powerplay units .. a decent player in one-on-one situations .. possesses solid fast release on his wrist .. okay hard accurate slap shot .. possesses decent in-close finishing skills but tends to be occasionally precipitous .. would be more effective if he would be more willing to get involved in the trench battles .. tends to play too far from the opposing slot .. very inconsistent in his willingness to battle along the boards .. prone to the odd dumb foul .. a two-way forward .. returns to help out the defense regularly .. possesses above-average defensive maturity for a player of his age .. adept at shutting down the passing lanes of the opposition .. spots his man quickly .. occasionally over-confident in the defensive zone which leads to mistakes .. an okay asset to the penalty killing units .. tends to occasionally disappear.

Other Players

Mark Owuya (2007), G

Tournament wrap-up: the Swedish starter at the tournament .. played the first half of the exhibition game against Russia and registered an acceptable showing .. pulled off an okay showing in the tournament opener against Slovakia .. showed an okay glove hand but should be more effective against shots aiming down low in the second contest against Canada .. didn't disappoint but also didn't stand out among the other tournament goaltenders .. will need to upgrade on his play to gain pro consideration.

Scouting: plays more of a butterfly style .. possesses decent skating skills for a player of his size .. should recover faster from dropping to a butterfly .. still should improve on his lateral movement in the crease .. possesses decent reflexes .. okay dexterity and quickness .. possesses adequate footspeed .. okay resilience .. covers lots of net with his size .. okay glove hand .. is stronger against shots aiming at the upper shelf rather than against low-aimed shots .. allows the odd rebound .. decent rebound control .. angles shots into the corners well .. decent anticipation of developing plays still could be improved .. doesn't let in soft goals on the initial shot .. should upgrade on his five-hole .. goes down sometimes too early, which leaves the upper shelf uncovered .. decent when handling traffic in front of him .. possesses acceptable fundamentals and positional play in the crease .. could improve on the blocker side .. possesses decent focus .. shows confidence in his adequate stickhandling skills .. goes often behind the net to play the puck .. still should upgrade on passing accuracy.

Alexander Deilert (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: played snake-bitten during the exhibition game against Russia .. prone to precipitous offense and wrong-timed passes .. the game revealed the reserves in his skating .. a limited factor during the tournament opener against Slovakia but could distribute a number of accurate passes .. inconsistent during the second game against Canada .. prone to not very intelligent plays just like accurate passes .. couldn't skate with the fastest opponents .. an adequate factor during the final game against Russia .. revealed several shortcomings on this tournament .. the best Swedish defenseman from the huge drop-off after Jens Hellgren and Johan Motin.

Scouting: only an adequate skater .. a middle-sized defenseman like him should improve on his stride effectiveness .. okay acceleration and agility on his skates .. decent first-step quickness .. acceptable turns .. average lateral movement hurts his effectiveness .. decent balance but still could use more lower-body strength .. could upgrade on his top-end speed to be more effective on the transitional plays .. okay stickhandling skills .. can maneuver with the puck in traffic .. corrals passes adequately well .. decent passing skills .. uses both sides of the stick when making passes .. hard passes on short distance but average vision limits his effectiveness .. average hockey sense .. prone to passing the puck to a linemate already blocked by an opponent .. should recognize long passing lanes a bit more quicker but takes a chance on long outlet passes .. can be used as a powerplay quarterback but doesn't always play a smart game on the offensive blue line .. decent slap shot with a fast release but only adequate accuracy .. okay release on the snap shot .. plays on the penalty killing units with decent reliability .. positional gaffes which hurt his defensive effectiveness are his main defensive drawback .. switches to clutch-and-grab when missing the right position .. plays with decent toughness when willing to play physical .. can throw a decent hit and play bigger than his size when the play gets physical but isn't a regular physical force .. prone to the odd dirty foul .. a right-shooting defenseman.

Alexander Eriksson (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: gave solid efforts but was occasionally too static and prone to wrong decisions during the exhibition game against Russia .. could make solid plays just like significant mistakes during the tournament opener against Slovakia .. showed an okay strength in the second game against Canada but couldn't create quality passes to the forwards .. played a diligent game in the defensive zone .. used as the second powerplay quarterback after Jens Hellgren in the final game against Russia but proved that he isn't suited for this role .. played an average tournament and revealed his limits.

Scouting: a decent skater .. stride could be more polished in order to be more effective .. decent agility and lateral movement .. possesses adequate balance and lower-body strength .. okay turns .. his first steps lack crispness but his acceleration is okay .. prone to fouls when failing to keep his feet moving .. limited offensive upside .. can be effective with quick accurate short-distance passes but his overall offensive vision is average .. doesn't have the offensive vision to recognize long passing lanes quickly .. prone to catching flat-footed in the neutral zone and falling a step behind the play .. average powerplay quarterback .. doesn't make the opposing players move when quarterbacking the powerplay .. more useful as a powerplay pointman .. primarily fires a hard snap shot .. needs to upgrade on timing of his shots to avoid them getting blocked .. only adequate hockey sense .. a diligent factor in his own zone .. communicative with his defensive partner .. sacrifices his body to block the opposing shots .. possesses okay strength .. willing to battle in the corners .. spots his man quickly .. adequate defensive stickhandling .. decent in one-on-one situations .. plays a tenacious game in his own end .. adequate aggressiveness .. occasionally tends to loose position when making a hit .. decent crease-clearer.

Anton Lindgren (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: resembled a headless chicken in the exhibition game against Russia .. prone to positional mistakes and bad decisions with the puck despite the obvious efforts .. calmed down a bit during the first tournament game against Slovak and could showcase acceptable skating skills but still wasn't very effective with his play .. prone to brain cramps in the second game against Canada .. his glaring mistake with the puck in his own end caused one Canadian goal .. would be a bigger force if he would learn how to play his position better .. didn't improve on his overall play for the remainder of the tournament .. registered an unimpressive showing thanks to an obvious lack of hockey sense.

Scouting: possesses decent skating skills but should further upgrade on his top-end speed .. shows a decent acceleration and first-step quickness .. decent agility .. possesses an okay lateral movement .. only adequate lower-body strength and balance .. decent backwards skater .. decent stickhandling skills .. should be smoother when corralling backhand passes .. average in the ability to cover the puck .. possesses an offensive flair but is prone to a precipitous offensive support and 'blind' passes .. an okay passer when distributing the pucks on a short distance but average hockey sense causes frequent brain cramps with the puck when misreading the play .. should avoid costly giveaways .. rushes the puck often .. should have a better offensive vision to emerge as a good powerplay quarterback .. prone to dumping the puck when facing a heavy pressure .. doesn't fire booming slap shots, but unleashes a quick snap shot .. should upgrade on the accuracy of the snap shot .. prone to some dumb penalties when he refuses to keep his feet moving .. an adequate force in the corner battles and in front of the crease when physically involved .. can dish out hit, but needs a regular mean streak .. prone to headless play in the defensive zone, chasing opponents all the way down .. needs to upgrade on his positional play to be more effective.

Jimmy Andersson (2007), RW

Tournament wrap-up: could show a number of spirited shifts during the exhibition game against Russia but overall wasn't a dangerous factor .. upgraded on his play during the tournament opener against Slovakia .. played a more tenacious style and fired the puck more often .. difficult to keep under control for the gangly Slovak defensemen .. revealed reserves in his vision and hockey sense in the second game against Canada .. maintained his level of determination but couldn't think smart plays when pressed .. filled the role of an energy waterbug in the next games against Switzerland and Russia .. played an okay tournament but didn't stand out.

Scouting: a solid skater with an okay acceleration .. uses a quick stride which enables him to reach top speed in a short time .. possesses above-average agility .. okay top-end speed .. keeps his feet moving .. decent balance and lower-body strength .. likes to look for breakaway chances .. plays a hi-octane style with energy .. wreaks havoc among the opponents with his forechecking .. an okay puckhandler .. corrals passes while using both sides of the stick .. possesses decent in-close finishing skills .. adequately smooth when challenging the opponent in one-on-one situations .. only adequate vision and hockey sense .. should be more aware of the linemates ready to pass him the puck .. willing to fire the pucks often .. one-times shots well .. fires a hard accurate slap shot .. unleashes a quick wrist shot with decent accuracy .. returns back to his own zone .. shows adequate defensive awareness but should spot his man more quickly .. decent defensive positioning .. plays bigger than his size .. willing to get involved in the trench battles .. willing to finish his checks despite not being blessed with giant frame .. digs for the loose pucks in the corners .. looks for rebounds in the slot.

Emil Bejmo (2008), C

Tournament wrap-up: battled diligently during the exhibition game against Russia but couldn't fully keep up with the pace of the game .. made the most to make up for his skating limits during the tournament opener against Slovakia .. fired the puck often and was very intense on the penalty killing units .. difficult to contain with his agility .. could impress on a number of shifts in the second game against Canada with his quick moves but couldn't battle his way through heavy traffic .. kept the same level of determination .. showed a solid heart and determination in the next games against Switzerland and Russia .. played a decent tournament but would be more effective with better skating.

Scouting: a smallish forward .. blessed with decent skating skills but a player of his size needs a longer and more effective stride .. possesses solid footspeed .. decent acceleration .. above-average agility .. needs to upgrade on his top-end speed .. could use a better balance on his skates as he tends to get knocked off balance by bigger opponents .. okay skill set .. crafty puckhandler with a solid hand-eye coordination .. succeeds in one-on-one situations thanks to his elusive stick moves .. corrals difficult passes smoothly .. an okay forechecker .. an adequate passer .. could use more patience with the puck and read the situations quicker .. prone to 'blind' passes .. willing to shoot the puck .. snap shot should be harder .. okay hard slap shot should be fired more accurately .. doesn't play soft and regularly performs in traffic but isn't very effective in traffic thanks to his size deficiency .. visits the slot and looks for the loose rebounds .. digs for the loose pucks .. above-average intensity and determination .. isn't a force against bigger opponents .. needs to improve on his defensive play .. should mark his man more quickly .. limits the options of the opponents well while performing on the penalty killing units .. plays a very energy style on the penalty kill .. doesn't take off-shifts .. a late '89 born forward.

Johan Erkgards (2008), LW

Tournament wrap-up: pulled off an above-average showing in the exhibition game against Russia .. showed a solid agility and a sneaky play in traffic .. showed slick moves in the offensive zone .. repeated his solid showing also during the tournament opener against Slovakia but faded a bit in the later stages of the game .. could be more productive .. only an average factor during the second game against Canada .. tried hard but looked a bit tired .. could battle traffic in an effective way .. inconsistent during the last two games against Switzerland and Russia .. could impress with slick moves but wasn't a regular factor .. left a decent impression but inconsistency cost him a better rating.

Scouting: a solid skater with okay bursts of speed .. okay top-end speed .. solid agility and turns .. above-average footspeed .. could use more strength to his lower body but his balance is okay for a smallish player .. a solid puck-carrier .. soft hands are his strongest offensive asset .. capable of tricky stick moves which enable him to maintain puck-possession in traffic .. doesn't have the strength to run people over, but uses his quick moves to sneak through .. looks for breakaway chances .. okay vision and hockey sense .. can dish out accurate passes on both short and middle distance but doesn't have the vision of a natural playmaker .. a decent passer on the powerplay units .. possesses a decent variety of shots .. quick release on his wrist shot .. decent hard snap shot with a quick release .. slap shot should be harder .. decent in-close finishing skills .. willing to show up in the opposing slot .. plays bigger than his size but his average size doesn't make from him a physically intimidating factor .. plays a sneaky game in traffic .. digs for the pucks in the corners .. average in the defensive zone, but helps out on the backcheck with solid regularity .. should mark his man more quickly and improve on his defensive positioning .. an aggressive forechecker who uses his quickness to intimidate the opposing players .. a late '89 born forward.

Thomas Enstrom (2007), RW

Tournament wrap-up: the smallest player of the tournament played a spirited game during the exhibition game against Russia .. made use of his skating and wreaked havoc in the offensive zone with his forechecking .. hit the bigger Russian players .. registered an off-game during the opening game against Slovakia .. didn't show the same effectiveness in his role and failed to keep up with the bigger players .. didn't make proper use of his slick skating .. upgraded on his game in the second contest against Canada .. looked for breakaway chances and didn't play afraid against the bigger opponents but couldn't create quality chances .. filled the role of a character waterbug well but is too small for pro consideration.

Scouting: a diminutive waterbug .. a solid skater with an okay acceleration .. solid first-step quickness .. okay footspeed .. above-average top-end speed .. decent agility .. solid balance and lower-body strength for a smallish player .. okay stickhandling skills .. capable of quick effective takeaways .. corrals difficult passes adequately well .. an okay force in one-on-one situations .. can bring the opposing defensemen out of position .. could use more creativity with the puck .. an accurate passer on a short distance but accuracy of long passes is an issue .. doesn't think the plays a few steps ahead .. average vision and hockey sense .. looks for the breakaway chances .. decent in-close finishing skills but has a tough time to battle his way into the goal area .. decent variety of shots .. uses primarily his quick wrist or snap shot .. returns back to help out the defense .. marks his man adequately fast .. plays a spirited game on the penalty killing units .. approaches the opponents quickly .. willing to punish the opponents in his own slot .. a character player who doesn't tend to take odd shifts off .. strong for his size .. above-average intensity and determination .. drives the net hard but won't outpower bigger opponents .. adequate aggressiveness despite very modest size .. doesn't back down from battling bigger opponents .. a right-shooting forward.

