2015 World Junior Championship Ultimate Guide

ROSTERS, SCHEDULES, PREVIEWS, AND PREDICTIONS

 Montréal and Toronto are the two cities with the greatest amount of hockey history. Countless legends have played for the people of those fine cities, and a pantheon of storied contests were played on their ice. This year, the hockey world will converge on both of these puck-head havens for the annual gut-wrenching, heart-racing, awe-inspiring tournament that is the IIHF World Junior Championship.
 With games split between Montréal's Bell Centre and Toronro's Air Canada Centre, 10 countries' finest young men will compete for national pride, glory, and hockey immortality. Every team will have its fair share of obstacles if it wants to reach its ultimate goal, but no matter how much they all want it, no matter how hard they work, only one team will have gold draped around their necks after the final game.
 In this, your Ultimate Guide to the 2015 World Juniors, fans can find complete rosters of every team and its corresponding group stage schedule, a preview of all 10 teams, and predictions as to who will end up with individual honors and what country will be the one singing its anthem at center ice with new hardware.
 The tournament runs from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5. Games will air on TSN and its affiliates for Canadian audiences and on NHL Network for those watching in the United States.

World Junior Championship 2014: Preview and Ultimate Guide

ROSTERS, SCHEDULES, PREVIEWS, AND PREDICTIONS

 Oh, it's the most wonderful time of the year! With the holiday season almost over, we're about to unwrap Malmö, Sweden chasing gold medals and national pride.
one of the greatest gifts of all: World Junior hockey. Yes, it's the same present every year, like socks from grandma, but unlike those socks, the IIHF's annual tournament manages to maintain enough charm to keep us elated year after year. This year will likely be no different, as the best junior age hockey talent on Earth will be in
 Here we've compiled every team's roster, round robin schedule, and a preview of what to expect from them over the next two weeks in Sweden.
 There's two groups with five teams each, and it's worth mentioning that this is the first time that the top FOUR teams from both groups will advance to a single-elimination quarterfinal. Previously, only the top three countries would advance and the top team from the group would have a first round bye. Now, every squad will have to win three straight games with their championship dreams on the line if they want to go back home with gold around their necks.
 Unlike the NHL, overtime and shootout wins are scored differently than regulation wins. A victory in regulation is worth three points, an overtime/shootout victory worth two points, an OT/shootout loss only one point, and, of course, a loss in regulation gets you a big fat goose egg towards the group standings.
 Now that those technicalities are out of the way, we can finally take a look at the teams that will be competing against each other.

Takeaways From the 2013 WJC

 The 2013 World Junior Championship was one of the most unpredictable in history, as the United States won gold after their seventh place finish in 2012, Canada couldn't even manage bronze despite having a supercharged, lockout induced roster, Switzerland pushed everyone to the brink, and many other endlessly fun stories. All of the havoc mixed with the high level of competition made it worth waking up at 2:30 every morning. Now that the anthems have been sung and medals have been awarded, here's a little "what we learned" from the 2013 World Juniors.

ANAHEIM HAS A BRIGHT FUTURE IN NET AFTER HILLER
 The runaway MVP of the 2013 World Juniors was the United States' golden goalie, John Gibson. In similar form to Petr Mrazek in 2012, Gibson stole the show at the tournament while setting a new record for save percentage in one World Juniors. Everyone watching the tournament couldn't help but be impressed, fans of the USA rejoiced after every incredible save, and the staff of the Anaheim Ducks had to be drooling on their television remotes.

Gibson robs Ryan-Nugent Hopkins of
Canada and the Edmonton Oilers.

 Gibson was drafted in the second round by Anaheim in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, a draft that Gibson was touted as the top North American tendy available going in. With Jonas Hiller coming off of a spectacular 2010-11 season, many wondered why the Ducks went with a goalie with the ninth pick in the second round when they had other issues to address. The answer is proving to be an easy one. He's that good.
 Sure, stats are impressive, but you can't truly evaluate a player's game based on his stats. Gibson not only put up MVP-caliber statistics, but he looked phenomenal while doing it. His angles were sharp, he put himself in position to make tough saves, battled to the end to make the highlight reel saves, and, most importantly, kept the puck out of the net when it mattered most. He was never making saves of luck, always saves of skill. Steve Spott, Gibson's Head Coach in Kitchener and bench boss of the rival Canadians at the World Juniors, has been saying for the past year and a half that Gibson is the real deal. He's proved it at the OHL level countless times, but now we all got to see him get the job done on the international stage in high-pressure situations.
 Jonas Hiller's play declined in 2011-12 and injuries continued to be an issue. He'll be turning 31 this February, too. Maybe he'll bounce back and be great in the next few season for Anaheim, but no matter what happens when his contract expires at the end of the 2013-14 campaign, Ducks fans can rest easy knowing they will have John Gibson as a potential option to turn to between the pipes.

World Junior Championship: Preview and Ultimate Guide

Rosters, Schedules, Previews, Predictions

 Sheesh, it's been a long time since I posted anything on here. But you don't want to read about how "busy" my life is. No, what you want is hockey, and there could not be a better event to get The Hart of Hockey back into the blogosphere than the IIHF World Junior Championship.

 The World Juniors are a gigantic annual tournament and a gold medal from this international showdown is one of the most celebrated accomplishments a player can earn in his career. However, since an overwhelming majority of players have never played a shift in the NHL, it can be a difficult competition to follow at first if one has not been keeping tabs on the junior ranks for most of the year. We make it easier for you, and have compiled a the roster of every team in this year's World Juniors, their playing schedule and a summary of what their team can do. Hopefully this will help in your preparation of the great tournament that is the World Junior Championship.