In Lucas Aykroyd's opinion, Slovak goalie Denis Godla (2015) is the top World Junior performer never to appear in an NHL game in the 21st century. Who did Andrew Podnieks pick?
photo: Richard Wolowicz / HHOF-IIHF Images
There’s nothing more fun for hardcore sports fans than debating who or what was the biggest or best [fill in the blank] of all time. And that goes double for a wild and unpredictable event like the IIHF World Junior Championship.
IIHF.com’s Lucas Aykroyd and Andrew Podnieks have covered 14 World Juniors apiece in the 21st century. We decided to get their historical perspectives on five big-picture questions about the tournament.
Best Canadian World Junior host city in the 21st century?
Lucas: Victoria in 2019. Full disclosure: this is a huge homer pick with a touch of recency bias. I was born and raised in Victoria. The first hockey game I ever attended had the 1981 Victoria Cougars – featuring Grant Fuhr and Geoff Courtnall – hammering the Portland Winterhawks 7-0 at the old Memorial Arena. But in 2019, what blew me away was the way the British Columbia capital embraced the event. It’s easy to come out and cheer for a host team, but Canada played in Vancouver at this tournament. There were near-capacity crowds of close to 6,000 enthusiastic fans at all the Victoria games, including underdog Kazakhstan’s. I’ll never forget the arena belting out Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” every time the Kazakhs scored.
Andrew: Ah, yes, as coach Ron Wilson once asked a referee he wasn’t pleased with: “Who wrote The Iliad and Odyssey?” Okay, well, I can double down and say 2015 AND 2017 in Toronto, but I won’t. I’ll just say 2015. And what I remember – apart from the thrilling 5-4 Canada win over Russia for gold – was that the host organizers and the Leafs did it right. They made available thousands of seats for mid-week daytime games for next to nothing so that school kids could come and watch the games. Attendance was amazing and the atmosphere was crazy as the next generation of fans was given their first foray into the world of international hockey.
Most exciting World Junior final in the 21st century?
Lucas: Finland is the only country to have won the World Junior gold medal in overtime on home ice – twice, and both times against Russia in Helsinki. The first time in 1998, Niklas Hagman scored the winner (2-1). But the back-and-forth nature of the 2016 final, I think, made it even more thrilling. The Russians led twice. Then it looked like Finnish captain Mikko Rantanen’s 3-2 goal with 2:09 left would stand up, but the Russians tied it up again with six seconds left and an extra skater. To see Hartwall Arena go bananas when Kasperi Kapanen put in his 4-3 wraparound goal was amazing. Who can forget Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu jumping up and down like teenagers?
Andrew: Well, the best host year and best final go hand-in-hand in my case. Back to 2015! Canada beat Russia, 5-4, in a game that had three very distinct parts to it. Part 1 – Canada dominated the first 30 minutes and roared out to a 5-1 win. Connor McDavid scored one of the goals. Let the celebrations begin! But wait. Part 2 – Russia overwhelmed a now-placid Canada, scored three goals in the last half of the second to make it 5-4. Uh oh. Part 3 – a nail-biting third period in which Canada sat back (sometimes), played solid defence (sometimes), and the Russians did everything they could to tie (but fell short). Final, 5-4. What a game!
Greatest single-game World Junior goaltending performance in the 21st century?
Andrew: I’m going to go to the 2012 gold medal game between Sweden and Russia. The game went to overtime after a scoreless 60 minutes, and Mika Zibanejad scored his famous golden goal to give Sweden its first U20 gold since 1981. But that wasn’t the whole story. The fact the game went to OT was only because of Russian goalie Andrei Makarov. After 60 minutes of regulation, shots were 50-16 for Sweden. Fifty shots, no goals. And in the fourth period, the Swedes had an 8-1 advantage, scoring the game’s only goal with their 58th shot.
Lucas: Makarov’s a fine choice, but I’ll circle back to a future Vezina Trophy winner. At the 2006 tournament in Vancouver, Finland’s Tuukka Rask made 53 saves in a 1-0 quarter-final win over Sweden. Total larceny. Up there with Richard Brodeur and Kirk McLean’s finest moments in Canucks colours at the old Pacific Coliseum. Rask then carried a pedestrian Finnish team to the bronze medal with a 4-2 win over the Americans.
Best World Junior player in the 21st century who never made the NHL?
