World Junior Camp Preview
The rosters for the 2005 World Junior Championships scheduled to take place between December 25th and January 4th in Grand Forks, North Dakota, are beginning to take shape.
Three nations – including the United States, Sweden, and Finland - will participate in a mini-tournament at Team USA's summer evaluation camp this August, while Canada will host a similar event featuring the Finns and a club from Switzerland in December.
Advertisement
The American tournament, hosted where the actual World Junior Championships will get underway on Christmas Day, will offer participating teams an opportunity to get used to their surroundings months before the actual competition.
The defending champion Team USA camp will include a total of 42 players – eight of which are returning from last year, including forward Patrick O'Sullivan who scored the Americans' game winning goal in their 4-3 win in the gold medal game against Team Canada. The 42 will be split evenly into two clubs to play Sweden and
Finland in the preparation tournament beginning August 9th.
Enlisting the help of O'Sullivan and defenseman Ryan Suter, who could play in their third consecutive World Junior Championships each this Winter, the Americans are sure to be ready to defend their claim to the gold medal.
The United States will be without New Jersey Devils prospect and sniper Zach Parise, however. Parisé along with several other key members of last year's championship squad - like James Wisniewski,
Stephen Werner, and Patrick Eaves - are now beyond the age limit.
This paves the way for new talent to take their roster spots. Notable among these players vying for them will be 2004 NHL Entry Draft first round choices including goaltender Cory Schneider, defenseman A.J. Thelen, as well as forwards Blake Wheeler and Rob Schremp.
Schremp, a draft choice of the Edmonton Oilers, caused controversy last season when he was cut form the club and indicated at the time he would refrain from participating if chosen in 2005. It remains to be seen if he will follow through on this statement made last December.
The Team USA Evaluation Camp will also ice nine players eligible for the 2005 NHL Entry Draft and one potential 2006 top ten selection. Speedy Phil Kessel will have to wait another two years before he
can be picked up by an NHL club, but is already impressing with his wheels and creativity with the puck.
On a side note, Team USA's development camp includes two sons of NHL Hall of Famers. Chris Bourque and Paul Stastny, sons of Ray Bourque and Peter Stastny respectively, will be attempting to crack the American roster for this upcoming holidays.
Team Sweden, who finished a disappointing seventh out of 10 teams in 2004, will be carrying a single roster of 22 players to the American tournament. Notable departures include Canadian-born sons of former NHLers Kent Nilsson and Thomas Steen. The New York Islanders' Robert Nilsson and Toronto Maple Leafs' Alexander Steen are expected to turn pro this season. It looks as if Sweden will definitely have their work cut out for them if they hope to recapture their competitiveness from the mid-1990s. Only goaltender Magnus Akerlund and defensemen Johan Fransson and Alexander Tang are on the roster from the Team Sweden who took to the ice at the World Juniors in Finland last year.
The Swedish summer evaluation camp roster also includes an additional 10 players who will not travel with the club to the August tournament in the United States. Among the players not travelling is the only North American playing member of the camp, Bjorn Svensson of the Saskatoon Blades. Son of former Edmonton born player Willy Lindstrom, Liam Lindstrom, will also not be among those making the venture to Grand Forks this time around.
Team Finland will be carrying a roster of 24 to evaluation tournaments in both the United States and Canada. The most eastern of the Scandinavian countries, who hosted the 2004 World Junior Championships, could potentially be a force to be reckoned with barring any unforeseen circumstances.
Their roster will include five returnees – Masi Marjamaki, Arsi Piispanen, Teemu Nurmi, Petteri Nokelainen, and Lauri Tukonen - while the other spots are up for grabs. Along with Tukonen, forwards Petteri Nokelainen and Lauri Korpikoski were drafted in the first round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. 17-year-old Tuukka Rask is competing with Iiro Tarkki for the goaltending position left vacant by the exit of Bruins prospect Hannu Toivonen.
North of the American border, the Canadians are attempting to avenge last year's shocking loss to the Americans in Finland. Canada's summer evaluation camp will begin August 12th in Calgary and include 12 returnees from last year's club. These will include the team's top four scorers – Anthony Stewart, Nigel Dawes, Jeff Carter, and Ryan Getzlaf - so new recruits will definitely have to make an impression to lay claim to the few vacant roster spots. Sidney Crosby and Mike Richards will also add fire power up front.
Four of the 12 returning players will be defensemen, including the centerpiece of their blueline, Dion Phaneuf.
The only position depleted of experience will be in the crease. With the departure of two-time starter Marc-Andre Fleury the talent between the pipes could be thinner than usual. It is possible the selection committee will look towards who performs well during the regular season to make their choice, as they did when Fleury played his way onto the club in spite of not being chosen to attend the summer development camp in 2003.