By Tim Harwood
Although the Waterloo Black Hawks will not take the ice for a game until Sunday evening, the 2012 Junior Club World Cup is now underway.
The tournament opened Saturday afternoon. In Pool A at Omsk Arena HC Energie Karlovy Vary from the Czech Republic pushed past Norway’s National Junior Team by a 3-1 margin, and Dynamo Shinnik of Belarus disappointed Russia’s Omsk Hawks by topping the hosts 2-1. Teams at Blinov Memorial Sports Complex in Pool B include the Sudbury Wolves (Canada), Denmark’s National Junior Team, HIFK (Finland), HK Riga (Latvia), and Linkopings (Sweden). Waterloo is by far the youngest team skating in Omsk Arena.
Here is a look at their competition:
HC Energie Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic)
Winning the 2012 Junior Club World Cup might be more meaningful for the Czech entry than any other participating squad. During the inaugural event in 2012, HC Energie was the runner-up, falling in the championship game to Russia’s Central Red Army (CSKA) team. Not only would a tournament win avenge last year’s disappointment, it would also announce Energie to the MHL, Russia’s junior league, which the Czech’s will join on a trail basis this fall. Add in the long-standing rivalry between Czech and Russian hockey, and expectations are high for Tuesday’s feature between Energie and Omsk.
Age is HC Energie’s ally. The club has 19 players born in 1993 or earlier (by comparison, the Black Hawks have three). Goalie Vladislav Habal, the second oldest Czech player on the ice was one save shy of a shutout Saturday. However it was youth which was responsible for the first period goals which put Energie in control of the game. Tomas Harkabus scored shorthanded at 13:36, and Stepan Csamango notched the eventual winner with less than three seconds left before intermission. Another potentially familiar member of the team is Matej Zadrazil, who represented his country last November during the 2011 Junior A World Challenge in Canada, a tournament which included four Waterloo skaters on the U.S. roster.
Dynamo Shinnik (Belarus)
Like the Czechs, Dynamo Shinnik had success at last summer’s Junior Club World Cup and returns to the event for a second time after winning two of three matchups. The club has a wealth of international experience after sending ten players to skate for Belarus at the 2012 World Junior Championships. Four of those players remain on the team this season: defenseman Ruslan Andreichikov plus forwards Maxim Parfeyevets, Alexander Levko, and Yegor Ageyenko. Goalie Mikhail Karnaukhov was previously part of Belarus’ National Under-18 Team.
An affiliate of the KHL’s Dynamo Minsk, Dynamo Shinnik is also a member of the MHL. After missing the playoffs last spring, the team battled through a relegation round and remained in the league’s top division. Parfeyevets was the top scorer with 39 points (17 goals, 22 assists).
Norway National Junior Team
Along with Belarus’ National Junior Team, Norway competed in Division I, Group A of the World Junior Championships during 2012, one notch below the top level. Arguably the most highly touted player on the team is goalie Steffen Soberg, who was selected in the 4th round of the 2011 NHL Draft by the Washington Capitals. However, Soberg did not appear in the 2012 Championships.
Seven other Norwegian players on this team did have that experience, including Jonas Knutsen, who led the squad with five goals during their run. Six others from Norway participated in the World Under-18 Championships. The team is one of two in the tournament (Denmark is the other), which does not play together throughout the regular season. Norway’s players will return to their own clubs when the Junior Club World Cup is over.
Omsk Hawks (Russia)
The other Hawks are the reigning MHL champions and are hoping to keep the Junior Club World Cup title in Russia. They defeated last year’s winner, Central Red Army (CSKA) for the league’s Kharlamov Cup last spring, and in the process also won the right to play in this tournament. Their roster includes five players born in 1991, more than any other team in the pool (1991-birth year players are ineligible in the USHL this season, so consequently, the Black Hawks do not have any).
Forward Valentin Pyanov was the leading scorer for Omsk in 2011/12 (22 goals, 38 assists) and returns after also pacing the Hawks with 16 playoff points. Maxim Kazakov was second in postseason scoring (12 points) and could also be looked on to an impact.
Not only will Omsk have several opportunities to scout Waterloo before the final contest in pool play, they will also have an in depth knowledge of what playing against Waterloo is like, thanks to defenseman Mark Solyankin. Last winter, the St. Petersburg-born blue-liner skated against the Black Hawks three times when he was a member of the Sioux Falls Stampede.
Saturday, 8/18
HC Energie Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic) 3, Norway National Junior 1
Dynamo Shinnik (Belarus) 2, Omsk Hawks 1
Sunday, 8/19
Waterloo Black Hawks vs. HC Energie Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic), 7AM
Monday, 8/20
Waterloo Black Hawks vs. Dynamo Shinnik (Belarus), 3AM
Norway National Junior vs. Omsk Hawks (Russia), 7AM
Tuesday, 8/21
HC Energie Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic) vs. Omsk Hawks (Russia), 7AM
Wednesday, 8/22
Waterloo Black Hawks vs. Norway National Junior, 3AM
Dynamo Shinnik (Belarus) vs. HC Energie Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic), 7AM
Thursday, 8/23
Norway National Junior vs. Dynamo Shinnik (Belarus), 3AM
Waterloo Black Hawks vs. Omsk Hawks (Russia), 7AM
Top two teams advance to the semifinals versus the top two teams from Group B. Three points are awarded for a regulation victory, two for an overtime win, and one for an overtime loss.
Thank you for the schedule. Go Hawks
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