Carl Gustafsson (2008), LW

Tournament wrap-up: most productive Swedish player (6 points) .. best Swedish passer (4 assists) .. pulled off an adequate performance during the exhibition game against Russia .. executed in the corners and could make quick stick moves but was hampered by the lack of an extra gear .. played an okay game against Slovakia but hardly stood out on any shifts .. made decent accurate passes .. a limited factor during the second game against Canada .. got outpowered by the bigger opponents and didn't show quality creativity .. played a solid game against the weaker Swiss opponents .. posted better numbers than his play really indicated and didn't really stand out on the Swedish team.

Scouting: a diminutive player .. an adequate skater who should upgrade on his top-end speed to match his severe lack of size .. blessed with an okay agility .. decent bigger bursts of speed but could upgrade on explosiveness .. could upgrade on balance despite his okay lower-body strength .. a diminutive player who can be outpowered by bigger opponents .. a decent puck-carrier .. blessed with okay puckhandling skills .. capable of quick stick dekes .. makes passes from both sides of the stick .. shows some trouble with corralling difficult passes .. a decent passer with an okay awareness of his linemates but occasionally steers himself into nowhere .. a decent passer from the half-board area when playing on a powerplay unit .. fires a quick wrist shot .. adequate snap shot should be harder .. his slap shot needs to be improved in terms of accuracy .. is willing to battle for the pucks along the boards, but gets outmuscled in the trenches regularly .. needs to upgrade on his average defensive play .. marks his man slowly and is prone to mistakes in the defensive zone which come from average defensive positioning .. plays with an okay intensity and determination .. a late '89 born forward.

Simon Hjalmarsson (2007), LW

Tournament wrap-up: asked to fill a gritty two-way role .. wasn't very effective during the exhibition game against Russia as the game wasn't very physical and Hjalmarsson didn't show the skill set and smarts to be able to fill a different role .. upgraded on his play in the opener against Slovakia .. wasn't smooth or creative but played a fearless game and stood up for his linemates .. displayed a decent defensive awareness .. repeated the same performance also in the second game against Canada .. was useful with his intensity and belligerence .. eager to score a garbage goal .. didn't find any playmaking prowess in the last two games .. met the expectations as a grinder but didn't show much past this ability.

Scouting: only an adequate skater .. bent over too much .. possesses decent agility and footspeed .. average acceleration and first-step quickness .. needs to develop a bigger top-end speed .. okay balance and lower-body strength .. possesses decent stickhandling skills but should corral the difficult better more effortlessly .. doesn't make many nifty dekes in tight space .. should cover the puck with a bigger effectiveness .. plays a belligerent game but unimpressive vision and hockey sense limits his creativity .. should recognize the passing lanes more quickly and shorten his decision-making time .. okay wrist shot and snap shot with a quick release .. needs to use his slap shot more frequently and upgrade on accuracy .. persistent around the goal area .. looks for the loose rebounds .. okay defensive awareness .. a two-way forward .. returns back to his own end quickly .. backchecks tenaciously .. spots his man quickly but should play better in position .. useful to his team with his tenaciousness and fearless approach .. protects the teammates .. willing to throw hard hits when playing along the boards .. forechecks tenaciously after a lost faceoff of his team .. doesn't tend to take off-shifts.

Anton Persson (2007), C

Tournament wrap-up: displayed an okay performance in the exhibition game against Russia .. showed a solid mean streak and intensity mixed with prowess on penalty killing units .. repeated his intense performance also during the tournament opener against Slovakia but went into hot water when asked to create plays .. a decent factor during the second game against Canada with his belligerence but lack of hockey sense was revealed in this game .. returned back quickly .. played the same spirited style with a lack of offensive creativity also during the last two games against Switzerland and Russia .. prone to overhandling the puck .. a solid penalty killer and a tireless competitor but would need better smarts and productivity to get a better tournament rating.

Scouting: an above-average skater with solid footspeed and acceleration .. possesses a fluid stride .. okay agility and turns .. an okay balance for a diminutive player .. can carry the puck without having to slow down significantly .. solid stickhandling skills .. okay with the puck in open space but is prone to losing possession of the puck in heavy traffic .. able to succeed in one-on-one situations thanks to his quick moves but should challenge the opponents to those situations more often .. only average vision and hockey sense .. can't control the play of the whole line .. should be more patient with the puck .. okay accurate short-distance passes .. displays adequate in-close finishing skills .. possesses a solid variety of shots including an accurate snap shot with a fast release .. solid quick wrist shot .. slap shot should be more accurate .. sticks his nose into traffic and plays bigger than his size .. battles for the pucks along the boards .. willing to drive the net hard .. a tenacious forechecker .. doesn't take off-shifts and plays with above-average energy .. possesses above-average strength for his size but still gets outmuscled .. a solid asset to the penalty killing units .. limits the options of the opposing players well .. backchecks diligently .. should stay with his player all the way .. a right-shooting forward.

David Ullstrom (2007), RW

Tournament wrap-up: asked to fill a sniper role on passes provided him by Mikael Backlund .. influenced by the unimpressive play of Backlund in the exhibition game against Russia and the opener against Slovakia as he made clear that he can't create chances on his own .. needed to put too much effort in his skating which hurt his effectiveness in all games .. registered his best game of the tournament in the second game against Canada as he regularly battled in the opposing slot and was very eager to score a garbage goal .. fired the pucks often .. gave solid efforts in the offensive zone .. demoted to fourth-line duty for the final game against Russia .. registered an off-game and couldn't show the same gritty style .. possesses a number of intangibles but lack of quality skating and hockey sense spoiled his showing.

Scouting: a decent skater but his skating is too 'wild' and strenuous .. should develop a more fluid stride .. decent acceleration and agility .. possesses adequate top-end speed .. capable of sharp turns .. possesses decent footspeed .. okay balance and lower-body strength .. won't jump at you with the smoothness of his puckhandling skills, but does his moves adequately effectively .. should be more smooth when corralling a difficult pass .. adequate passing skills, but overlooks the odd passing lane .. accurate short-distance passes when not pressed .. average hockey sense limits his passing ability .. likes to have the puck on his stick .. prefers shooting to passing .. solid variety of shots .. okay hard slap shot .. his accurate snap shot could be upgraded on hardness .. needs to develop more lethal scoring instincts .. looks for the loose rebounds in the opposing slot .. needs to pick up on his defensive awareness .. doesn't possess quality defensive smarts .. is raw in his defensive ability and not willing to return back on a regular basis .. too slow at marking his man .. possesses an okay mean streak .. battles for the loose pucks along the boards .. willing to take pounding in the opposing slot .. a decent hitter.

2006 U18 Junior World Cup: Finland Disappoints (posted 9.1.06)

Finland

Preliminary Games

USA 3 - FIN 2 Breclav, CZE

CZE 4 - FIN 1 Breclav, CZE

FIN 2 - RUS 3 Breclav, CZE

Seventh-Place Game

SVK 5 - FIN 2 Piestany, SVK

Top Performers

Harri Sateri (2008), G

Tournament wrap-up: registered a save percentage of .9259 got a bigger workload than his partner Tomi Karhunen and responded well to the challenge .. faced lots of rubber behind an unspectacular defense in the opener against USA and responded in a good way .. stole a number of quality chances .. benched for the game against Czech Republic .. held the Finnish chances on a win in the game against Russia .. showed strong reflexes and quickness .. handled pressure well but couldn't prevent the Russians from scoring the game-winning goal with just seconds left in the game .. registered a solid tournament showing and remains a player to watch for the future.

Scouting: a smallish goaltender .. plays a butterfly style .. relies on his quickness and athleticism to make up for his lack of size .. possesses above-average reflexes .. a solid skater who moves fast in the crease .. decent lateral movement .. is quick when recovering from a butterfly .. possesses okay footspeed .. doesn't let in many goals down low .. solid resilience and athleticism .. tends to flop around but possesses the acrobatic ability to make the save .. should further upgrade on his fundamentals .. decent patient against the shooters .. decent on the blocker side .. an above-average glove hand .. tough to beat on the initial shot .. okay orientation in the crease .. could upgrade on his dealing with rebounds .. confident when going behind the net to play the puck .. okay stickhandling skills .. can distribute accurate passes but could learn how to handle the puck safer .. above-average mental toughness .. doesn't let pressure bother him too much .. a late '89 born goaltender.

Veli-Matti Talonen (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: tied with Mikael Paunio for leading Team Finland in shooting percentage (.5000) .. the only Finnish defenseman who could draw noticeable interest during the opening game against USA .. the pint-sized rearguard impressed with his offensive confidence and sharp stickhandling skills .. played a smart two-way game .. repeated his performance also in the second game against Czech Republic .. dangled his way around the Czech players and distributed quick passes .. lack of strength was his only problem .. useful in his offensive support and decent on the defensive side also in the third game against Russia however a dumb retaliation penalty spoiled his showing a bit .. doesn't need to be totally ruled out under the new NHL rules .. the best Finnish defenseman by a noticeable margin.

Scouting: a diminutive defenseman .. an above-average skater with a fluid stride .. okay bursts of speed .. strong agility and lateral movement .. possesses okay first-step quickness .. adequate lower-body strength and balance .. difficult to outskate .. is effective with his smarts and offensive ability .. solid stickhandling skills and hand-eye coordination .. can maintain possession of the puck in traffic .. makes very sharp turns while still controlling the puck .. handles difficult passes adequately well .. makes passes from both sides of the stick .. shows solid offensive flair and creativity .. moves the puck out of his own end .. possesses a decent portion of offensive vision and awareness of his linemates .. capable of delivering crisp passes .. solid powerplay quarterback .. can make the opponents moving and then dish out an accurate pass across the zone .. okay hard slap shot but should fire the pucks more often .. decent snap shot .. not afraid to play physical but gets outmuscled by bigger opponents .. battles for the loose pucks and subsequently starts the counterattack with a quick pass .. plays a feisty game in his slot .. prone to dumb retaliation penalties when not controlling his temper .. decent pinching .. should upgrade on his defensive zone coverage .. prone to losing position when focusing on offense too much .. should stay with his man all the way.

Lassi Kokkala (2007), C

Tournament wrap-up: most frequent Finnish shooter (11 shots) .. carried the flag of the Finnish offense during the tournament opener against USA .. showed slight trouble when asked to outskate the quick USA defensemen but showed a nasty edge and solid playmaking skills during the first game .. repeated his performance also in the second game against Czech Republic where he was the only Finnish forward who could actually produce .. corralled the pucks smoothly and returned back to start the offensive raids .. slowed down in his effectiveness during the third game against Russia but showed an okay tenaciousness and vision .. the most impressive Finnish forward registered a solid tournament showing .. leapfrogged Niclas Lucenius as the top Finnish draft-eligible forward.

Scouting: an okay skater but still could further upgrade on his stride to be smoother on his skates .. slightly bent over too much .. blessed with decent first-step quickness and agility .. okay acceleration .. decent top-end speed .. only adequate lower-body strength and balance .. above-average puckhandling skills .. corrals the passes well using either his skates or stick .. a solid player in one-on-one situations with his quick moves .. adept at finding an open linemate with a quick pass .. okay creativity and vision but occasionally plays with his head down .. returns back to start the offensive raids from deep .. an adequate array of shots .. fires a quick wrist shot, but could use more pep when firing a backhand shot .. should use his slap shot to a bigger extent .. a competitive player .. willing to perform in traffic despite average size .. plays bigger than his size and pays the physical price to make plays .. drives the net adequately hard .. digs for the loose pucks in the corners .. returns back to his own zone quickly and battles in the trenches .. shows decent defensive awareness but could spot his man more quickly .. adequate defensive positioning .. plays his shifts with a solid intensity and determination .. could improve on conditioning to be more effective in the late stages of the games.

Niclas Lucenius (2007), C

Tournament wrap-up: finished second on Team Finland in shots (10 shots) .. played snake-bitten during the first two contests of the tournament against USA and Czech Republic despite showing flashes of promise on a handful of shifts .. couldn't find either quality playmaking prowess or tenacity and was overshadowed by Lassi Kokkala in both games .. prone to one-dimensional game in the matchup against Czech Republic .. couldn't outskate the Czech defensemen .. upgraded on his play in the third game against Russia but reserves in his skating couldn't be overseen .. showed solid stickhandling skills and an ability to change the pace of the game .. ranked as the second-best forward on the atrocious Finnish squad but didn't met the expectations put on him.

Scouting: an okay skater with a decent fluid stride .. possesses an above-average agility .. decent acceleration .. okay first-step quickness and footspeed .. lacks a separation gear which seriously hurts his effectiveness .. should upgrade on lower-body strength and balance .. a solid stickhandler .. can use the backhand side of the stick when passing .. corrals difficult passes with okay smoothness .. boasts an okay vision and hockey sense .. possesses solid playmaking skills .. aware of the positioning of his linemates .. a solid asset to a scorer .. reacts to the game flow well .. a dangerous player behind the opposing goal area .. useful as a defenseman on two-man advantages .. decent in-close finishing skills .. fires an okay accurate wrist shot .. snap shot should be harder .. should use his slap shot to a bigger extent .. should improve on his defensive awareness .. prone to positional mistakes when playing on the penalty kill .. not overly aggressive .. needs to gain more strength .. relies on smarts more than on toughness .. should improve on his traffic play .. should drive the net harder .. doesn't run the opponents over.

Pekka Jormakka (2008), RW

Tournament wrap-up: the only underaged forward on the Finnish team coped with his role well .. showed a two-way game in the opener against USA .. wasn't very effective in the offensive zone but shut down the opposing raids conscientiously and showed flashes of solid potential .. displayed a solid drive and durability during the second game against Czech Republic .. defensively mature beyond his age .. looked a bit tired during the third game against Russia .. filled his two-way role conscientiously and could compete physically but couldn't create plays under pressure .. didn't stand out on the tournament but proved that he is worth a close look next season.

