WC: Players that you are looking forward to watching this tournament

Antiillafire

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May 1, 2021
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Trnava, Slovakia
Since it’s going to be a rather unique tournament due to less NHL players, who are you guys looking forward to see playing this year. These are mine from current rosters, hoping that they all play.

Group A
Great Britain: Kirk (Only British player I know)
Czech Republic: Hronek (Can he take even next step next year for Detroit? He was already very good this season, I expect him to be one of the best dman in this tourney)
Sweden: Lundkvist (Amazing SHL season, haven’t seen him since beginning of the season. Looking forward to this guy without a doubt)
Slovakia: Slafkovsky (Obvious choice, if Ramsay was smart he would give him top 6 mins over Pospisil. I expect him to come into his own over the course of the tourney)
Russia: Tolchinsky (I really liked him from juniors, always seemed to be a player who knew where to be on the ice and how to get into the best possible positions. I will be focusing in on him for Russians).
Belarus: Solovyov (Young defenseman, what kind of ice time will be get is the question. I liked him in the OHL)
Denmark: Boedker (NHL experience, but a guy who seemed to start of strong than fade over the course of his career in NA. I wonder if his goal is NHL contract)
Switzerland: Hischier (One of my favorite players to watch in the NHL. 2 way and gives it all on every shift, he is the key to Swiss success)


Group B:
Canada: Power (Haven’t seen him live. Really looking forward to seeing what he can do on this young Canadian team)
USA: Drury (The nephew of one of my favorite NHL players of all time. Had a really good year in the SHL. Let’s see what he can do for this American team)
Finland: Lundell (I was hoping Preds or Canes would grab him in the draft, they did not. Love his game)
Germany: Seider (A lot of hype for this guy, I haven’t seen him yet in Sweden so I have high expectations)
Kazakstan: Blacker (I am unfamiliar with roster so I went with a dual citizen player)
Italy: Clara :sarcasm:
Norway: Emilio Pettersen (Only player I know from Norway roster. He had a page on these boards at a very young age. I wonder if he will be NHL regular in the future)
Latvia: Dzierkals (Had a lot of hype few years ago at WJC, my friends who are TML fans raves about him. Haven’t seen him since than)
 
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SoundAndFury

Registered User
May 28, 2012
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Group A
Great Britain: yeah, Kirk is the obvious one, not much else to get excited about there. Hook and Duggan are marginally interesting as well but it's unlikely they will ever leave EIHL or get big roles for GB.
Czech Republic: I'd love to take a better look at Kvaca but he won't be playing so the other late-bloomers are the most interesting to me: Flek, Lenc, Adam Musil. Many are UFAs as well and good chances they land in the KHL.
Sweden: Albert Johansson. The youngest guy on the team who has been flying under the radar somewhat.
Slovakia: I'd Slafkovsky but frankly I don't think he's actually going to show much and is going to be on the bottom lines or out of the lineup couple of games into the tournament. So Nemec it is.
Russia: Kamenev. Year after year injuries have butchered his career but here he get a chance to embrace a bigger stage.
Belarus: Shostak.
Denmark: Niklas Andersen. A very good DEL season for a guy who kinda came out of nowhere.
Switzerland: Tobias Geisser. Time to check out that NHL potential Swiss fans are talking about. Big D being a bit slower in development is nothing strange after all.


Group B:
Canada: has to be Power although Perfetti is also intriguing if he gets to play
USA: Beniers
Finland: whoever of their young players gets to play
Germany: Gawanke. Terrible season by him, interesting to see why.
Kazakstan: Boyarkin. Has to be one of the biggest intrigues for me in general, how does that team look with local goalie which historically has been dooming to national teams of their level. There were like 10 national teams playing a naturalized goalie, at one point. So it's a fresh start for both Belarus and Kazakhstan in that sense.
Italy: their entire defense... D2A level defense at an elite... God help them.
Norway: Emilio Pettersen is an obvious one but the whole team is really interesting. Very few well-known names even for an avid Euro hockey fan.
Latvia: Rubins. Similar situation to Gawanke in a way.
 

magic school bus

***********
Jun 4, 2010
19,415
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San Jose, CA
Chmelevski, USA. He was a higher profile prospect a few years ago. Maybe took him a little longer to reach the NHL than some expected. SJ's development system is a bit of a mess atm and the team isn't very good so it can be tough to shine here. At the end of the season, he was moved to wing in the AHL and had 7 pts in 2 games. I could see him building on that and earning a bigger role as the tournament goes on for this USA team.
 

