Canada will return the gold, Russia will be in the medals. Forecast for the 2017 World Cup

The current champions will be left with nothing, Bragin will again take a medal for Russia, and Canada will return gold - in the forecast for the 2017 World Cup.

On the night of December 26-27 Moscow time, the next youth world championship starts in Toronto and Montreal. A few hours before the first match, we give our forecast for the results of the tournament.

Denmark

Before the World Cup, Denmark showed its teeth in a test match with the Russian national team, reaching overtime. And the fact that at the last two youth world championships the Danes invariably reach the quarterfinals does not allow them to be considered outsiders. However, they will almost certainly have to fight for survival, first in the group with the Swiss, and then in the consolation round with someone from the Slovakia-Latvia pair. And it is not yet clear how Scandinavians can guarantee themselves a place in the elite. Unless this championship will be the finest hour Alexandra True, whose cousin Nikolai Ehlers not so long ago he was the undisputed leader of the Danish youth team.

Championship forecast: last place in the group and loss in the consolation round.

Slovakia

Just two years ago, the Slovaks reached bronze at the World Youth Championship. These were the second MFM medals in the history of Slovak hockey. However, there are no prerequisites for the newly assembled team to repeat this success. If we take out two goalkeepers from the American NCAA and several representatives from the CHL, most of the youth players play in the national championship. It is noteworthy that not a single representative of Slovan went to Canada, although not so long ago the Bratislava club went to the MFM Marco Dano. Let's take a risk and assume that the Slovaks finish in last place in the group, but avoid relegation to the lower division.

Championship forecast: last place in the group and victory in the consolation round.

Before us is no longer a gang of supertalents, but a typical working Finnish team. Her ceiling is the semifinals, or even the quarterfinals of the World Championship.

Switzerland

The Swiss have the youngest team of all participants. Her average age 18.32 years old. For comparison, the oldest team is the Russian national team - 18.83 years. They brought four players born in 1999 to Canada at once. (Russia has none), including a son Russian hockey player Konstantin Kurashev and the favorite of the upcoming NHL draft Nico Hischier. Moreover, the Swiss included a defender born in the 21st century. Niko Gross at the age of 16 he plays in the NLB among men and even scores points. The big question is whether this young team will be able to shoot at this championship, or whether its time will come in a year, but the existing talent should be enough for the Swiss to beat the Danes in the group and reach the quarterfinals.

Championship forecast: defeat in the quarterfinals

Latvia

Perhaps the main gamble of our entire forecast. The Latvian national team has not been among the elite for three years, and in its entire history it has never reached the playoffs of the World Youth Championship. So why should anything change now, in Toronto and Montreal? It is believed that this “youth team” is the strongest in the entire history of Latvian hockey. The backbone of the Latvian national team is the defense led by Kristaps Zile. If the Dynamo Riga defender himself is not distinguished by his huge dimensions, then his partners are powerful and textured. In attack, the Latvians are counting on the Dzierkals-Balcers combination, which has already made some noise at the 2015 Junior World Cup. Both successfully play overseas in the CHL. If we expect surprises from anyone, it will be from our Baltic neighbors.

Championship forecast: defeat in the quarterfinals

Czech

The Czechs have a pretty good defensive line this year. Four defensemen were drafted by NHL clubs, and Jakub Zbrozil, selected by Boston in the first round, can easily be considered the star of the Czech team. Are there players of comparable quality in other lines? He will almost certainly take his place in goal Daniel Vladar- a two-meter goalkeeper who, at the age of 19, plays in the AHL. If he spent the last World Cup as a reserve, now he should become the hope of the Czech national team. By age, I still qualified for this MFM Pavel Zakha, but it was naive to believe that New Jersey would release its main forward at the height of the season. In his absence, the role of leader can be assumed by Adam Musil, but he is still a player of a different caliber.

Championship forecast: defeat in the quarterfinals

Finland

Suomi hockey players are going to Canada as the current world champions, but not the favorites of the upcoming tournament. The generation that won gold for Finland home ice, took the expected step upward. Patrick Laine puts pucks in batches for Winnipeg. Sebastian Aho immediately became a part of Carolina. U Esse Puljujarvi things in Edmonton are not going so smoothly, but for the Finnish youth team he is a piece of cake. Grew up from youth hockey and Mikko Rantanen, who captained the world championship that was golden for the Finns. Now the defender will try on the captain's stripe Olli Juolevi– one of those who knows how to beat the Canadians and Russians. In short, this is no longer a gang of super talents, but a typical working Finnish team. Her ceiling is the semifinals, or even the quarterfinals of the World Championship.