Scouting: a sturdy skater with an above-average balance and lower-body strength .. tough to get knocked off his feet .. possesses a powerful stride, but could use improvement in his overall speed with the puck .. makes use of his solid first-step quickness .. okay agility .. decent top-end speed .. a combative forward .. plays a belligerent style with intensity and determination .. a solid hitter who can make his size to his advantage when battling in the trenches .. drives the net hard .. is willing to often muck in the corners and play where it hurts .. an okay stickhandler .. covers the puck well with his body .. can succeed in one-on-one situations with his quick moves .. decent handling with difficult passes .. a solid tape-on-tape passer but his creativity doesn't stand out .. decent hockey sense .. possesses a decent variety of shots .. fast release on his wrist shot .. a heavy slap shot with adequate accuracy .. shows a regular commitment to the defensive duties .. reads the plays well .. spots his man quickly and blocks the opposing passing lanes well .. useful on both powerplay and penalty killing units .. a '90 born forward .. a right-shooting forward.

Other Players

Tomi Karhunen (2008), G

Tournament wrap-up: served as the backup to Harri Sateri in the opening game against USA .. pulled off a good performance in the second game against Czech Republic .. prevented the severely outshot Finnish team from a significant loss .. frustrated the Czech shooters with his quick and elegant glove saves .. showed a strong confidence in his glove hand .. played an effective butterfly style .. took advantage of his quickness and strong reflexes .. didn't give the reason for any doubts about him being a quality goaltending prospect.

Scouting: lacks size .. plays a butterfly style .. an above-average skater .. quick side-to-side movement .. moves fast in the crease .. above-average lateral movement .. quick to recover after dropping to a butterfly .. doesn't cover lots of the net with his size .. solid leg quickness .. tough to beat down low .. above-average dexterity .. relies on his quickness and athleticism .. possesses solid poise and confidence .. possesses solid reflexes .. goes down early .. could learn how to stay up for an extra moment to cover the upper shelf more effectively .. challenges the shooter .. tough to beat on the initial shot .. plays the angles well .. doesn't allow unnecessary rebounds as he turns the shots into the corners .. okay handling of rebounds .. should further work on his fundamentals .. okay anticipation of the developing plays .. very good fast glove hand .. confident in using his glove .. decent on the blocker side .. possesses okay stickhandling skills .. a late '89 born goaltender.

Niko Kluuskeri (2008), D

Tournament wrap-up: tied with Jussi Makkonen for leading Team Finland in penalties (8 PIM) .. a very limited factor during the opening game against USA .. stuck to a defensive style but didn't show quality reliable play .. prone to fuzzy plays when pressed .. fell back behind plays when the pace was fast .. upgraded on his game in the second matchup against Czech Republic .. displayed an ability to make a quick deke to avoid a giveaway and okay stickhandling in general but should be more effective when given the extra few inches to create .. played a diligent game in the third matchup against Russia but showed noticeable limits in his game .. didn't think the play a few steps ahead .. an ordinary blueliner on an unimpressive defensive corp.

Scouting: an average skater .. should further upgrade on his first-step quickness and acceleration .. solid balance and lower-body strength .. should work on his agility and lateral movement .. only adequate backwards skating .. okay turns .. should further upgrade on his top-end speed .. a defensively-orientated blueliner who doesn't possess the offensive vision to contribute on the attack effectively .. okay stickhandling skills .. capable of a quick move to maintain puck-possession .. average passing skills and offensive vision .. decent short-distance passer .. doesn't have the ability to recognize passing lanes quickly .. prone to fuzzy decisions when pressed .. should work on the timing of his passes .. an okay pincher .. a solid shot from the point with adequate accuracy, but could unleash it more often .. an average powerplay quarterback .. more useful as a pointman .. stays back in his own end and works adequately hard down low .. spots his man adequately fast .. needs to learn how to make his size more to his advantage and show his nasty edge more often .. doesn't have any outstanding asset .. decent positional play .. still should be more effective in one-on-one situations .. prone to the odd mistake when performing on a penalty killing unit .. a late '89 born defenseman.

Jussi Makkonen (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: tied with Niko Kluuskeri for leading Team Finland in penalties (8 PIM) .. displayed obvious efforts but was prone to wrong decisions during the first game against USA .. didn't show quality offensive vision .. could make accurate short-distance passes just like occasional mistakes during second contest against Czech Republic .. moved the puck out of his own end .. played a team-orientated game during the third matchup against Russia but failed to show much past his determination .. prone to odd positional mistakes when not reading the plays properly .. used on the powerplay units as a quarterback but proved that he isn't suited for this role .. played an average tournament and didn't stand out in any asset of his showing.

Scouting: a decent skater .. acceptable agility and lateral movement .. decent balance and lower-body strength .. okay acceleration .. decent first step quickness .. decent backwards speed .. still should improve on his top-end speed .. decent offensive support but average vision hurts his effectiveness .. okay stickhandling skills .. uses both sides of the stick to make passes .. corrals the pucks adequately well .. moves the puck out of his own zone .. doesn't make long outlet passes very often and prefers to pass the puck to the nearby teammate .. shows a decent patience while playing on the offensive blue line but tends to be occasionally hesitant with the puck .. willing to let his hard slap shot go, but accuracy is an issue .. unleashes a quick snap shot .. doesn't have the vision of an elite powerplay quarterback .. an adequately reliable player in his own zone .. plays the man in one-on-one situations .. occasionally prone to odd little gaffes and positional mistakes .. shows above-average diligence .. plays with a decent edge .. throws okay hits but should upgrade on timing .. can be effective along the boards and when clearing the crease but average smarts hurt his effectiveness.

Joni Liljeblad (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: an alternate captain .. most productive Finnish defenseman (2 points) .. best Finnish passer (2 assists) .. registered a disappointing tournament in general as he couldn't find his game all tournament long .. played a conservative defensive role in the opening game against USA .. failed to show offensive vision and fell back when the opponents made him moving .. showed an ability to bring the puck out of his own end during the second game against Czech Republic but failed to impress with any other asset .. sluggish skating limited his effectiveness .. repeated his unimpressive performance also in the third matchup against Russia despite the odd accurate pass .. proved that he doesn't have the hockey sense to be a quality two-way force .. failed to catch serious attention with his play.

Scouting: only an adequate skater .. should develop a smoother stride .. decent first-step quickness .. adequate acceleration .. should upgrade on top-end speed .. should keep his feet moving to be more effective .. decent lower-body strength and balance .. adequate turns and lateral movement .. more of a defensive-minded blueliner despite the willingness to move the puck out of his own end .. decent stickhandling skills .. primarily uses a quick forehand deke .. should corral the pucks more smoothly at a high tempo .. shows a limited offensive upside thanks to an average offensive vision and hockey sense .. shows a wrong timing of his offensive raids when deciding to join the rush .. falls back behind the developing plays .. precipitous when distributing the puck in the offensive zone .. unleashes a heavy slap shot with average accuracy .. fires a quick snap shot with sub-par accuracy .. decent presence in his own zone but occasional mistakes hurt his reliability .. should become more of a diligent combatant along the boards and in front of the crease .. can make his body to his advantage but should hit more often and get stronger .. should become a more determined crease-clearer .. an adequate performer on the penalty killing units.

Jonas Alatalo (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: pulled off an acceptable showing during the first contest against USA .. supported the offense with quick simple passes and played an okay game on the powerplay units .. skating turned out to be a concern .. never could repeat this performance again and faded for the remaining games of the tournament .. lost focus in the defensive zone occasionally which hurt his effectiveness in the second game against Czech Republic .. didn't show sufficient skating ability to recover from those mistakes .. hockey sense was an issue with him in the third contest against Russia .. gave solid efforts but was limited in his performance .. unimpressive finish destroyed the okay beginning of the tournament for him.

Scouting: possesses adequate skating skills for a player of his size .. first-step quickness is an area of concern .. should upgrade on his acceleration .. possesses an acceptable lateral movement .. decent lower-body strength .. possesses decent agility .. should improve on his top-end speed .. possesses decent stickhandling skills for a defenseman but can't cover the puck with his body effectively which leads to giveaways .. corrals the puck by using both sides of the stick .. can use his stick well when pinching the pucks off the opponent .. capable of playing a two-way game but lacks elite creativity .. can be effective when keeping his passes simple .. prone to occasional 'blind' passes .. average powerplay quarterback .. can't control the play of the powerplay unit from the point .. willing to fire the pucks but slap shot lacks accuracy .. average hockey sense .. gives up on a number of chances where he would gain possession of the loose puck if he would show a bigger courage .. tends to think about offense too much and doesn't return back in time .. an adequate factor in one-on-one situations .. occasionally flat-footed in the neutral zone .. doesn't play soft but should make a bigger use of his size .. should sweep the crease with a bigger determination .. a right-shooting defenseman.

Jesse Turkulainen (2008), D

Tournament wrap-up: the only underaged defenseman on the Finnish team .. stuck to a defense-first style and was cautious about making a mistake .. a limited factor during the tournament opener against USA .. got burned by the quicker USA forwards and didn't show extraordinary reliability .. focused on performing in his own end also in the second game against Czech Republic but couldn't avoid shifts where he looked overwhelmed by the pace of the game .. repeated this showing also in the third contest against Russia .. proved the he can't make quick moves when pressed .. fired an okay accurate slap shot .. met the expectations placed on an underager but didn't show blue-chip potential.

Scouting: a decent skater .. slower first-step quickness negatively affects his acceleration .. decent agility .. a bigger footspeed would make him more effective .. adequate balance but still could work on lower-body strength .. a solid stickhandler who can make quick puck moves .. can dangle his way out of the corner but isn't the same force under pressure .. makes plays from both sides of the stick .. a decent accurate shooter from the point but should get his attempts through more often .. could use a harder snap shot .. a decent player on the powerplay units as both quarterback and pointman .. a two-way defenseman .. works diligently on the offensive blue line and can battle in the opposing slot when playing on the powerplay .. occasionally tends to do too much with the puck .. is prone to the odd mistake when rushing the puck .. should upgrade on his play in one-on-one situations .. can lay a solid hit on the opponents, but still needs to use his frame to a bigger extent .. prone to odd positional mistakes when going for the hit .. plays a feisty game but can be too much of a hot head which hurts his team with penalties .. a '90 born defenseman.

Antti Makila (2007), RW

Tournament wrap-up: registered a slower start into the tournament .. caught the eye with the odd elusive stick move in the opening game against USA but wasn't an effective factor during the game .. couldn't help his team either on the offensive or on the defensive side in the second game against Czech Republic .. prone to taking off-shifts in this contest .. upgraded on his game and could exploit on his slick stick moves in the third game against Russia .. prone to odd floating in the defensive end .. couldn't outskate the Russian defensemen .. didn't stand out but at least could impress with his slick moves to earn an adequate tournament rating.

Scouting: an adequate skater .. should further develop on his acceleration and top-end speed .. possesses okay agility .. possesses a decent footspeed .. should develop more bulk in lower-body and upgrade on balance .. okay turns .. possesses above-average stickhandling skills .. can play a smooth game with the puck in the offensive zone .. often challenges opponents to one-on-one situations which he knows how to solve .. covers the puck adequately well .. works hard in the offensive zone either to make a pass or shoot the puck .. can make a quality accurate feed when the obvious passing lane is present but doesn't have the offensive vision for smart long passes .. makes passes from both sides of the stick .. possesses an okay accurate wrist shot with an adequately fast release .. decent variety of shots .. fires a hard slap shot with a decent accuracy .. should get stronger to battle his way into the position to shoot more often .. decent defensive awareness .. returns back but should mark his man faster .. a adequate physical presence .. will be more effective defensively when he will be stronger .. willing to show up in traffic .. looks for rebounds in front of the opposing net .. a right-shooting forward.

Roopertti Martikainen (2007), LW

Tournament wrap-up: a very limited factor during the tournament opener against USA .. was a step behind the plays and couldn't either create quality chances or finish them .. faded for most of the second game against Czech Republic .. proved that his skating isn't sufficient for a diminutive player .. played a team-focused game in the third showing against Russia, battling for the team success but failed to generate offense .. a large disappointment on the Finnish team .. didn't meet the expectations and failed to show the assets expected from a player who is getting ready for playing his draft year in the CHL.

Scouting: a smallish forward .. an average skater for a player of his size .. only adequate first-step quickness and footspeed .. should upgrade on his top-end speed .. possesses adequate agility .. average lower-body strength and balance .. decent puckhandler but hands doesn't stand out among his offensive array .. should make more smoother dekes .. tends to loose possession of the puck in traffic .. possesses an okay accurate wrist shot with an adequately fast release .. should upgrade on hardness and accuracy of the slap shot .. an adequate player in one-on-one situations .. shows problems with battling himself into the scoring chances .. would be more effective if he could show a bigger hockey sense .. average creativity .. should read the plays faster .. tends to misread the plays on the powerplay units .. doesn't play a physically intimidating style even if he doesn't play afraid and is willing to perform in traffic .. isn't a feared force in heavy traffic thanks to his smallish frame .. shows a tendency to use his stick instead of his body .. needs to play in position better after returning to his own end .. raw at limiting the options of the opponent .. a diligent player who is willing to sacrifice his body to block the opposing shots.

