U18 World Championship 2016
With less than 3 month before the U-18 World Championship 2016 starts we better get this thread up and going again.
Preparatory games:
1. As preparation for the U-18 World Championship, the danish team played a 4 Nations Tournament in Vojens (Denmark), 5-7 November 2015 (as mentioned previously in this thread).
The score was:
Denmark - Germany: 0-2
Denmark - Belarus: 4-3 (OT)
Denmark - Slovakia: 6-4
The general conclusion was that the danish team played well against difficult opposition, and that it was good to get a win against Slovakia, because they probably will be the team to beat if we are going to avoid the relegation round.
2. In February the team travels to Minsk to participate in another 4 nation tournament against Belarus, Latvia and Norway.
3. Just before tournament start team Denmark will play test matches against USA and Finland in Minneapolis, USA.
As usual the tournament matches are also used to evaluate some of the players that are just outside the normal roster, but I expect that the team for the Minsk tournament is close to what we will see in the opening game at the World Championship.
Below is my guess for how the roster will look like. I have included some 1999 born players who have not yet played on the U-18 team, so it will be interesting to see if they make the team anyways.
Goaltender
Kasper L. Krog, Vojens (1998-26-06, 175/80)
Jacob Müller Hansen, Herlev (1998-09-03, 180/82)
Emil Gransøe, Gentofte (1998-27-09, 178/75)
Defense
Victor Tobias Hansen, Rødovre (1998-07-05, 192/92)
Rasmus Birk Heine, Rødovre (1998-02-20, 185/85)
Jakob Jessen, Herning (1998-08-04, 179/83)
Oliver Joakim Larsen, Odense (1998-12-25, 190/94)
Oliver Gatz Nielsen, AaB (1998-10-06, 181/88)
Daniel Baastrup-Andersen, Linköping (SWE) (1999-07-23, 178/79)
Victor Andersen, Herning (1999-01-13, 190/86)
Forwards
Joachim Blichfeld, Malmö (SWE) (1998-07-17, 187/80)
Nikolaj Krag Christensen, Rødovre (1998-08-12, 180/80)
Daniel Nielsen, Herning (1998-03-31, 170/75)
Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup, Boston Jr. Bruins (USA) (1998-01-14, 183/86)
Christian Wejse Mathiasen, Esbjerg (1998-12-04, 186/88)
Magnus Molge, Malmö (SWE) (1998-04-16, 180/80)
Jonas Sander, Herlev (1998-10-29, 183/89)
Casper Paaske Mortensen, Vojens (1998-04-03, -/-)
Valdemar Ahlberg, Linköping (SWE) (1998-10-12, 183/73)
Lucas Andersen, Rødovre (1999-01-30, 188/80)
Andreas Grundtvig, Rødovre (1999-01-14, 178/75)
Jonas Rønbjerg, Rungsted (1999-03-31, 184/80)
David Madsen, The Hill Academy U16 Prep (USA) (1999-01-25, 182/82)
Other players who could be in the mix for a roster spot:
Goaltenders
Albert Adamsen, Graz 99ers (AUT) (1999-06-24, 181/69)
William Rørth, Rødovre (1999-09-20, 167/55)
Defenders
Andreas W. Pade, Herning (1998-00-00, -/-)
Victor Reese, Herlev (1998-07-08, 181/75)
Emil Torbensen, Esbjerg (1998-04-17, 185/85)
Mikkel Persson, Rødovre (1998-09-23, 177/80)
Forwards
Christoffer Gath, Herlev (1999-07-06, 180/75)
William Nielsen, Leksands IF (SWE) (1998-09-17, -/-)
Simon Wiuff, Vojens (1998-04-25, 181/82)
This years team will consist mostly of players born in 1998. I have been pimping the 1998 born players in the past, and with good reason. There is a surprisingly good depth in this birth year both on the defense position and regarding forwards. And there is a legit chance that we can have one or two of them NHL drafted if they impress the scouts at the U-18 WJC.
Denmark has been promoted to the top group 5 times in the past; 2003, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015 and only one time have we succeeded in staying up the following year. It happened in 2004 where we beat Belarus and Norway, with a strong team with stars like Peter Regin, Morten Madsen and Jannik Hansen. All three got NHL drafted and Jannik Hansen mainly because of his performance at the U-18 WJC.
But never the less, I will be bold enough to proclaim that this team could be the best we have ever sent to a U-18 WJC. Maybe not in terms of top talents but certainly in depth. This does not mean that we for sure will avoid being relegated, but with luck and by playing smart, we could surprise some of the other teams.
Goaltender
Kasper L. Krog will most likely be the starting goaltender. He also participated last year (without playing though). The goaltender position is the weakest point on the Danish team. Kasper is a good goaltender but is not in the same league as the goaltenders we have had the last 3-4 years. Lets hope he can "stand on his head" when needed the most.
Defense
Even though we will not have a "star in the making" defender this year, our defense looks very good. We have size, we have smart puck-movers, we have good skaters and we have a fine mix of offensive and defensive orientated players. As always when Denmark plays in the top group, we will rely heavily on our ability to play defense, but I'm sure they can handle it this year. For many years the defense has been a week point on Danish U-18 national teams. But there are indications that we are improving in this department, as we also saw with the team from last year.
Forwards
Also with the forwards the depth of talent is the strength. We don't have a high profile prospect, but the amount of good players is impressive. We could probably role 3 offensive lines and only have 1 dedicated shut-down line. That is unusual in a Danish context.
What are your comments? Am I completely out of line, being too positive? Have I missed out some important players? Have I too many 1999 born players on the team?