Championship forecast: Lost in the quarterfinals.

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USA

All you need to know about the depth of the US team is that the Americans easily gave up such a player as Alex Debrincat, who is the second-leading scorer in the Ontario League with 60 points. Another American forward playing in the homeland of hockey will not play in Canada either. Logan Brown. At the same time, the absence of this couple in the final application does not make the Stars and Stripes weaker. The Americans have perhaps the strongest offensive line among all participants. First of all, danger should be expected from Luke Kanina- captain and main star of the team. Arizona Avenue is no less dangerous. Caton Kelle r, who went to the World Cup in the company of three other forwards from Boston University. But the Americans’ defense may become their weak point. It is also noteworthy that the American youth team contains almost no players from junior leagues, be it the Canadian CHL or the native USHL. The coaching staff of the US national team has made a clear focus on students.

In the control matches, the Russians experienced enormous problems with the implementation of chances, but due to the will, for which all Bragin’s teams are famous, the Russian team was able to get to the medals.

Championship forecast: 4th place

Russia

On paper, the Russian team is weaker not only than the Swedes and Canadians, but also the Americans. This is a rare case when it is more appropriate to compare our “youth team” with the Finns, who are used to getting their way not through talent, but through plowing and organizing the game. In location Valeria Bragina there is a top goalkeeper Ilya Samsonov, who is already being tipped for a prize for the best goalkeeper of the tournament. He will be helped by someone who has appeared in the NHL Mikhail Sergachev, as well as several strong defenders with experience playing at the senior level. But how the Russian team’s attack will manifest itself is a big question. There are plenty of characterful guys, whom Valery Nikolaevich loves so much, in the lineup this time, but there’s a problem with creativity. Even the main star of our youth team Kirill Kaprizov He wins not by technique and ingenuity, but by slightly different qualities. In the control matches, the Russians experienced enormous problems with the implementation of chances, but due to the will, for which all Bragin’s teams are famous, the Russian team was able to get to the medals. But the scenario in which our youth team reaches the final of the World Championship for the third year in a row looks almost fantastic.

Championship forecast: bronze.

“Russia will be left without medals.” North American forecast for the World Cup

Before the start of the MFM, North American observers demand only victory from Canada and do not rank Russia among the favorites.

Sweden

How strong this Swedish team is was shown by the final test match before the World Cup, in which the Scandinavians beat our youth team with a score of 4:0. This is a balanced, remarkably prepared, trained team. In the Swedish youth team, as in any Tre Kronur team, it is difficult to find a poorly skating player or a hockey player with any noticeable flaws in technique. The Swedes brought 13 players from the SHL to Canada at once, that is, more than half of the roster has experience playing in the elite European league. Team captain Joel Ericsson Ek went on and showed up this season for Minnesota. Alexander Nylander has not yet reached the base of Buffalo, but is hardly inferior to the “savages” prospect in terms of talent. Needless to say, Tre Kronur has a traditionally impressive set of defenders, led by Jacob Larsson, who has already played four games for Anaheim? All these flattering characteristics point to the Swedes as the favorites of the tournament, but the stumbling block may be the notorious character, which they often lack for big victories. The last time the Swedish youth team won gold was five years ago in Calgary, when they put the squeeze on the Russian team.

Championship forecast: silver.

Even though the Canadians won their last, to date, championship under McDavid, they are capable of taking gold even without an NHL supernova.

Canada

The Canadian youth team no longer has such an option as Connor McDavid. Does this mean that the representatives of the country of the maple leaf are not the favorites of the World Cup? No no and one more time no. Even though the Canadians won their last, to date, championship under McDavid, they are capable of taking gold even without an NHL supernova. Moreover, the Canadians are playing at home again. Two years ago, when the championship was also held in Toronto and Montreal, they beat Russia in the final. Now they have several potential top players on each line. Thomas Chabot And Philip Myers– pillars of the Canadian national team’s defense. Matthew Barzal, Dylan Strome, Julien Gautier, Taylor Reddish And Pierre-Luc Dubois– offensive stars. But the main thing is that for once the Canadians are free of headaches for their goal line. Tandem from Western hockey league Hart-Ingram looks monolithic and interchangeable. After being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2016 World Cup, the founders of hockey will be filled with the desire to regain the crown.