Eetu Poysti (2007), LW

Tournament wrap-up: filled a gritty two-way role .. wasn't very effective during the first matchup against USA .. didn't show the skill set and smarts to succeed in an offensive role but showed a constant willingness to score a garbage goal .. played a tenacious style in the second game against Czech Republic .. wasn't smooth or creative but played a fearless game .. displayed a decent defensive awareness .. repeated the same performance also in the third game against Russia .. was useful with his belligerence .. executed in the opposing slot and scored an important goal .. willing to shoot the puck often .. played a bullish style in the slot and popped home rebounds but didn't show much past this ability.

Scouting: blessed with average wheels .. should upgrade on his acceleration and footspeed .. average stride effectiveness .. solid balance and lower-body strength .. should develop softer hands and better puckhandling skills .. needs to corral difficult passes more smoothly .. doesn't stand out in one-on-one situations .. limited creativity .. tends to overlooks odd passing lanes thanks to a low patience with the puck .. average vision and hockey sense .. uses a defenseman as a screen well when shooting .. unleashes a hard accurate snap shot .. hard slap shot should be more accurate .. unleashes his wrist shot with a fast release .. slap shot is too telegraphed .. should develop smoother finishing skills .. a tenacious player who doesn't shy away from the physical contact .. battles in all three zones with diligence but lack of smarts limits him .. often performs in the slot .. looks for the loose rebounds to score garbage goals .. can finish his checks .. decent nastiness along the boards .. adequately responsible in his own zone .. spots his man quickly but could upgrade on defensive positioning and get rid of the occasional defensive floating .. plays a tenacious game when sweeping the crease from the opposing forwards.

Mikael Paunio (2007), C

Tournament wrap-up: an alternate captain .. most productive Finnish player (2 points) .. second-best Finnish face-off man (.5385) .. tied with Veli-Matti Talonen for leading Team Finland in shooting percentage (.5000) .. a limited factor in the opening game against USA .. showed smooth stick moves but wasn't effective in the offensive zone .. unimpressive during the second contest against Czech Republic .. a limited factor on the special units .. didn't show much past his ability to beat an opponent in an one-on-one situation .. average factor on the physical side .. registered an off-game during the third game against Russia .. looked overwhelmed by the faster pace of the game and couldn't make quick smart decisions with the puck .. didn't impress with his tournament showing.

Scouting: a decent skater who still should upgrade on several assets of his propulsion .. decent agility and footspeed .. adequate first-step quickness .. should upgrade on his separation gear .. average balance and lower-body strength .. gets knocked off his feet by bigger opponents .. a decent passer with okay tape-on-tape feeds when passing on a short distance .. possesses adequate vision and hockey sense but doesn't have the creativity to control the play of the line .. okay stickhandling skills and hand-eye coordination .. should corral passes more smoothly .. prefers passing to shooting .. plays an okay positional game on the powerplay units .. a decent passer from the half-board area .. willing to perform in traffic, but doesn't have the physical tools to battle the bigger opponents physically .. needs more strength to succeed in one-on-one situations regularly .. adequate in-close finishing skills .. should be more patient when challenging the goaltender in-close .. an adequate array of shots but should fire the pucks more often .. should use his slap shot to a bigger extent .. returns to his own zone, but is raw in this asset .. should block the passing lanes of the opposition more conscientiously .. average defensive positioning .. adequately effective in the faceoff circle.

Nestori Lahde (2007), LW

Tournament wrap-up: played a diligent two-way game during the tournament opener against USA .. the game revealed considerable reserves in his skating ability .. could muck in the corners and play a spirited style during the second game against Czech Republic but was ineffective once battling his way into the offensive zone .. repeated his showing also in the third contest against Russia .. played diligently on the penalty killing units .. would need more productivity to get a better rating .. gets solid marks for his spirit and competitiveness but lack of quality skills spoiled his tournament rating.

Scouting: only an adequate skater .. choppy stride hurts his propulsion .. possesses acceptable footspeed but shows unimpressive acceleration and first-step quickness .. needs to develop a bigger top-end speed .. adequate balance and lower-body strength .. possesses decent stickhandling skills but should corral the difficult better more effortlessly .. tends to loose possession of the puck in traffic .. should cover the puck with a bigger effectiveness .. plays a belligerent game and finishes his checks .. needs to get stronger to be more effective .. average vision and hockey sense .. occasionally unprepared for receiving a pass .. should recognize the passing lanes more quickly .. decent wrist shot and snap shot with a quick release .. needs to use his slap shot more frequently and upgrade on accuracy .. looks for the loose rebounds to score a garbage goal .. returns back to his own end quickly but defensive smarts don't stand out .. spots his man quickly but should play better in position .. a diligent backchecker .. useful to his team with his tenaciousness but won't outpower big opponents .. willing to throw hits and battle in the trenches .. forechecks after a lost faceoff of his team but average skating hurts his effectiveness .. doesn't tend to take off-shifts.

Tomi Sallinen (2007), C

Tournament wrap-up: best Finnish face-off man (.5902) .. filled the role of a diligent grinder in the first game against USA .. played a physically assertive style but failed to keep up with fast plays .. battled his way into the scoring chances where he used primarily his snap shot .. lack of extra gear was exhibited in the second tournament contest against Czech Republic .. could compete with the Czech players physically but looked overwhelmed when asked to create in the offensive zone .. did the little things and won battles in the trenches in the third game against Russia but couldn't be effective skill-wise .. a conscientious defensive forward .. completed his shutdown role on the tournament well but his skating deficiency held him back.

Scouting: an adequate skater with a not very effective stride .. shows average agility and solid first-step quickness .. needs a better top-end speed .. can't execute without having to slow down significantly .. decent balance and lower-body strength .. prone to falling back behind the plays .. adequate stickhandling skills but should be capable of a bigger number of elusive moves to sneak past the opposing defensemen .. should corral difficult passes more effortlessly .. a decent passer on a short distance, but should be more aware of his linemates .. average smarts and hockey sense .. tends to play with his head down .. uses his primarily his quick hard wrist shot .. slap shot lacks accuracy .. can make okay use of his size, but should play gritty on a more regular basis .. occasionally performs in the opposing slot .. inconsistent in his traffic awareness .. should drive the net harder .. a two-way forward .. willing to return back to help out the defense .. raw in his defensive positioning .. plays a diligent game in his own end and battles along the boards .. spots his man adequately fast .. an okay factor in the faceoff circle.

2006 U18 Junior World Cup: Russia Takes Bronze (posted 8.29.06)

Russia

Preliminary Games

CZE 1 - RUS 7 Breclav, CZE

RUS 3 - USA 4 Breclav, CZE

FIN 2 - RUS 3 Breclav, CZE

Bronze Medal Game

RUS 4 - SWE 2 Piestany, SVK

Top Performers

Artem Dubinin (2007), D/C

Tournament wrap-up: the most composed and effective defenseman from all Russian blueliners .. made a solid name for himself after the exhibition game against Sweden where he could display solid poise and defensive savvy .. didn't take a chance on risky plays and avoided significant mistakes with the puck .. filled a defensive role in the game against Czech Republic and performed up to par on penalty killing units .. took a minor step back in the game against USA where he got burned by the quicker USA forwards and didn't show a consistent meanness along the boards despite his willingness to get involved .. played the last game against Sweden at center .. left a good impression at the forward position and registered his best game of the tournament .. made use of his solid stickhandling skills and challenged opponents in one-on-one .. could generate decent offense given the fact that his natural position is defenseman .. separated himself from the rest of the defensemen on this tournament .. his offensive potential is appealing.

Scouting: doesn't stand out with his skating but his stride will enable him to pick up on his acceleration and top-end speed once he gains more bulk to his thin lower-body .. decent lateral movement for a big man .. adequate first-step quickness .. tends to slow down slightly after gaining possession of the puck .. his gigantic frame enables him to absorb open-ice hits while remaining standing .. possesses above-average stickhandling skills for a defenseman who uses a long stick .. capable of solid dekes when performing at center .. solid short-distance passes .. doesn't let pressure bother him much .. reads the developing plays quickly and reacts in a safe way .. focuses on performing in his own end .. possesses a solid composure .. doesn't make glaring positional mistakes .. takes the opponent out of the play in one-on-one situations .. usually passes the puck to the nearby opponent and doesn't look for possible long passing lanes, dishing the puck off rather than risking an odd-man rush of the opponents .. fills his role well on the penalty killing units .. possesses a decent hard slap shot .. uses his size advantage in the battles in the trenches but should upgrade on the timing of his hits to be fully effective .. a versatile player who can perform both as defenseman and center .. generally upgrades on his offensive support when switched to the role of a playmaking center.

Sergei Korostin (2007), RW

Tournament wrap-up: finished third among Russian goalscorers (2 goals) .. most frequent Russian shooter (19 shots) .. finished fifth in tournament scoring (4 points) .. made an immediate name for himself with his speed which ranked him among the fastest players of the whole tournament .. could handle the puck at top speed and display smooth in-close finishing in the exhibition game against Sweden .. wasn't so tenacious as Alexei Dostoinov when playing off the puck but unlike Dostoinov could maintain the strong level of his offensive efforts also in the tournament games .. his extra gear hurt the Czech defensemen in the opening game .. coped with the more physical opponent from the USA adequately well but proved that he doesn't really thrive in heavy traffic .. named 'Player of the game' after an above-average showing in the game against Finland .. contributed effectively in the offensive zone in the game against Sweden .. left a solid impression as a prospect suited for the new NHL.

Scouting: a very good skater .. uses an effortless stride .. strong first-step quickness and agility .. uses multiple gears to intimidate the opposing players .. good turns .. possesses a good top-end speed and an ability to handle the puck in full flight .. should add more bulk to his yet thin lower-body .. possesses smooth stickhandling skills which enable him make quick dekes to maintain control of the puck and win one-on-one situations .. corrals difficult passes well using his skates or stick .. should cover the puck better with his body .. an effective forechecker who approaches the opposing players quickly .. difficult to keep under opponent control right after a lost faceoff where he looks to disturb the opponents .. possesses okay scoring instincts .. smooth when finishing chances in-close .. possesses a dangerous wrist and snap shot with a quick release .. slap shot should be harder .. should further upgrade on his playmaking ability .. doesn't have outstanding smarts when playing on a powerplay unit .. prone to wrong-timed passes .. thrived in open space rather than in heavy traffic .. needs to show a bigger defensive awareness .. was slow at marking his man and raw in the ability to block the opposing passing lanes .. occasionally careless after losing possession of the puck .. prone to losing temper when pucks don't go his way.

Vladimir Bakika (2007), C

Tournament wrap-up: second-best Russian face-off man (.4681) .. centered the most dangerous Russian line .. the most effective Russian face-off man in the exhibition game against Sweden .. prone to overhandling the puck in this contest but steadily improved in this asset as the tournament went on .. could generate quality offense and make life miserable for the Czech defensemen with his forechecking ability in the tournament opener .. proved that he needs to get stronger to avoid getting outmuscled in the game against USA .. more physically assertive against the weaker Finnish team .. maintained an above-average level of playmaking effectiveness during the whole tournament .. stands at a solid chance to flourish once he gains more bulk .. the most impressive Russian playmaking center.

Scouting: a solid skater .. uses a fluid stride .. possesses a solid first-step quickness and an above-average agility .. solid top-end speed .. needs to get stronger in his yet very thin lower-body and upgrade on balance .. possesses solid stickhandling skills .. capable of quick nifty moves .. an active forechecker .. uses numerous ways how to steal the puck from the opponent .. uses both sides of the stick when passing .. should cover the puck better .. a playmaking forward .. shows a tendency to pass the puck rather than fire it .. capable of smart plays which surprise the opponents .. can't avoid moments where he overhandles the puck in order to make the 'perfect' play .. a solid awareness of his linemates .. should upgrade on the accuracy of the fast-released wrist shot .. slap shot needs to be harder .. occasionally careless when finishing the scoring chance in-close but possesses the crisp moves which bring goaltenders out of position .. occasional willingness to perform in traffic and play where it hurts .. doesn't drive the net hard enough .. should use his body to a bigger extent .. gets knocked off the puck by bigger opponents .. returns back to his own end .. capable of blocking the passing lanes and limiting the options of the opposition but should be more consistent in this asset .. a decent factor in the faceoff circle.

Alexander Vasiliev (2007), RW

Tournament wrap-up: best goalscorer of the tournament (5 goals) .. led Team Russia in shooting percentage (.5556) .. tied with Czech Jakub Voracek for leading the tournament in points (6 points) .. the most gritty member of the Russian second offensive unit .. played a bullish style along the boards and showed trick offense in the exhibition game against Sweden .. willing to return back and play a two-way style .. prone to odd selfish plays in the first tournament game against Czech Republic .. could compete with the more physical USA players in the second game and proved that he would be able to survive on the smaller ice surface .. went for the loose rebounds often in the third game against Finland .. could burn the slower Finnish defensemen with his speed .. an okay factor in the final game against Sweden .. the gritty man of the Russian most dangerous offensive line .. provided consistent efforts and upgraded his stock with this above-average showing.

Scouting: possesses solid skating skills .. can beat the opposing defensemen wide with his agility and multiple gears .. possesses a solid acceleration .. uses an effective stride which enables him to hit the top gear quickly .. okay top-end speed .. solid lower-body strength and balance for a smallish player .. above-average stickhandling ability .. capable of a quick surprising move .. corrals passes well .. occasionally greedy in puck-possession .. doesn't have an elite playmaking vision and misses odd passing lanes but can distribute accurate passes from both sides of the stick .. distributes hard passes through traffic .. can play a team-orientated game in terms of blocking shots and doing the little things, but is inconsistent in this asset .. drives the net hard despite modest size tools .. shows a desire to score .. looks for the loose rebounds in the opposing slot to score a garbage goal .. possesses a decent variety of shots and an ability to use the proper shot for the exact situation .. fast-released wrist shot .. solid hard snap shot .. okay hard slap shot should be more accurate .. willing to dig for the loose pucks .. a decent hitter for a player of his size .. pays an attention to defense and returns back quickly .. should mark his man faster and stay with him all the way .. prone to taking off-shifts despite the obvious efforts.