Lucas: Questions like these are always tough, since plenty of World Junior alumni remain active pros and still have a chance. Right now, I’ll say Denis Godla. Named MVP, the Slovak goalie was clearly the single most important player for any team in Montreal and Toronto in 2015. You automatically flash back to his heroics in the 4-2 bronze-medal victory over a Swedish team with William Nylander and Victor Olofsson. But Godla – now 27 – was also otherworldly with 38 saves in a 2-1 upset over Finland and 34 saves in a 3-0 quarter-final win over the Czechs.
Andrew: Nah, that’s easy. Connor Bedard. Moving on. Huh? That’s not what you meant? I was considering Finland’s Perttu Lindgren (16 World Junior points in 13 games in 2006 and 2007), but then realized he played exactly one game with Dallas, so I guess he’s out. In that case, I’ll go with Russia’s Yuri Trubachyov. He played in two World Juniors, winning gold in both 2002 and 2003. He was an all-star in ’03 and co-led the tournament in points that year (10). Like Lindgren, he totalled 16 points in 13 career games. Trubachyov got drafted by Calgary in 2001, but never made The Show.
Biggest World Junior upset of the 21st century?
Andrew: On 27 December 2016, Denmark beat defending champion Finland, 3-2, in the preliminary round of the 2017 U20. The Danes built a 3-0 lead through two periods and then survived a desperate Finnish attack in the third. They scored twice and outshot Denmark, 14-3, but they couldn’t get the equalizer. Of course, this was a staggering upset in and of itself, but it also had massive ramifications, which is not always the case in the preliminary round. The Finns managed only one victory in four round-robin games, and this win allowed Denmark to advance to the quarter-finals. But, more shockingly, it helped send the Finns to the relegation round. Humbled, Suomi had to defeat Latvia twice to avoid relegation to Division I.
Lucas: For me, it’s Switzerland shocking Russia 3-2 in sudden-death in the 2010 quarter-final in front of 12,278 fans in Regina. Many journalists probably had half their game recaps written in advance with a Russian win. But Nino Niederreiter – “El Nino” – rewrote the script, scoring the equalizer with 33 seconds left and adding the coup de grace at 9:46 of overtime. And don’t forget: this wasn’t a stacked Swiss team by any stretch of the imagination. The second-best forward on this roster after Niederreiter ultimately proved to be Tristan Scherwey, a 2018 World silver medalist and five-time Swiss champion with Bern. Meanwhile, the Russians had Vladimir Tarasenko and Yevgeni Kuznetsov. Nuff said.
IIHF.com’s Lucas Aykroyd and Andrew Podnieks have covered 14 World Juniors apiece in the 21st century. We decided to get their historical perspectives on five big-picture questions about the tournament.
Best Canadian World Junior host city in the 21st century?
Lucas: Victoria in 2019. Full disclosure: this is a huge homer pick with a touch of recency bias. I was born and raised in Victoria. The first hockey game I ever attended had the 1981 Victoria Cougars – featuring Grant Fuhr and Geoff Courtnall – hammering the Portland Winterhawks 7-0 at the old Memorial Arena. But in 2019, what blew me away was the way the British Columbia capital embraced the event. It’s easy to come out and cheer for a host team, but Canada played in Vancouver at this tournament. There were near-capacity crowds of close to 6,000 enthusiastic fans at all the Victoria games, including underdog Kazakhstan’s. I’ll never forget the arena belting out Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” every time the Kazakhs scored.
Andrew: Ah, yes, as coach Ron Wilson once asked a referee he wasn’t pleased with: “Who wrote The Iliad and Odyssey?” Okay, well, I can double down and say 2015 AND 2017 in Toronto, but I won’t. I’ll just say 2015. And what I remember – apart from the thrilling 5-4 Canada win over Russia for gold – was that the host organizers and the Leafs did it right. They made available thousands of seats for mid-week daytime games for next to nothing so that school kids could come and watch the games. Attendance was amazing and the atmosphere was crazy as the next generation of fans was given their first foray into the world of international hockey.
Most exciting World Junior final in the 21st century?
Lucas: Finland is the only country to have won the World Junior gold medal in overtime on home ice – twice, and both times against Russia in Helsinki. The first time in 1998, Niklas Hagman scored the winner (2-1). But the back-and-forth nature of the 2016 final, I think, made it even more thrilling. The Russians led twice. Then it looked like Finnish captain Mikko Rantanen’s 3-2 goal with 2:09 left would stand up, but the Russians tied it up again with six seconds left and an extra skater. To see Hartwall Arena go bananas when Kasperi Kapanen put in his 4-3 wraparound goal was amazing. Who can forget Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu jumping up and down like teenagers?