Championship forecast: gold.

Tonight it will start in Canada world youth hockey championship. This tournament always attracts a lot of attention from betting players. We have prepared a small announcement that may help bettors.

General information about the tournament

All matches of the Youth World Championship (43rd in a row) will be held at two ice arenas: Save-on-Foods Memorial Center (Victoria) and Rogers (Vancouver). The composition of the groups looks like this:

• Group "A": Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Russia and Switzerland
• Group "B": Finland, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Sweden, USA

Four teams from each group advance to the playoffs, so to continue the fight it’s enough just not to finish last.

Our analysts are already making their predictions for the opening match: Czech Republic - Switzerland.

Bets on the winner of the World Youth Championship

The record holders for the number of victories at the MFM are Canadians, who have won the tournament 17 times. They are still the current champions. The teams of Russia, Finland and the USA have 4 victories each. The tournament was won twice by the Swedes and the Czechs.

What other betting options are worth considering?

- Canada will win their group – 1.25 (Betting League)

There is nothing special to add to the above. The hosts are favorites and should not experience any problems at least until the semi-finals.

- USA will win their group – 2.00 (Betting League)

The Americans brought very strong players to the tournament. They are able to show stable play in the first stage and go through the group distance without defeat.

- Russia and Canada will play in the final – 3.50 (1xBet)

In the 2011 final, which we have already mentioned, the Russians defeated the Canadians. Many hockey experts are in favor of such a final. Why not?

- Sweden will take second place in the tournament – 5.00 (1xBet)

Just take note of an interesting fact. The Swedish national team has taken second place at the World Youth Championship 11 times in its history - this is an absolute record.

Mikhail ZISLIS, hockey correspondent

Forecast - 5:0. Any other option than a cakewalk for the Swedish team seems fantastic. The maximum that the Danes are capable of is to save face and not lose very badly.

Evgeniy BELOUSOV, hockey correspondent

Forecast - 5:2. Tre Krunur is the undisputed favorite of the Viking Derby in Montreal. And although 11 Danes competed at the last World Cup, their more skilled opponents will prevail, but probably not in a dry situation.

Anastasia ZHDANOVA, hockey correspondent

Forecast - 4:0 . The Swedes, whom some Western colleagues ranked as one of the main favorites of the tournament, will deal with the Danes without any problems, despite the fact that the future outsiders of Group A have almost half of their squad left from last year.

Pavel KLIMOVITSKY, hockey correspondent

Forecast - 7:2. An excellent chance for Nylander, Eriksson Ek, Petersson and other Swedish stars to jump right into the race for the title of top scorer of the tournament. However, the Danes will also score their two or three goals.

(23:30)

Zislis forecast: - 9:1. One of the tournament favorites will have no problem destroying a team whose goal is to survive in the elite division. If the Latvians lose with a difference of at least 5 goals, then for them this result can be considered a success.

Belousov's forecast: - 7:0. Eriks Mulins's Latvians are not inferior in size to the Stars and Stripes, but the class of people from NTDP will affect the start. If the Balts don't have a traditional goalkeeper to help out, the American students will warm up the crowd at the Air Canada Center with a big victory before the evening "classics".

Zhdanova's forecast: - 5:2 . The original Latvians should hardly count on anything other than points in the match with Slovakia, but Dzierkals and Co. are capable of sealing the goal for the Americans.

Klimovitsky's forecast: - 8:1. Despite the fact that the Latvian national team is considered almost the strongest in its history, this will not save them from defeat - the Americans will crush the opponent in the first period.

(1:00, MATCH TV)

Zislis forecast: - 2:4. The current world champion, even without last year's top three Puljujarvi-Aho-Laine playing in the NHL, must prevail over the mediocre Czech team.

Belousov's forecast: - 3:6. The opponents, diluted by a third with foreign players from North America, will show spectacular hockey. Suomi's chances are preferable even in the absence of Laine, Aho and Puljujarvi.

