WORLD JUNIORS CHAMPIONSHIP

[Raccoon Jesus]

Man, I could watch that Denisenko shot all day, good lord

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

 

[kilowatt]

If we could have literally any homegrown defenseman step up, that would be so huge. Besides Forbort - which is a whole different discussion - we haven’t had a Kings’ drafted defenseman break into the lineup since Martinez.

 

[Sol]

If we could have literally any homegrown defenseman step up, that would be so huge. Besides Forbort - which is a whole different discussion - we haven’t had a Kings’ drafted defenseman break into the lineup since Martinez.

Don't you dare bring up Forbortions name.

 

[kingsholygrail]

USA USA USA. o/

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Funny thing is WJC board has been ripping on Anderson all tourney.

Just like elsewhere on these boards, defensemen without flash "suck", effectiveness be damned.

 

[Maynard]

Don't you dare bring up Forbortions name.

Forbortion may be my new all time favorite player nick name. Well done sir.

 

[Mats26]

Funny thing is WJC board has been ripping on Anderson all tourney.

Just like elsewhere on these boards, defensemen without flash "suck", effectiveness be damned.

He also leads in points by a defensemen for the US

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Kupari has two assists so far and it’s 3-0 Finland.

We may get to see Kupari vs. Anderson in the WJC final.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Kupari has two assists so far and it’s 3-0 Finland.

We may get to see Kupari vs. Anderson in the WJC final.

Impossible, we were just told Ms. Kupari can't make plays

 

[King'sPawn]

Kupari has two assists so far and it’s 3-0 Finland.

We may get to see Kupari vs. Anderson in the WJC final.

They were nice assists, too. Both of them his effort resulted in the goal.

First assist, passes to Talivite, then he drives to the net and draws two Swiss defenders to him to create a screen.

The second one was a power forward move where he drove to the net, and Talivite just knocked in the rebound.

 

[Jericho111091]

Solid play by Kupari in the first

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

 

[riznat]

Glad to see Kupari getting some points this game. The dark side to all of this is I'm only paying such close attention because we are back to the dark years where the actual Kings werent worth watching, it was only the excitement of 'what could be' for the future with the prospects.

Great example, i have no idea what year it was... probably the late 2000s when Kevin Dallman was the Erik Karlsson of preseason, and that was a huge win for me (and the franchise... at least in my mind, at the time)

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Kupari adds a PP goal.

 

[Jericho111091]

Kupari just a fight away from the Gordie Howe

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Kupari just a fight away from the Gordie Howe

Ha, I think fighting is an automatic suspension in IIHF rules.

 

[Peter James Bond II]

Ms Kupari making plays and scoring.
I have recorded every game and have not been able to watch them all...have to work and sleep as well.
I have scanned through all of them and watched several. I saw the Canada - Finland game and Kupari
played well in it.

Tonight, he's made several good plays and made some nice passes, even on the play in which he scored on.
He's a highly skilled player and will just hope he's better than Kempe. I still hope Kempe is better than Kempe
and have not seen his best. I bet if Kempe was on TBL, he would probably have 25-30 points right now, but that's just
speculation. He does not get to play with highly skilled players like that. Still, give him some more time.

Kupari has 8 goals and 15 assists in Karpat and was 3rd in assists there, until he went to Finish camp and WJC.
Some players are passing him in assists in points, as he's missed the last 8 games.

Let's see how Kupari does in the Gold medal game.

 

[Vino]

They were nice assists, too. Both of them his effort resulted in the goal.

First assist, passes to Talivite, then he drives to the net and draws two Swiss defenders to him to create a screen.

The second one was a power forward move where he drove to the net, and Talivite just knocked in the rebound.

At last Kupari had a good game. He was okay vs. Canada, but now he played like he should play; use his best asset - skating - and drive to the net. Kupari is not a natural center or a creative playmaker and never will be. Kupari has not Kempe/Wagner-speed, but he is already better skater than most of Kings players.

Kupari is born 2000, so he is still underager. Next year Ontario/AHL or Oulu/Liiga, third U20-tournament, cup of coffee in the NHL. Kempe played 104 games in AHL, Mikko Rantanen 56, Kupari should play 60 - 100 games in the AHL, get 10 -20 lbs more muscle, bigger balls, better/meaner attitude and then he's ready to play in the NHL.

Best players of each team selected by coaches:

FIN
1 LUUKKONEN Ukko-Pekka
15 JOKIHARJU Henri
25 TALVITIE Aarne

USA
11 POEHLING Ryan
15 ROBERTSON Jason
26 ANDERSON Mikey

 

[johnjm22]

Good game so far. I love the pace these young players play the game at.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Bad Kupari penalty, and looks like the US goal is waved off. Looks like a bullshit call to me.

 

[KopitarFAN]

Bad Kupari penalty, and looks like the US goal is waved off. Looks like a bull**** call to me.

The IIHF definition of Goaltender interference might be different than what we see in the NHL, I don't know.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

The IIHF definition of Goaltender interference might be different than what we see in the NHL, I don't know.

The funny thing is even those who know the IIHF rules can't explain why the goal was waved off.

 

[johnjm22]

USA is clearly the better team. It's only a matter of time.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

The US team may regret not converting on one of their many PP opportunities.