Antiillafire

Registered User
May 1, 2021
4,318
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Trnava, Slovakia
Seider!

From the Czechs .. half the team is new and young so I'm very excited for that. Also curious how Vrana, Kubalik, Chytil, Zadina and Hajek all do with more important roles. Curious how Hrubec performs as well.
I was gonna say Zadina as well but than I thought Hronek. Tbh I think he could emerge as the best dman in this tournament. You guys have a real shot at winning it all
 

Czechboy

Easy schedules rule!
Apr 15, 2018
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I was gonna say Zadina as well but than I thought Hronek. Tbh I think he could emerge as the best dman in this tournament. You guys have a real shot at winning it all
I see it as a very rare 7 team race (normally just 5). I don't see a major favourite. Canada has an all nhl squad (mostly) and a very good NHL goalie so they'd be my most likely winner. The Swiss have a very good team as well and I'd consider them a contender as well.

I think hronek was named best Damn at the last worlds he played at! He is our most important player imo.

Ftr... Will be cheering for the Slovaks .. looking forward to Slafkovsky!
 

JackSlater

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Apr 27, 2010
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Seider for Germany as I like the Red Wings. Perfetti and Power for Canada in the event that they play the WJC next year.
 

Chapin Landvogt

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Jul 4, 2002
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Germany
Group B:
Canada: Power (Haven’t seen him live. Really looking forward to seeing what he can do on this young Canadian team)
USA: Drury (The son of one of my favorite NHL players of all time. Had a really good year in the SHL. Let’s see what he can do for this American team)
Finland: Lundell (I was hoping Preds or Canes would grab him in the draft, they did not. Love his game)
Germany: Seider (A lot of hype for this guy, I haven’t seen him yet in Sweden so I have high expectations)
Kazakstan: Blacker (I am unfamiliar with roster so I went with a dual citizen player)
Italy: Clara :sarcasm:
Norway: Emilio Pettersen (Only player I know from Norway roster. He had a page on these boards at a very young age. I wonder if he will be NHL regular in the future)
Latvia: Dzierkals (Had a lot of hype few years ago at WJC, my friends who are TML fans raves about him. Haven’t seen him since than)

You wrote this knowing that he's Ted Drury's son, right?
 
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Puck Dogg

Puck life
Mar 13, 2006
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Geoff Platt, Francis Pare and Danny Taylor (Belarus). Bunch of veterans, interesting to see how they do in the tournament.
 

Czechboy

Easy schedules rule!
Apr 15, 2018
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Meant to add Slepyshev! Big Oiler fan and hope he comes back.. always a fan. Just hope he doesn't score till game 2.
 

Elvs

Registered User
Jul 3, 2006
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Sweden
Lundkvist
Seider
Nemec
Slafkovsky

And the Czech team in general. I think they have a good shot at winning gold this year, so am looking forward to how they will handle it.
 
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Chapin Landvogt

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Jul 4, 2002
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Thought it was Chris’s son. Now see that it’s his nephew, thanks for pointing that out.

One way or another, he's definitely one to watch at this tournament. He had a fantastic rookie season in the SHL and just got better and better all season long. He was on fire in the playoffs.
 

Sanf

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Sep 8, 2012
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Spacek. He is absolute beast, just turned 24 and he will have bright future in NHL. Other guy is Moritz f***ing Seider.

I´m not sure if I am missing some inside joke or something, but you are meaning Michael Spacek? Beast isn´t the word that I would use to describe him. He shows big flashes of offensive skills and has great shot. But he really quit his job without a puck and when game is out of offensive zone. Overall he seems very disinterested. Very risky signing by Frölunda.

But in International tournament in a right role I guess he might be exciting player to watch.
 

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