Andrew: Well, the best host year and best final go hand-in-hand in my case. Back to 2015! Canada beat Russia, 5-4, in a game that had three very distinct parts to it. Part 1 – Canada dominated the first 30 minutes and roared out to a 5-1 win. Connor McDavid scored one of the goals. Let the celebrations begin! But wait. Part 2 – Russia overwhelmed a now-placid Canada, scored three goals in the last half of the second to make it 5-4. Uh oh. Part 3 – a nail-biting third period in which Canada sat back (sometimes), played solid defence (sometimes), and the Russians did everything they could to tie (but fell short). Final, 5-4. What a game!
Greatest single-game World Junior goaltending performance in the 21st century?
Andrew: I’m going to go to the 2012 gold medal game between Sweden and Russia. The game went to overtime after a scoreless 60 minutes, and Mika Zibanejad scored his famous golden goal to give Sweden its first U20 gold since 1981. But that wasn’t the whole story. The fact the game went to OT was only because of Russian goalie Andrei Makarov. After 60 minutes of regulation, shots were 50-16 for Sweden. Fifty shots, no goals. And in the fourth period, the Swedes had an 8-1 advantage, scoring the game’s only goal with their 58th shot.
Lucas: Makarov’s a fine choice, but I’ll circle back to a future Vezina Trophy winner. At the 2006 tournament in Vancouver, Finland’s Tuukka Rask made 53 saves in a 1-0 quarter-final win over Sweden. Total larceny. Up there with Richard Brodeur and Kirk McLean’s finest moments in Canucks colours at the old Pacific Coliseum. Rask then carried a pedestrian Finnish team to the bronze medal with a 4-2 win over the Americans.
Best World Junior player in the 21st century who never made the NHL?
Lucas: Questions like these are always tough, since plenty of World Junior alumni remain active pros and still have a chance. Right now, I’ll say Denis Godla. Named MVP, the Slovak goalie was clearly the single most important player for any team in Montreal and Toronto in 2015. You automatically flash back to his heroics in the 4-2 bronze-medal victory over a Swedish team with William Nylander and Victor Olofsson. But Godla – now 27 – was also otherworldly with 38 saves in a 2-1 upset over Finland and 34 saves in a 3-0 quarter-final win over the Czechs.
Andrew: Nah, that’s easy. Connor Bedard. Moving on. Huh? That’s not what you meant? I was considering Finland’s Perttu Lindgren (16 World Junior points in 13 games in 2006 and 2007), but then realized he played exactly one game with Dallas, so I guess he’s out. In that case, I’ll go with Russia’s Yuri Trubachyov. He played in two World Juniors, winning gold in both 2002 and 2003. He was an all-star in ’03 and co-led the tournament in points that year (10). Like Lindgren, he totalled 16 points in 13 career games. Trubachyov got drafted by Calgary in 2001, but never made The Show.
Biggest World Junior upset of the 21st century?
Andrew: On 27 December 2016, Denmark beat defending champion Finland, 3-2, in the preliminary round of the 2017 U20. The Danes built a 3-0 lead through two periods and then survived a desperate Finnish attack in the third. They scored twice and outshot Denmark, 14-3, but they couldn’t get the equalizer. Of course, this was a staggering upset in and of itself, but it also had massive ramifications, which is not always the case in the preliminary round. The Finns managed only one victory in four round-robin games, and this win allowed Denmark to advance to the quarter-finals. But, more shockingly, it helped send the Finns to the relegation round. Humbled, Suomi had to defeat Latvia twice to avoid relegation to Division I.
Lucas: For me, it’s Switzerland shocking Russia 3-2 in sudden-death in the 2010 quarter-final in front of 12,278 fans in Regina. Many journalists probably had half their game recaps written in advance with a Russian win. But Nino Niederreiter – “El Nino” – rewrote the script, scoring the equalizer with 33 seconds left and adding the coup de grace at 9:46 of overtime. And don’t forget: this wasn’t a stacked Swiss team by any stretch of the imagination. The second-best forward on this roster after Niederreiter ultimately proved to be Tristan Scherwey, a 2018 World silver medalist and five-time Swiss champion with Bern. Meanwhile, the Russians had Vladimir Tarasenko and Yevgeni Kuznetsov. Nuff said.