Zhdanova's forecast: - 1:2 . The Finns, who lost last year's champion team, will play with the Czechs in hockey typical of adult teams - with a minimum of moments and a soporific effect for the spectators.

Klimovitsky's forecast:- 4:3 OT. I’ll take a risk and bet on the Czechs, who failed friendly matches: They will create a mini-sensation and beat the current world champions.

(4:00, MATCH TV)

Zislis forecast: - 4:2. Valery Bragin sets the goal of bringing the team to the peak of its capabilities for the quarterfinals. Therefore, the first match in the group can be safely sacrificed. This does not mean that the Russians will serve their number. But the hosts, who will have home ice and always loyal judges at the World Youth Championship, will have an easier time.

Belousov's forecast: - 5:2. A year and a half ago, juniors born in 1997. Yuri Rumyantsev spent the whole tournament preparing for the final with the Canadians, but in the quarterfinals they were stopped by the Swiss. The backbone of that team meets with " maple leaves“already at the start in the youth format, but you can’t count on a successful outcome of the meeting with the eager hosts. Although, as Buffalo’s experience shows, a defeat at the start from Canada means gold.

Zhdanova's forecast: - 3:1. At the playoff stage, Russia would have more chances against the Canadians - our team will enter the tournament gradually and not easily. The difference of two goals will help Samsonov hold on.

Klimovitsky's forecast:- 4:1. This will be the most difficult match for the Russian team in the entire tournament - even if they have to meet the same Canadians again in the playoffs, next time everything will be much easier. Unfortunately, Bragin’s team will not be able to survive today.

The Russian youth team is not among the favorites of the 2018 World Hockey Championship (players under 20 years of age), which will take place from December 26 to January 5 in the USA, this is the bookmakers’ forecast for today. According to bookmaker analysts, the 2018 World Cup will most likely be won by the host team of the tournament, the US team or the Canadian team. Bookmakers put the Russian team in fourth place on the list of contenders for victory.

Bets on the winner of the 2018 MFM Hockey Championship

Bookmaker bwin accepts bets on the victory of the Russian national hockey team at the World Youth Championship with odds of 8.50. Accordingly, the chances of success for Valery Bragin’s team are approximately 20 percent. Bets on the US team are accepted with odds of 2.45 (the probability of winning is about 41 percent). You can bet on the Canadian team with odds of 2.90 (34.5 percent). The bookmakers placed the Swedish team in third place in the list of contenders for victory - 7.25 (14 percent), and the Finnish team in fifth - 11.00 (9 percent).

Where will the 2018 World Youth Hockey Championship be held?

Youth championship matches will be held at two arenas in Buffalo (New York): KeyBank Center and HarborCenter. One of the 2018 World Cup matches between the USA and Canada national teams will be played outdoors on December 29 in the suburbs of Buffalo on the field of the home stadium of the NFL team “Buffalo Bills” - New Era Field. The current winner of the tournament is the US team. The Russian team won bronze medals at the 2017 World Cup, silver went to the Canadian team, and Sweden took fourth place.

Youth World Hockey Championship 2018 game schedule

At the preliminary stage, the Russian team was placed in Group B along with the teams of Sweden, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Belarus. In Group A, the teams of the USA, Canada, Denmark, Slovakia and Finland will compete for access to the playoffs. The four best teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament. Two-fifths of the teams from each group will take part in the consolation round (games to retain their place in the elite division), which consists of a series of best-of-three matches.

Match schedule MFM-2018 (Moscow time)

• December 26

• Czech Republic – Russia 20:00
• Belarus – Sweden 22:00

• 27th of December

• Canada – Finland 00:00
• Denmark – USA 04:00
• Switzerland – Belarus 23:00

• December 28th

• Slovakia – Canada 03:00
• Finland – Denmark 20:00
• Russia – Switzerland 22:00

• December 29th

• Sweden – Czech Republic 00:00
• USA – Slovakia 04:00
• Belarus – Russia 22:00

• December 30th

• Canada – USA 00:00
• Czech Republic – Belarus 20:00
• Sweden – Switzerland 22:00

• 31th of December

• Finland – Slovakia 00:00
• Denmark – Canada 04:00
• Switzerland – Czech Republic 20:00