Dmitri Tsyganov (2007), LW

Tournament wrap-up: best Russian passer (3 assists) .. displayed his undisputable skill-set in the exhibition game against Sweden .. corralled difficult passes smoothly and used multiple gears but was prone to selfish plays and precipitous passes .. improved on his game in the first tournament game against Czech Republic and emerged as a regular offensive force with swift skating and hard accurate passes from traffic yet still would be more effective if he would share the puck more often .. pulled off a decent showing against USA but couldn't cope with the physical demands so well as linemate Alexander Vasiliev .. took off-shifts in the third game against Finland but when on his game was an intense threat for the Finnish defense .. registered only an average game against Sweden .. stepped out of the shadows and registered a solid tournament showing as the slick-and-smooth member of the most dangerous offensive unit.

Scouting: an above-average skater .. possesses a strong agility and solid first-step quickness .. displays solid top-end speed .. strong turns .. should upgrade on his lower-body strength and balance .. very smooth stickhandling ability .. good at corralling difficult passes either by using his skates or stick to gain possession .. uses both sides of the stick blade when passing or firing a wrist shot .. capable of a quick surprising move .. willing to perform with the puck in traffic but needs to get stronger to cover it more effectively .. more of a playmaking forward .. prefers passing to shooting .. possesses an okay vision .. can dish out hard passes through traffic but is prone to the odd wrong-timed pass .. possesses an okay variety of shots but should learn when to use a snap and when a slap shot .. needs to fire more accurate slap shots despite the solid hardness .. fires a quick accurate wrist shot .. a tenacious forechecker .. should be more involved in tight spaces and perform along the boards more often .. occasionally creates pressure on the puck-carrier in the corners .. needs to show a bigger defensive awareness .. defensive positioning needs further improvement .. occasionally looses his temper on the ice .. a right-shooting forward.

Vitali Karamnov (2007), C

Tournament wrap-up: most penalized player of the tournament (27 PIM) .. best Russian face-off man (.5000) .. the Russian captain .. played a solid two-way game during the exhibition game against Sweden .. maneuvered with the puck at top speed and played a simple effective game in the defensive zone .. repeated his showing also in the tournament opener against Czech Republic .. took a minor step back in his play in the contest against USA which proved the fact that he needs to get stronger to be fully effective .. received a game misconduct penalty early in the third game against Finland .. missed the final game against Sweden .. ranked among the best Russian forwards with an above-average two-way performance.

Scouting: possesses solid skating skills .. takes advantage of his acceleration .. possesses solid first-step quickness and agility .. solid top-end speed .. should further upgrade on his lower-body strength and balance .. an above-average stickhandler .. corrals difficult passes well even while turning .. uses both sides of the stick blade .. can make quick dekes to maintain control of the puck .. plays with his head up and takes the extra second to read the play before gaining possession of the puck .. uses the boards in a smart way to pass the puck to a linemate .. a threat on the powerplay units as a set-up man from the corner .. possesses okay scoring instincts .. patient once on a scoring chance .. fires a quick wrist and snap shot with a solid accuracy .. keeps his slap shot hidden too often .. okay in-close finishing skills .. thrives in open space but also isn't afraid of tight spaces .. willing to look for rebounds .. needs to bulk up in order to be more effective but got stronger when compared to the previous season .. prone to the odd dirty foul .. possesses an adequate defensive awareness .. returns back quickly and plays a simple defensive game .. still could improve on his defensive positioning .. average in the faceoff circle .. a right-shooting forward.

Other Players

Vadim Zhelobnyuk (2007), G

Tournament wrap-up: finished second among tournament goaltenders in save percentage (.9296) .. led all tournament goaltenders in GAA (1.67) .. served as the Russian starter on the tournament .. didn't really stand out with his play despite decent efforts in the games against Czech Republic and USA .. handled pressure from the USA shooters adequately well .. originally a backup for the game against Finland before stepping in after Sergei Gayduchenko was pulled after the first period .. played a solid tournament but his stock isn't going to soar after this tournament showing.

Scouting: plays more of a butterfly style .. possesses decent reflexes which particularly enable him to make up for his lack of size .. okay dexterity and quickness .. a decent skater, but should still improve on his lateral movement in the crease .. should focus on upgrading of his footspeed .. decent when moving side-to-side, but still leaves some holes for the shooter to aim at .. okay resilience .. adequate anticipation of developing plays .. doesn't let in soft goals on the initial shot .. should upgrade on his five-hole .. goes down sometimes too early, which leaves the upper shelf uncovered .. decent rebound control but is vulnerable to allowing unnecessary rebounds .. adequate when handling traffic in front of him .. tends to flop around in the crease .. should develop better fundamentals and improve on his positional play in the crease .. solid glove hand .. decent in the upper half .. possesses a solid focus .. average stickhandling skills .. should move the puck more often.

Sergei Gayduchenko (2007), G

Tournament wrap-up: the Russian backup goaltender left a solid impression with his play in the exhibition game against Sweden, showing a solid movement in the crease and fundamentals for a player of his size .. didn't see playing time in the games against Czech Republic and USA .. started the game against Finland .. registered a sub-par game after his shaky play helped the Finns to score two goals .. was vulnerable on shots aiming at his five-hole .. replaced by Vadim Zhelobnyuk after the first period .. didn't play in the final game against Sweden.

Scouting: possesses very good size tools .. proved that he possesses okay skating skills and movement in the crease for a big man .. covers a huge amount of net with his size .. decent when using the blocker and when recovering from dropping down to a butterfly .. should upgrade on his lateral movement .. decent fundamentals for a big goaltender .. stays square to the shooter in most cases .. possesses okay athleticism and reflexes .. can make splits when needed .. possesses solid dexterity .. shows a decent patience against the opposing shooters but still should anticipate the developing plays more precisely .. prone to allowing the odd rebound .. prone to allow the odd soft goal through his five-hole .. possesses an adequate glove hand which should still be improved .. needs to pick up on his stickhandling skills .. doesn't show sufficient confidence in his stickhandling ability.

Yakov Seleznev (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: best tournament player in +/- (+4) .. an alternate captain .. the most internationally-proven defenseman on the team as he took part in his second Under-18 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka .. played more offensively than during the previous season but proved that he doesn't have the needed offensive vision and nifty skills to be a valuable two-way force .. registered his best game of the tournament in the second contest against USA .. played a so-so game against the weakest opponent from Finland .. didn't register a significant improvement compared to the previous season and remains a marginal prospect.

Scouting: an average skater who doesn't impress with his propulsion .. could use a smoother stride and a better first-step quickness .. isn't overly fast on his skates and has trouble with flashy opposition .. average top-end speed .. solid balance and lower-body strength .. more of a defensive-minded blueliner but progressed in the willingness to join the rush and perform in the opposing slot .. average hockey sense doesn't enable him to use a precise timing of his offensive raids .. decent presence in his own zone .. a diligent combatant along the boards and in front of the crease but isn't a menacing hitter .. can make his body to his advantage but tends to loose position when going for a hit .. an adequate force on penalty killing units .. willing to sacrifice his body to block opposing shots .. doesn't make many glaring positional mistakes but could read the developing plays more faster .. prone to odd wrong pinching .. limited offensive upside thanks to an unimpressive offensive vision .. sometimes hesitant to make a quick outlet pass .. average puckhandling skills .. tends to dump the puck under pressure .. prone to mistakes when making a long outlet pass .. unleashes a heavy slap shot with average accuracy .. confident in his shooting ability.

Maxim Isaev (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: acceleration was an issue with him in the exhibition game against Sweden .. didn't generate quality offense and failed to show a significant mean streak on the defensive side .. bounced back with a more well-rounded showing in the tournament opener against Czech Republic .. an average factor in the matchup against USA .. upgraded on his tenacity in the game against Finland and made a number of solid pinches but positional play on penalty killing units turned out to be a drawback in this game .. lacked quality creativity and was hesitant about joining the rush in the game against Sweden .. possesses a number of intangibles but the tournament revealed that he is more of a longshot prospect.

Scouting: a decent skater for a big player .. should further upgrade on his first-step quickness and acceleration .. solid balance and lower-body strength .. should work on his agility and lateral movement .. okay backwards skating .. should further upgrade on his top-end speed .. a defensively-orientated blueliner who doesn't possess the offensive vision to contribute on the attack effectively .. adequate stickhandling skills .. can't handle the puck smoothly .. an okay pincher .. average passing skills and offensive vision .. decent short-distance passer .. should work on the timing of his passes .. a solid shot from the point with adequate accuracy, but could unleash it more often .. an average powerplay quarterback who can't distribute quick short passes to make the opposing box moving .. stays back in his own end and works adequately hard down low .. takes his man out of the play .. needs to learn how to make his size more to his advantage and show his nasty edge more often .. won't jump at you every shift, but plays a reliable style in his own end .. decent positional play but is prone to the odd mistake when performing on a penalty killing unit.

Andrei Kolesnikov (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: an ordinary defenseman of the Russian defensive corps .. played a simple game in the defensive zone in the exhibition contest against Sweden .. wasn't put under pressure by the Czech forwards in the tournament opener but the next game against USA displayed that Kolesnikov is prone to mistakes with the puck and positional breakdowns when pressed by the opponents .. doesn't possess the strength and tenacity to effectively handle bigger and more physical opponents .. an adequate factor in the contest against Sweden .. didn't show impressive pro intangibles with his average tournament showing.

Scouting: a middle-sized defenseman with decent wheels but his skating skills should still be improved given his lack of size .. okay backwards skating and lateral movement .. decent acceleration .. bigger top-end speed would make him more effective .. adequate lower-body strength and balance .. displays a solid poise when jumping into the rush, but stays back rather than playing an offensive style .. prone to mistakes when asked to make a decision with the puck when pressed .. okay short-distance passes .. should be more precise when dishing out a long outlet passes .. average offensive vision .. decent stickhandling skills .. uses both sides of the stick blade smoothly when corralling the puck but needs to develop softer hands to handle the puck better .. an adequate force in his own end .. decent positional play but should upgrade on his play in one-on-one situations .. doesn't show much aggressiveness in his own zone, where he relies on his ability to foresee the opposing plays .. gets outpowered by bigger opponents.

Nikolay Lukyanchikov (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: served as the offensive partner to the more defensively-focused Maxim Isaev .. caught the eye with his willingness to fire quick accurate shots from the point in the exhibition game against Sweden but was a step behind the play on many shifts .. picked up on his play in the tournament opener against Czech Republic and played a solid two-way style .. cooled down against the USA as his skating wasn't on a level where he could handle the quickest USA forwards effectively .. showed glimpses of offensive promise but wasn't a regular factor in the game against Finland .. one of the better defensemen on the team but not a tournament standout.

Scouting: an okay skater .. uses a fluid stride which enables him to accelerate quickly .. should further upgrade on his backwards skating .. okay lateral movement .. okay turns and agility .. decent top-end speed should still be improved .. adequate lower-body strength and balance .. decent puckhandling skills .. distributes quick accurate passes, but should corral difficult passes more smoothly .. displays a solid poise when jumping into the rush .. can hide his intentions adequately well .. decent offensive creativity .. can fasten the pace of the play with a quick pass .. occasionally overhandles the puck .. sets up plays from the corner when playing on the powerplay units .. can be used as both powerplay quarterback and pointman .. prone to occasional bad decisions when moving the puck because of not reading the play properly .. uses a solid variety of shots .. slap shot is accurate when firing it quickly with average hardness .. hard blasts lack accuracy .. okay accurate snap shot .. prone to occasional positional mistake when focusing on offense too much .. can get flat-footed in the neutral zone .. shows adequate aggressiveness in his own zone but isn't a menacing hitter .. gets outpowered by bigger opponents .. works hard in the corners to keep the opponents under control .. average at clearing the crease.

Denis Trakhanov (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: an alternate captain .. was asked to generate offense as a two-way defenseman but took to many off-shifts to effectively succeed in his role .. could make accurate short-distance passes in the exhibition game against Sweden but missed on long passing lanes .. a limited factor in contests against Czech Republic and USA where he didn't show either offensive or defensive prowess .. picked up on his play in the game against Finland but average top-end speed for a smallish defenseman became a limiting factor .. registered only an adequate game against Sweden .. would need a bigger offensive effectiveness to gain a better tournament rating.

Scouting: an okay skater with deceptive first-step quickness .. okay agility and footspeed .. should work on his balance and gain more lower-body strength .. needs to upgrade on his top-end speed .. lack of a top gear hurts his effectiveness .. an offensive-minded rearguard .. willing to jump into the play and rush the puck .. crafty puckhandling skills .. okay corralling of difficult passes .. makes accurate passes on both short and long distance but regularly tends to take off-shifts in his offensive support where he floats and isn't involved .. possesses accurate shot from the point with average hardness .. okay accurate snap shot .. a bit reluctant to shooting the puck .. solid vision .. a decent asset to the powerplay units but doesn't have a top-notch powerplay quarterback vision .. decent positional play .. focuses on playing the man in one-on-one situations .. should further improve on his defensive zone coverage .. needs to gain more strength in order to be more effective in the defensive zone .. isn't a total physical liability but relies more on finesse rather than toughness .. willing to throw hits along the boards and clear the crease, but gets outmuscled.