• 1st of January

• USA – Finland 00:00
• Slovakia – Denmark 02:00
• Russia – Sweden 04:00

• January 2

• Consolation round 20:00
• Quarter finals 22:00

• January 3

• 1/4 finals 00:00
• 1/4 finals 02:00
• 1/4 finals 04:00

• 4 January

• Consolation round 20:00

• 5 January

• 1/2 finals 00:00
• 1/2 finals 04:00

Final Canada - Finland and Russia without medals? Forecast for the 2018 World Cup

Lev Lukin does not believe in the Russian youth team. Throw tomatoes at it.

Belarus

The youth team of Belarus, after a year-long absence from the MFM elite, returned to the cohort of the strongest U20 teams. Yuri Faykov's team was in a group with teams from Russia, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, and the main task of the Belarusians at the tournament will be to maintain their residence in the elite division. Hockey in Belarus in Lately not worried better times, the adult team is looking for reinforcement options in the form of naturalized foreign players, which suggests that talented Belarusian hockey players appear in very limited quantities.

Therefore, it is doubly difficult for the youth team to compete on equal terms with their rivals, who try out future stars at such tournaments.

Forecast: Belarus will compete in the group with the Czechs and Swiss for reaching the playoffs, but, most likely, Faykov’s team will have the last place in its top five and a consolation round, following which the Belarusians will again find themselves in the first division of youth hockey.

Slovakia

But predicting who will become a potential opponent for Belarus in the consolation round seems to be a very difficult task. It is obvious that the national teams of the USA, Canada and Finland are unlikely to allow such a failure, although the same Finns a year ago were just fighting for the right to remain in the elite. But it is difficult to imagine that for the second year in a row the Suomi team will be left without the MFM playoffs, which means that the Danes and Slovaks will compete for the last vacancy in the relegation games in Group A.

Recently, the level of these teams has become equal; the Slovaks have not been among the strongest for a long time national teams, and the Danes, on the contrary, have more and more talented players. Last year, Slovakia was only ahead of completely hopeless Latvia in its group, and the Danes, in turn, created a sensation by finishing second in their top five.

Forecast: over the year the situation in youth Slovak hockey has not changed dramatically in better side, Ernest Bokrosh’s team will play in the consolation round and there they will retain the right to play at the 2019 MFM.

Denmark

Yes, the Danes should make it to the playoffs, but it would be very naive to hope for last year’s success of Olaf Eller’s team. In the Scandinavian group, the Canadians and Americans are traditionally strong at the youth level, the Finns are angry after last year's failure, and again taking second place in such a company is unrealistic.

Forecast: the main task of the Danes will be to show decent hockey in the match with the favorites, as well as win the main match in the group stage against the Slovaks. It seems that the Danish national team will cope with this task and will advance to the playoffs, where they will lose first place in Group B in the fight.

Switzerland

The Swiss team acts as a dark horse at every tournament, and the MFM in Buffalo is no exception. It is unlikely that Christian Wohlwend's team will compete for leadership in Group B with the Swedes and Russians, although such a scenario would not be surprising, because there is always a sensation at the World Youth Championships. It is also difficult to imagine the Swiss national team fighting for the playoffs when it has the Belarusian national team in the group. Before the tournament, the most likely scenario is that the Swiss will play the Czech team for third or fourth place in their top five.

This is exactly what happened at last year’s tournament, when these teams were separated by only one point, despite the fact that face-to-face meeting The Swiss were stronger. They could have caused a sensation in the playoffs, but the US team, in a bitter struggle, still beat the team from the country of banks and cheeses.

Forecast: at the 2017 World Cup, Switzerland had Nico Hischier, the future number one of the draft, and now the national team will have to do without him. Therefore, we predict Wohlwend’s team to take fourth place in the group and be eliminated in the quarterfinals.

10 bright young players who will miss the MFM for various reasons

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Czech

Before Buffalo, the Czech national team looks like the weakest team of the big six, and at the upcoming tournament, Philip Pechan's charges will have to work hard to destroy these ideas. 13 years youth hockey The Czech Republic has not seen medals at world championships, which also affects the results of the adult team, which has not looked like a favorite at major international tournaments for a long time.