Vladislav Egin (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: emerged as the most effective Russian two-way defenseman in the exhibition game against Sweden where he complemented the defensively-minded Anton Dubinin .. handled the pace of the game well and could distribute crisp passes on short and middle distance .. took a step back in his play after the tournament games started .. couldn't repeat his performance from the game against Sweden in neither games against Czech Republic, USA or Finland .. prone to wrong-timed passes when pressed .. couldn't take proper advantage of his lateral movement and fluid backwards skating .. started on a promising note but dipped to the average prospect section with his tournament play.

Scouting: possesses decent skating skills .. shows above-average acceleration and lateral movement .. okay agility .. should keep his feet moving in order to be more effective .. still could further upgrade on his top-end speed and add more bulk to his lower-body .. stays back when asked to play defensively, but is willing to rush the puck .. eager to gain possession of the puck .. possesses decent stickhandling skills but average offensive vision hurts his two-way effectiveness .. dishes out accurate passes on a short distance .. doesn't take the chance on long outlet passes as he can't recognize the passing lanes fast enough .. doesn't fire the puck very often .. should further upgrade on the accuracy of his slap shot .. could use better moves when performing on a powerplay .. prone to odd positional mistakes in the defensive zone .. adequate at spotting his man .. an average factor in one-on-one situations .. should upgrade on his physical assertiveness .. needs to add inches to his smallish frame to be more effective against the bigger opponents .. willing to get physically involved but occasionally gets outpowered .. an average crease-clearer.

Alexei Dostoinov (2007), RW

Tournament wrap-up: ripped the Swedish opponents apart in the exhibition game .. showed very good offensive efforts mixed with a willingness to compete in traffic and return back after losing possession of the puck .. dangled well in the corners and took advantage of his strong skating ability .. long periods of off-shifts spoiled his showings in the tournament games .. displayed blistering offensive ability before fading seriously and disappearing on the periphery .. went through two unimpressive showings against Czech Republic and USA before picking up on his game against Finland .. was effective with his smooth moves and explosiveness but couldn't avoid off-shifts after the game passed the halfway mark .. a decent factor in the game against Sweden but not a standout .. maddeningly inconsistent but offensive potential can't be disputed .. worth future close looks.

Scouting: possesses a good skating ability .. takes advantage of his slick acceleration and agility to outskate opposing players .. strong first-step quickness .. possesses a solid top-end speed .. still should upgrade on his lower-body strength and balance .. very smooth stickhandling ability enables him to undress opposing defensemen in one-on-one situations .. capable of quick takeaways and sharp dekes .. dangles his way out of the corners .. a solid offensive force .. impresses with his energy style when on his game .. primarily dishes out quick accurate passes on short distance .. uses both sides of the stick blade when passing .. possesses decent vision but isn't a legitimate playmaking force .. possesses a quick and accurate wrist and snap shot .. slap shot needs to be harder .. willing to battle his way through traffic but needs to get stronger to be more effective .. a solid asset to the powerplay units .. useful to the penalty killing units with his quick approach and active play with his stick .. willing to perform in the opposing slot and battle for rebounds .. shows reserves in his defensive play despite his efforts to return back quickly after losing possession of the puck .. should stay more closely to his man to limit his options .. a regular penchant to take off-shifts.

Alexei Cherepanov (2007), RW

Tournament wrap-up: second-most frequent Russian shooter (16 shots) .. asked to carry the role of one of the Russian offensive leaders but didn't meet the expectations .. played a cherry-picking one-dimensional game in the exhibition contest against Sweden .. should fill the role of a sniper but didn't battle himself into a position to finish the chances in-close and his shooting attempts missed the net too often .. didn't contribute on the defensive side all tournament long .. was predictable and relatively easy to keep under control for the USA defensemen in the second game .. floated on the periphery for most of the third game against Finland .. registered only an average performance against Sweden .. a large disappointment on the tournament .. didn't remind of the player he was during the previous two international seasons and raised concerns about his pro potential.

Scouting: a solid skater with a fluid stride .. above-average change of pace and top-end speed .. adequate balance .. a smooth puckhandler who shows a tendency to play a cherry-picking style .. corrals difficult passes without noticeable problems .. possesses an ability to handle the puck at top velocity .. tends to fire the puck rather pass it but doesn't have the nifty finishing skills to be a strong finisher .. possesses an above-average array of shots .. unleashes a quick wrist shot .. fires solid slap shots, but he uses primarily the wrist shot or the snap shot over the slapper .. one-times shots well .. average creativity and playmaking skills .. tends to be greedy with the puck .. only adequate vision and hockey sense .. sub-par awareness of his linemates .. a limited factor when playing off the puck .. not overly committed to the defensive side of his showing .. frequently hesitates to return back to help out the defense after losing possession of the puck .. could use more toughness and aggressiveness .. isn't an effective force along the boards .. needs to show more persistence around the goal area.

Egor Averin (2007), LW

Tournament wrap-up: had his tournament showing spoiled by sickness which limited his ability .. a complete non-factor in the exhibition game against Sweden .. didn't find a way how to be effective either on the offensive or defensive side also in the tournament games .. sidelined for the game against Finland .. can hardly be judged after the health problems caused a part of his ability to remain hidden.

Scouting: an effortless skater who can reach top speed by using just a few of his long, effective strides .. plays with above-average agility and possesses a decent balance, but still could use more lower-body strength .. okay top-end speed .. would be more dangerous if he could use his quickness in a more effective way .. boasts a strong pair of hands which control the puck smoothly .. utilizes on his okay offensive instincts .. can sneak through opposing defenses .. a solid player in one-on-one situations .. willing to play in traffic, but doesn't play a physical style .. above-average finishing skills .. often looking for breakaway chances .. releases a precise wrist and snap shot .. decent hard slap shot, which could be more accurate .. his intensity off the puck drops off .. doesn't show much commitment to the defensive play even if he occasionally returns back .. sub-par defensive positioning .. more effective on the powerplay units than on the penalty killing units .. prone to taking long off-shifts.

Ilya Fedin (2007), C

Tournament wrap-up: filled the role of a diligent grinder in the exhibition game against Sweden .. played a physically assertive style along the boards .. battled his way into the scoring chances where he used primarily his snap shot .. lack of extra gear was exhibited in the second tournament contest against USA .. could compete with the USA players physically but couldn't match them in terms of top-end speed .. did the little things and won battles in the trenches in the third game against Finland .. a conscientious defensive forward in the game against Sweden .. hampered by inconsistency on the offensive side .. filled his shutdown role on the tournament well but his skating isn't up to pro caliber demands.

Scouting: a tall player .. an average skater .. should pick up on his bursts of speed and further polish on his stride .. displays an adequate agility .. decent lower-body strength and balance on his skates .. okay turns .. only adequate top-end speed .. decent stickhandling skills and hand-eye coordination .. uses a long stick which doesn't enable him to make many nifty dekes in traffic but his strong hands enable him to maintain possession .. can cover the puck in traffic well .. decent vision and hockey sense .. an adequate passer who can make accurate feeds but isn't aware of his linemates all the time .. should improve on his in-close finishing skills .. unleashes a quick hard snap shot .. fires a hard slap shot .. blessed with a solid defensive awareness .. backchecks diligently .. stays in position in his own end and on penalty killing units .. fast when marking his man .. should drive the net harder .. average in the faceoff circle .. battles for the pucks and isn't afraid of the physical play, but doesn't play a gritty style on every shift .. can outpower the opponents .. a solid hitter but still could improve on the timing of his hits .. a right-shooting forward.

Evgeni Dadonov (2007), LW

Tournament wrap-up: tied with Czech Jakub Voracek for third-best goalscorer of the tournament (3 goals) .. finished fourth in tournament scoring (5 points) .. his light-footedness helped him to serve as a solid offensive force during the exhibition game against Sweden .. danced around the opposing players but traffic play was an issue .. mixed solid shifts with average ones in the opener against Czech Republic .. the USA players could get under his skin in the second game progressed in his willingness to play a physically assertive style as the tournament went on .. played a solid game in the contest against Finland, utilizing on his skills and a more tenacious style .. a decent factor in the final game against Sweden .. didn't belong to the cream of the Russian team but ranked among the best of the rest.

Scouting: a solid skater with above-average acceleration .. can dance around the opponents thanks to his agility .. solid first-step quickness .. uses an effective stride and takes advantage of multiple gears .. okay top-end speed .. should add more bulk to his lower-body and keep his feet moving all the time .. crafty stickhandling skills .. capable of nifty deflections .. doesn't show trouble with corralling difficult passes but tends to loose possession of the puck in heavy traffic .. can deke the opposing players but lacks strength to run them over in one-on-one .. an okay passer with accurate short-distance feeds .. doesn't have the vision for quick long passes .. prefers passing to shooting .. possesses a decent array of shots .. releases a fast snap shot .. uses the defensemen as a screen well .. slap shot should be harder .. should use the slapper more often and drive the net harder .. only adequate in-close finishing skills .. doesn't back down from occasionally mucking for the pucks .. performs in the opposing slot and looks for rebounds .. should hit more often and throw harder hits .. returns back quickly but is no defensive specialist .. spots his man quickly and can be an effective but tends to take the odd shifts off in his defensive awareness.

2006 Junior World Cup: Voracek Leads Czechs (posted 8.24.06)

Czech Republic

Preliminary Games

CZE 1 - RUS 7 Breclav, CZE

CZE 4 - FIN 1 Breclav, CZE

CZE 3 - USA 4 ot Breclav, CZE

Fifth-Place Game

CZE 3 - SUI 1 Breclav, CZE

Top Performers

Vladimir Roth (2008), D

Tournament wrap-up: second-most penalized Czech player (6 PIM) .. paired with partner from Slavia Praha juniors Jiri Jebavy .. asked to fill a two-way role .. skating turned out to be a legitimate drawback against the flashy and quick Russian forwards in the tournament opener .. scored the only Czech goal against Russia .. was very confident in his shooting skills in the second game against Finland but was prone to too 'wild' offense which led to a number of mistakes with the puck .. played a decent two-way game against USA and distributed the pucks in a more smart way .. avoided getting outskated and supported the forwards well in the final game against Switzerland .. played a solid tournament and his two-way potential remains obvious but a number of holes in his game was revealed here against top competition.

Scouting: a lanky blueliner who still needs to grow into his frame .. a decent skater for a player of his size but skating still needs further upgrading .. blessed with decent straightaway speed .. lacks a separation gear .. okay agility .. needs to develop a better first-step quickness .. okay lateral movement .. doesn't get beaten on turns very often .. skating should upgrade with more lower-body strength .. an offensive-minded defenseman .. often joins the rush and supports the offense .. distributes accurate passes on both short and long distance .. moves the puck out of his own end .. a solid puckhandler who likes to have the puck on his stick .. corrals difficult passes smoothly with his skates .. capable of a quick move .. very good creativity .. solid vision and hockey sense .. okay powerplay quarterback but occasionally prone to overhandling the puck .. very confident in his shooting skills .. willing to let his hard slap shot go but still needs to upgrade on accuracy .. makes quick smooth takeaways .. doesn't play afraid and can throw a decent hit, but should use his body to a bigger extent and hit more often .. adequate defensive play .. spots his man quickly but should stay with him all the way .. should show a bigger conscientiousness when playing in his own end .. only adequate defensive positioning .. should learn when to join the rush and when to stay back .. occasionally dives .. a right-shooting defenseman .. a '90 born underager.

Tomas Kundratek (2008), D

Tournament wrap-up: tied with Ondrej Roman for second place on Team Czech Republic in +/- (+2) .. filled more of a defensive role with a solid maturity .. caught flat-footed a number of times in the opener against Russia but improved on his poise and effectiveness in the following games .. played a safe smart game against Finland .. made a few defensive mistakes against USA but got the job done on most shifts .. along with Vladimir Roth the only Czech defenseman who avoided an off-game in the matchup against Switzerland .. wasn't as offensive as Roth but filled his role well .. wasn't flashy or very dominant but played an above-average tournament with composure and reliability .. established himself as a potential blue-chipper for the 2008 draft.

Scouting: an okay skater .. uses a smooth and powerful stride .. shows a solid balance .. okay lateral movement and agility .. decent top-end speed .. okay turns and backwards speed .. decent first-step quickness for a player of his size .. works hard down low and shows solid reliability .. shows above-average effectiveness when he keeps things simple .. okay defensive awareness .. doesn't join the rush too often but shows a regular offensive flair .. a decent stickhandler who possesses solid defensive stickhandling .. okay puck-distributor who prefers the obvious passing lanes .. doesn't stand out with his creativity but plays a mistake-low game with the puck .. solid patience and a low panic point with the puck .. reads the developing plays quickly and reacts properly to the situation .. plays an above-average play positionally .. approaches the opposing players quickly .. takes his man out of the play .. plays a safe game in one-on-one situations but still needs to be more effective in this asset .. solid intensity and determination .. takes an okay advantage of his size .. mucks in the corners .. a decent crease-clearer .. can avoid big hits with his smarts .. unleashes a hard shot from the point but could improve on accuracy and make it less telegraphed .. okay snap shot .. can be used as a powerplay pointman well .. solid competitiveness .. a late '89 born player .. a right-shooting defenseman.

Jakub Voracek (2007), RW

Tournament wrap-up: tied with Russian Alexander Vasiliev for leading the tournament in points (6 points) .. tied with Russian Evgeni Dadonov for the third place among tournament goalscorers (3 goals) .. tied with Ondrej Roman for most frequent Czech shooter (13 shots) .. best Czech forward in shooting percentage (.2308) .. an alternate captain .. the most dangerous Czech forward by a fair margin .. played his weakest game of the tournament against Russia in the opener but still pulled off a decent showing .. a strong force against Finland with a gritty offensive performance .. 'Player of the game' against Finland .. undeservingly robbed of the 'Player of the game' award after the game against USA where he stood out among all Czech forwards in both productivity and all-round play .. made a good use of his smarts and belligerence against the Swiss players in the final game .. clicked well with playmaker Ondrej Roman .. a dominant player on the Czech team presented himself with a very convincing performance .. only proved the fact that he ranks among the top blue-chippers for the next draft.

Scouting: a solid though not beautiful skater who gets the job done .. possesses okay footspeed and acceleration .. doesn't use an overly effective stride, but gets from place A to place B in an acceptable time .. could use a bigger top-end speed .. solid stickhandling skills .. corrals passes smoothly .. okay hand-eye coordination .. capable of quick surprising moves in the corners to move the puck out .. can cycle the puck in the offensive zone, looking for passing opportunities .. plays with his head up .. solid creativity with the puck .. an accurate passer who uses both sides of the stick .. makes accurate passes off the top of his stick blade .. finds the open man with regularity .. can be used as a defenseman on powerplay units .. solid in-close finishing skills .. can be patient once on a scoring chance, waiting for the goaltender to make the move .. a belligerent drive to the net is one of the strongest weapons of his offensive array .. solid array of shots .. uses primarily his fast-released accurate snap shot or a hard accurate wrist shot .. fires one-timed slap shots but should upgrade on accuracy .. can be persistent around the goal area .. can score goals in both the garbage and finesse way .. often executes in the opposing slot, looking for loose rebounds .. okay aggressiveness and tenaciousness .. can barrel through the opposing players .. a decent hitter along the boards who doesn't back down from battling bigger opponents .. okay timing of his hits .. returns back to help out the defense but is still raw in this asset .. marks his man adequately fast .. should stay more in position when performing in the defensive end .. limits the options of the opponents well while playing on penalty-killing units.

Ondrej Roman (2007), C

Tournament wrap-up: tied with Jakub Voracek for most frequent Czech shooter (13 shots) .. tied with Tomas Kundratek for second place on Team Czech Republic in +/- (+2) .. showed his slick skills and strong peripheral vision in the opener against Russia but couldn't create really quality chances .. a very good force on the powerplay units in the second game against Finland .. controlled the play of his line .. the game against USA helped to shed a bit the serious concerns about his soft play as he coped with the more physical opponent adequately well and didn't play afraid .. a strong playmaking force .. clicked well with his linemates Jakub Voracek and Jan Kana also in the third game against Switzerland where he was the offensive catalyst of the line .. one of the Czech offensive leaders met the expectations and started the season on a promising note after an above-average performance.

Scouting: a solid skater with a smooth fluid stride .. able to reach top speed quickly .. possesses an above-average agility and acceleration .. okay first-step quickness and footspeed .. should upgrade on lower-body strength and balance .. a very good stickhandler .. can use the backhand side of the stick precisely when passing .. very smooth at corralling a difficult pass using either his stick or skates to gain possession .. boasts a very good vision and hockey sense .. utilizes on his strong playmaking skills .. aware of the positioning of his linemates .. patient with the puck, waiting for plays to unfold and then finding an open linemate .. crisp hard pin-point passes on both short and long distance .. very dangerous behind the opposing goal area .. a good asset to a scorer .. decent finishing skills but can be occasionally careless .. likes to deke goalies in-close .. fires an okay hard wrist shot .. hard accurate snap shot .. should use his slap shot to a bigger extent .. decent defensive awareness but still should improve in this asset .. marks his man quickly and stays with him .. not overly aggressive, but doesn't let the opponents to totally manhandle him .. relies on smarts more than on toughness .. should improve on his traffic play .. can get occasionally rattled when the opponents play his body .. doesn't run the opponents over and is at his best on open ice .. fragility is a question mark.

Jan Kana (2008), LW

Tournament wrap-up: tied with Jakub Voracek and Vladimir Ruzicka for leading Czech Republic in assists (3 assists) .. finished second on Team Czech Republic in points (4 points) .. second-most frequent Czech shooter (11 shots) .. the most scrappy player from all Czech players .. played a consistent tournament without any significant off-games .. showed a fearless approach and quality determination no matter who the opponent was .. pulled off a solid showing against both Finland and USA .. very energetic in the final game against Switzerland which helped him to earn Czech 'Player of the game' honors .. filled his gritty role well and wreaked havoc among the opponents .. the gritty member of the elite Czech offensive unit pulled off a solid tournament showing but would be rated higher if he would show quality hockey sense in his play.

Scouting: a smallish wrecking pinball .. a solid skater with okay acceleration and top-end speed .. looks flashy and quick .. solid change of pace and explosiveness .. sharp turns .. possesses above-average lower-body strength and balance .. tough to get knocked off the puck .. good stickhandling skills .. only an adequate playmaker with a decent vision and awareness of his linemates .. shoots and passes equally well .. still prone to some boneheaded plays when trying to be over-creative with the puck .. very confident in his finishing skills .. possesses an okay variety of shots .. likes to let his hard slap shot go .. likes to battle in the opposing slot and look for rebounds .. capable of a smart way to score a goal .. prone to occasional careless finishing of the chances in-close .. could use more vision hockey sense in his play .. makes up for his lack of size with his competitiveness and a fearless approach .. plays way bigger than his size and often hammers opponents along the boards .. often agitates .. willing to fight .. digs for the loose pucks in the corners .. shows a commitment to the defensive play but hampered by occasional downs .. blocks the passing lanes of the opposition fairly well .. adequately fast at marking his man .. an active force on the penalty killing units .. a belligerent player but prone to inconsistent shifts .. a '90 born underaged forward .. shoots right.

Other Players

Marek Benda (2007), G

Tournament wrap-up: finished fourth among tournament goaltenders in save percentage (.9000) .. finished third among tournament goaltenders in GAA (2.50) .. originally a backup for the tournament opener against Russia .. stepped in after the starter Tomas Vosvrda was pulled after three goals .. allowed four more goals but none was really his fault as the Czech defense was very porous .. named 'Player of the game' against Russia .. pulled off a solid performance against Finland .. showed solid reflexes and handled shots aiming at his glove hand well .. benched for the game against USA .. repeated his solid performance also in the game against Switzerland and withstood the Swiss pressure when it mattered most .. played an okay tournament but didn't belong to the very best goaltenders.

Scouting: uses more of a butterfly style .. okay dexterity and quickness .. can make splits when needed .. okay reflexes enable him to particularly make up for his lack of size .. a decent skater with an okay lateral movement in the crease .. okay resilience and athleticism .. possesses decent footspeed but still leaves some holes for the shooter to aim at .. tries to position himself square to the shooter but still could improve in this asset .. decent anticipation of developing plays .. doesn't let in soft goals on the initial shot .. covers the five-hole adequately well .. goes down sometimes too early, which leaves the upper shelf uncovered .. decent rebound control and orientation in the crease .. decent when handling traffic in front of him .. tends to flop around in the crease .. can occasionally allow unnecessary rebounds .. could upgrade on his fundamentals and improve on his positional play .. solid glove hand .. decent in the upper half .. possesses a solid focus .. handles pressure well .. average stickhandling skills .. should move the puck more often.

Jiri Jebavy (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: complemented the offensive-minded Vladimir Roth as the stay-at-homer .. got burned by the speed of the Russian forwards in the tournament opener as he couldn't skate with the fastest of them .. his stride was too short and Jebavy couldn't find his usual defensive reliability and tenacity after the Russians grabbed the early lead .. upgraded on his game in the second contest against Finland where he could show a feisty defensive style without glaring mistakes .. played a conservative style in the third matchup against USA .. the game revealed the reserves in his skating again but Jebavy could succeed in filling his defensive tasks .. limited on the offensive side of his showing against Switzerland but made life miserable for the Swiss forwards with his fearless play and determination .. met the expectations but failed to show a progress in his offensive ability and skating.

Scouting: a smallish stocky blueliner .. an adequate skater with a short stride .. needs to upgrade on stride effectiveness in order to upgrade his skating to pro caliber .. possesses an okay footspeed .. decent change of pace .. solid balance .. good lower-body strength .. okay lateral movement and turns .. only adequate acceleration .. decent top-end speed .. solid stickhandling skills .. doesn't make nifty puck moves, but corrals the passes without trouble .. prone to the odd mistake when moving the puck thanks to a limited offensive vision .. shows decent play on the offensive blue line but could be more quicker in offensive decisions .. adequate outlet passer, but doesn't have impressive offensive instincts .. hard shot from the point needs to be more accurate .. strong on the defensive side .. smart positionally .. limits the options of the opposing forwards well to keep them where he wants them to .. regularly takes his man out of the play .. tough to beat in one-on-one battles .. works hard down low .. isn't afraid of throwing his body around .. digs for the loose pucks along the boards .. a tenacious warrior who plays bigger than his size .. can throw a decent hit .. solid mean streak and aggressiveness when clearing the crease.

Radim Ostrcil (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: footspeed and acceleration were regular issues with him during the tournament opener against Russia .. could make very good long outlet passes in the game against Finland but got easily beaten in one-on-one situations in the second game against Finland .. disappointed in the important game against USA as he was a step behind the plays and showed a penchant to drop his intensity in the defensive zone .. wasn't effective in his role .. a sickness sidelined him for the final game against Switzerland .. showed that he possesses offensive potential, but his tournament rating dipped due to his careless defense and average skating.

Scouting: a decent skater .. possesses okay straightaway speed .. should further develop on his acceleration and first-step quickness .. sub-par footspeed .. adequate lower-body strength .. average lateral movement .. gets beaten wide by quicker opponents .. an offensive minded rearguard .. strongest asset is his ability to join the rush and support the offense .. blessed with above-average offensive vision but needs to learn when to jump into the play and when to stay in the defensive position .. an okay stickhandler and a deft passer who is capable of making strong plays .. capable of long pin-point outlet passes .. okay on the powerplay units .. performs in the opposing slot on powerplay units .. doesn't hesitate to unleash his accurate slap shot which was upgraded also in terms of hardness .. fires an okay hard wrist shot .. needs to play all of his games at full intensity and determination .. can play a tenacious style and an ability to play the body but isn't a physical menace .. should further upgrade on his crease-clearing ability .. needs to further upgrade on his defensive zone coverage .. prone to occasional careless defense .. tends to loose his position for a chance to make a play .. needs to stay with his man all the way .. average in one-on-one situations.

Martin Paryzek (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: went into the tournament with the reputation of a reliable defensive defenseman with an adequate offensive support but disappointed the most from all Czech defensemen .. skating turned out to be a serious issue with him in the opener against Russia as he couldn't keep the opponents under any effective control .. couldn't find his game also in the second game against Finland and looked overwhelmed by the international pace .. repeated sub-par showings also against USA and Switzerland where in the latter he couldn't find any chemistry with his partner Martin Havran .. gets a black mark for this sub-par tournament showing.

Scouting: an average skater .. needs to further upgrade on his first-step quickness and acceleration .. would be more effective if he would keep his feet moving .. only average agility .. adequate backwards skating and lateral movement .. decent balance but needs more strength to his thin lower-body .. could use a bigger top-end speed .. shows trouble with handling players who can make him moving .. isn't beautiful when moving the puck, but shows decent stickhandling skills .. uses a long stick and can be an effective pincher .. reads the developing plays adequately well .. doesn't have recovery speed which forces him to leave a bigger gap between himself and the opposition .. prefers risky-low plays and plays a simple game in his own end .. doesn't have noticeable offensive upside .. mostly chooses the most safe play when moving the puck .. prone to boneheaded plays when put under opponent pressure .. willing to use his shot from the point with a decent hardness but should pick up on accuracy .. shows adequate aggressiveness in his own end .. works hard down low .. is able to throw a decent hit but bulking up is still a need .. solid at clearing the crease, but isn't an all-time physical presence .. decent safe positional play .. a decent force in the defensive zone when not trying to do too much .. spots his man quickly and stays with him .. still should upgrade on his play in one-on-one situations.

David Stich (2007), D

Tournament wrap-up: the Czech captain .. his glaring mistake with the puck on his first tournament shift against Russia led to the first goal and to the following collapse of the Czech team .. couldn't recover from this big gaffe for the rest of the game and didn't find his confidence .. fell sick with an angina after this game and didn't see any more tournament playing action .. can't be rated due to a lack of playing time.

Scouting: a solid skater with a good balance .. solid lower-body strength .. possesses decent top-end speed, but his first-step quickness has still some way to go .. plays with a decent agility and lateral movement .. possesses an okay stride .. more of a defensive-minded blueliner .. shows reliable play in the defensive zone .. focuses on marking his man quickly and taking him out of the play .. reads the opposing plays well and stays in position .. uses his stick to pinch the pucks from the opponents well .. displays a good mean streak and throws regular hard hits when he has a chance to finish his check .. a solid force on the penalty killing units .. plays with intelligence and maturity beyond his age .. is tough to beat in one-on-one situations .. isn't a significant offensive force, but is calm in puck possession and plays with his head up .. a decent puckhandler, but still could improve on this asset .. makes short passes of solid accuracy and doesn't panic with the puck, which leads to a minimum of mistakes .. doesn't take a chance on long outlet passes often .. unleashes a booming slap shot, but needs to upgrade on accuracy and keep it lower on the ice .. is strongly build .. can outpower most of his opponents thanks to his above-average lower-body strength

Martin Havran (2008), D

Tournament wrap-up: should fill a two-way role alongside the defensive-minded Martin Paryzek .. registered an unimpressive showing in the tournament opener against Russia in general but wasn't easy to outskate for the Russian players .. upgraded on his offensive confidence in the second game against Finland and distributed a number of quality outlet passes .. kept his play off glaring mistakes .. registered his best game of the tournament against USA .. took advantage of his mobility and supported the offense well .. played an off-game against Switzerland .. looked fuzzy and overwhelmed on the defensive side .. went through a number of misunderstandings with his partner .. registered a rollercoaster tournament but doesn't need to be ruled out.

Scouting: an okay skater with a decent acceleration .. blessed with solid lateral movement and pivots .. above-average backwards speed .. okay top-end speed and turns .. doesn't get beaten by speedy opponents .. makes use of his mobility in the defensive zone .. an offensive-minded defenseman .. is frequently willing to jump into the play and support offense .. effective when paired with a stay-at-homer .. can move the puck out of his own end thanks to his okay stickhandling skills but occasionally tends to overplay it .. average hockey sense causes odd bad decisions with the puck .. holds the offensive blue line in an aggressive way but doesn't avoid falling back occasionally .. solid hand-eye coordination .. corrals difficult passes adequately well .. solid hard accurate passes but can't avoid boneheaded plays with the puck .. spots possible passing lanes quickly .. adequately aware of the positioning of his linemates on the ice .. a decent asset to the powerplay units .. fires an accurate slap shot but hardness is an issue .. okay accurate snap shot .. could improve on his positional play and stay with his man all the way .. should be more effective in one-on-one situations .. particularly makes for his positional mistakes with his speed .. needs to add some pounds to his smallish frame to avoid getting outpowered .. throws the occasional solid hit and shows decent toughness, but could use more of a mean streak .. a late '89 born defenseman.

Marek Indra (2007), RW

Tournament wrap-up: could challenge the Russian players in terms of skating and smoothness but lack of creativity and offensive effectiveness hurt his rating .. became a bigger factor in the second game against Finland where he stepped up his physical play and hurt the opposing defensemen with his speed .. showed a strong competitiveness and determination against the USA players in the third game .. broke up the opposing plays .. played bigger than his size and played fearlessly against the bigger USA defensemen .. an intense factor in the game against Switzerland .. virtually repeated his showing from the previous game .. the second-most gritty Czech forward after Jan Kana .. pulled off an okay showing but his head needs to catch the speed of his legs.

Scouting: a smallish forward .. a good skater with an above-average acceleration .. solid agility and first-step quickness .. okay top-end speed .. could use more balance and lower-body strength .. decent puckhandling skills and hand-eye coordination .. able to execute at a high tempo .. could be more effective with the puck in traffic .. okay reading of plays .. a decent passer .. doesn't have overly good playmaking skills but maintains a cool head once gaining possession of the puck .. waits for the plays to open up .. possesses okay smooth in-close finishing skills .. adequately imaginative with the puck .. his moves can bring defensemen out of position .. fires an accurate wrist shot with a fast release .. okay accurate and hard slap shot .. needs to further progress on his defensive awareness .. helps out the defense but should play better in position in his own end .. a valuable asset to the powerplay units .. plays with lots of heart and intensity .. doesn't avoid physical contact and is willing to perform in traffic despite his lack of size .. likes to initiate physical contact despite modest size tools .. willing to protect his teammates .. difficult to hit thanks to his quickness .. works hard behind the opposing goal to gain possession of the puck and subsequently make a play .. a tenacious forechecker .. disturbs the opponents aggressively after a lost faceoff of his team.

Vladimir Ruzicka (2007), C

Tournament wrap-up: tied with Jakub Voracek and Jan Kana for leading Czech Republic in assists (3 assists) .. second-best Czech face-off man (.5942) .. son of ex-NHLer Vladimir Ruzicka Sr. was promoted from alternate captain to captain after David Stich stepped down with an angina .. pulled off a sub-par showing in the tournament opener against Russia .. a liability in the defensive zone .. couldn't make up for his one-dimensional play with a quality offensive play as he failed to create .. upgraded on his play against the weaker Finns in the second game but still played too carelessly with occasional cheap shots on the opponents .. could distribute a number of accurate passes in the third game against USA but couldn't avoid off-shifts .. named Czech 'Player of the game' despite not dominating on the Czech side .. missed the final game against Switzerland due to sickness .. didn't fill his role as one of the offensive leaders.

Scouting: an adequate skater but still could improve on his propulsion .. blessed with a sharp agility .. changes direction in quick sharp turns .. decent bursts of speed and stride effectiveness .. upgraded on his lower-body strength and balance, but still gets knocked off his skates by bigger opponents .. okay puckhandling skills and hand-eye coordination .. a solid player in one-on-one situations .. capable of solid deflections .. should corral difficult passes more smoothly .. okay vision and hockey sense .. a playmaking forward but can't control the play of the whole offensive unit .. prefers setting up plays rather than shooting the puck but a too much individualistic play hurts his effectiveness .. solid accurate short-distance passes .. prone to the odd mistake when passing .. can be used as a defenseman on the powerplay units .. fast-released wrist shot, but needs to develop a better variety of shots .. slap shot should be more hard and accurate .. returns to his own end, but his intensity seriously wanders in his own end .. not small, but a skinny frame .. bulking up is essential .. doesn't play a tough style and isn't yet very effective when battling heavy traffic .. prone to cheap shots on opponents .. consistency is an issue .. questionable on-ice behavior .. willing to forecheck .. an average factor in the faceoff circle

Radek Vlasanek (2007), RW

Tournament wrap-up: used as a reserve forward during the tournament opener against Russia .. replaced the sick defenseman David Stich in the lineup for the second game against Finland but saw minimum of playing time as the 13th forward .. skating turned out to be an issue with him in the game as he was too heavy-footed for the international game pace .. benched for the majority of the game against USA .. got a regular playing spot on the fourth line after Vladimir Ruzicka stepped down with a sickness before the final game against Switzerland .. tried hard to be effective but couldn't think quality plays .. limited on the skating side .. would need more ice time to be properly judged but didn't accomplish much on the tournament.

Scouting: registers a steady progress in his skating but still will need to pick up on his acceleration and top-end speed .. only adequate first-step quickness needs to be improved .. his fluid stride shows that skating shouldn't be a problem with him once he gains more bulk to the lower-body .. possesses above-average agility for a big man and can make decent cuts .. should make his impressive size to a bigger advantage .. his shy off-ice demeanor can be visible also on the ice occasionally as he is too much of a gentle giant at times .. possesses decent stickhandling skills .. capable of beating opponents in one-on-one situations .. could corral difficult passes more effectively but isn't a liability in this asset .. average hockey sense .. should hold on the puck for the extra second more for the plays to open up for him .. occasionally dumps the puck too quickly when pressed by an opponent .. willing to pass the puck just like shoot it .. decent release on the wrist shot .. okay hard accurate snap shot .. should upgrade on the release of the slap shot to make it less telegraphed .. possesses an okay defensive awareness .. returns to his own end often and showed decent defensive positioning .. blocks the opposing passing lanes conscientiously .. stays with his man and limits his options .. still raw but registering a steady progress in his play .. a right-shooting forward.

Stanislav Polodna (2007), RW

Tournament wrap-up: showed solid skating skills in the tournament opener against Russia but failed to display any effectiveness in the offensive zone .. threw a few hits and could outskate the opponents in the second game against Finland but was overshadowed by Marek Indra who filled a similar role .. battled the more physical USA opponents well in the third matchup but should be more conscientious on the defensive side .. registered an off-game in the final contest against Switzerland .. couldn't show his offensive weapons and wasn't so tenacious as during the previous games .. could pull off a handful of solid shifts on the tournament but his overall rating is average.

Scouting: a solid skater with okay footspeed .. solid acceleration .. above-average agility .. okay top-end speed .. solid stickhandling skills .. can use both sides of the stick when passing .. decent coraling of passes .. looks for passing opportunities and shows adequate creativity but isn't a playmaking force .. an accurate passer who can find the open man when passing on a short distance .. can be used as a defenseman on the powerplay units .. solid aggressiveness despite modest size .. a decent hitter along the boards who doesn't back down from battling bigger opponents .. mucks for the loose pucks in the corners .. drives the net hard but doesn't run opponents over yet .. needs to gain more bulk .. solid in-close finishing skills .. can be adequately patient once on a scoring chance .. okay array of shots .. uses primarily his quick snap shot .. performs in the slot and looks for rebounds .. returns back to help out the defense but needs to further progress on his defensive awareness and show more intensity in his own end .. should spot his man quickly and limit his options more effectively .. average defensive positioning .. a right-shooting forward.

Petr Stoklasa (2007), C/LW

Tournament wrap-up: an alternate captain .. a limited factor in the opening game against Russia .. showed a solid level of diligence but wasn't effective in the offensive zone and was hampered by his slower skating .. a determined role player in the second game against Finland .. creativity tuned out to be an issue with him in this game .. coped with the more physical USA opponents adequately well in the third game .. showed a two-way performance in the final matchup against Switzerland but couldn't create plays when it mattered most .. didn't register any outstanding game on the tournament .. asked to fill the role of a diligent role player .. met the expectations but failed to show a significant number of pro intangibles which would help him to get a better rating.

Scouting: an adequate skater .. uses a short stride .. adding more speed would make him more effective .. average first-step quickness hurts his play .. adequate acceleration .. decent agility .. solid balance and lower-body strength .. doesn't get knocked off his skates too often .. could use a bigger top-end speed .. an okay puckhandler .. can occasionally maneuver with the puck in tight space without losing possession but doesn't use this asset very often .. decent corralling of difficult passes .. only an adequate player in one-on-one situations .. a playmaking forward but limited by average hockey sense .. adequate passing skills and creativity .. adequately aware of his linemates but should play with his head up more .. once in the offensive zone, he looks for an open teammate more than shooting the puck .. uses a decent array of shots .. could use a faster release on his wrist and slap shot .. blessed with a strong body .. fends off opposing checkers with his strength .. often battles in the opposing slot .. throws solid hits along the boards .. returns to help out the defense regularly .. adept at shutting down the passing lanes of the opposition well .. sacrifices his body to block the opposing shots .. should upgrade on his defensive positioning .. capable of playing both center and left wing .. average in the faceoff circle.

Tomas Karpov (2007), C

Tournament wrap-up: best Czech face-off man (.6216) .. the spirited center surprisingly emerged as one of the most dangerous Czech forwards in the first contest against Russia .. didn't quit battling even when the Czechs trailed by a wide margin and showed decent offensive moves and agility .. wasn't such a factor in the second matchup against Finland but maintained the same level of intensity and aggressiveness in the offensive zone .. showed that he can't compete with the physically mature USA defensemen in the third game as he got knocked off the puck too easily .. couldn't take advantage of his stickhandling .. played a diligent all-round game in the final contest against Switzerland .. returned back quickly and drove the net adequately hard but couldn't find a playmaking prowess .. one of the most hardworking players on the team exceeded the expectations but pro potential remains limited.

Scouting: a decent skater with okay acceleration .. possesses a decent agility .. okay first-step quickness .. uses an effective stride but should pick up on his top-end speed .. should add more bulk to his lower-body and keep his feet moving all the time .. crafty stickhandling skills but shows occasional trouble with corralling difficult passes .. an okay passer with accurate feeds .. can deke the opposing players but lacks strength to run them over in one-on-one .. needs to be stronger on the puck .. an okay forechecker .. prefers passing to shooting .. possesses an adequate array of shots .. releases a fast wrist shot .. snap shot should be harder .. should use the slapper more often .. should be more lethal when finishing the chances in-close .. doesn't play an aggressive style, but doesn't back down from occasionally mucking for the pucks .. should hit more often and throw harder hits .. a solid asset to the penalty killing units with his diligence .. returns back quickly but is no defensive specialist .. spots his man quickly but defensive positioning is an issue with him .. should pick up on his conditioning not to fade in the late stages of the games .. plays with solid intensity and determination.

Stepan Novotny (2009), C/LW

Tournament wrap-up: the only 2009 eligible player on the tournament .. the only Czech player with experience from North American hockey as a member of Shattuck St. Mary's in 2005-2006 .. spent the majority of the opening game against Russia with adjusting to the international pace and wasn't a noticeable factor .. upgraded on his showing in the second game against Finland .. showed solid explosiveness and smarts mixed with a diligent approach .. benched for longer periods of time in the game against USA but once on the ice could catch the eye with his creativity and overall skill level .. looked out of steam in the final game against Switzerland where he wasn't a noticeable factor .. didn't see much playing time on the fourth line but showed on the tournament a number of impressive intangibles which make him attractive for the future.

Scouting: a solid skater for a player of his size .. uses a crisp stride which allows him to accelerate quickly .. okay agility .. possesses above-average explosiveness and footspeed .. okay separation gear .. blessed with above-average leg strength for a kid of his age .. absorbs open-ice hits adequately well thanks to his strong balance .. possesses above-average stickhandling skills .. corrals passes well .. a solid factor in one-on-one situations .. can think the games faster than the opposition .. sets up solid chances for his linemates from both sides of the stick .. more of a playmaking forward .. a powerplay threat .. dangerous when maneuvering close to the opposing net as he boasts okay in-close finishing skills .. okay accurate wrist shot .. should further upgrade on the accuracy of his hard slap shot .. strong in upper-body .. willing to initiate physical contact and execute in heavy traffic .. shows an okay defensive awareness .. shuts down the passing lanes of the opposition with a strong prowess for a player of his age .. an above-average factor in the faceoff circle .. solid at taking the draws .. a late '90 born underager .. a right-shooting forward.