Of course, at the future youth forum the Czechs will make it to the playoffs, but it will be possible to count on more only under a miraculous combination of circumstances. In the group, Pechan's team looks objectively weaker than both Russia and Sweden; the Czechs will have to fight with Switzerland for third or fourth place, although both positions most likely lead to the playoffs against the US or Canadian teams.

Forecast: in this situation, the Czechs need to try to take a higher place in the group, but we predict that they will not be able to jump above their heads, from third place in the group they will advance to the quarterfinals, the match in which will be the last for the Czechs in the tournament.

The Czechs will have to fight with Switzerland for third or fourth place, although both positions will most likely lead to the US or Canadian teams in the playoffs.

Russia

The Russian national team is going to Buffalo with wonderful memories, but it will be incredibly difficult for Valery Bragin and his team to repeat the success of seven years ago. The Russian youth team currently does not have hockey players of the caliber of Tarasenko, Panarin and Kuznetsov, and the potential first pick of next year’s NHL draft Andrei Svechnikov is still too young.

Of course, we believe in the talent of Bragin and our guys, there is no doubt that Russia will make it to the playoffs and is unlikely to finish lower than second. But any position other than the first one will most likely lead our team to Canada, the USA or Finland, and in matches against these opponents Russia will not be a favorite.

Bragin chose new Buffalo heroes. Without Kravtsov, but with Svechnikov

Head coach"Youth team" announced the composition for the World Cup.

Forecast: The Russian team almost always takes a long time to swing at the youth world championships, and therefore rarely wins the group. It seems that the tournament in Buffalo will not be an exception, the Russians will take second place, and already in the quarterfinals Bragin’s charges will be faced with insoluble problems. But let's not forget that our best game The “youth team” under Bragin shows itself precisely when few people believe in it.

Russia will make it to the playoffs and is unlikely to finish lower than second. But any position other than the first one will most likely lead our team to Canada, the USA or Finland, and in matches against these opponents Russia will not be a favorite.

USA

At the last tournament, which took place on Canadian soil, the US team, led by Bob Motsko, won all the matches and won the 2017 World Cup gold. From that lineup, the Americans will not be helped by Clayton Keller, who shines in Arizona, but many other hockey players, as well as the coach, will defend the title in Buffalo.

Playing on home ice will certainly create a special mood among American talents, and in matches with competitors for leadership in the group, the US team may burn out, and the title of reigning world champions is a very difficult burden. Therefore, we predict the young Stars and Stripes only third place in the group after Finland and Canada, but an interesting continuation in the playoffs.

Forecast: in the elimination games, the Americans will probably be in the medal zone, there is a high probability of participating in the finals, but we will not see a second successive triumph of American youth hockey.

Sweden

The Swedes are bringing a decent squad to Buffalo and are the main candidates for victory in their group. The Czechs, Swiss and Belarusians will solve their problems, the Russians do not have a sufficient margin of safety to win the group, which means the Scandinavian team has every chance of success in the first stage.

First place in the top five B almost certainly puts Sweden in the playoffs against Denmark or Slovakia, which in turn almost guarantees the Scandinavians a semi-final.

Forecast: a year ago, Thomas Monten’s team lost at this very stage, and then lost to the Russians in the bronze medal match. Now the scenario risks repeating itself, only the opponent in the consolation final will most likely be different.

Finland

Last year's tournament ended in complete failure for the Finns, who started it as the current world champions. The Suomi team took last place in the group and fought with the Latvian team for the right to remain in the elite division.

The Finns probably remembered this slap in the face, and in Buffalo we are expecting revenge from them. It is unlikely that Jussi Ahokas' team is capable of winning the group against the powerful and always playful Canadians, but we give second place in the top five to Finland. Many experts and hockey specialists are betting on this team; the Finns have a number of brilliant talents, such as Tolvanen, Heiskanen or the WHL's top scorer Heponiemi.

Forecast: the Finns will probably go far in the playoffs; we predict the Suomi team will have the final of the tournament, where they will try not to lose to Canada for the second time in the tournament.

Canada

The head coach of the Canadian national team, Dominique Ducharme, is once again taking a team made up of powerful, scoring and skilled hockey players to the youth championship. It’s not without reason that the Canadians are considered the main favorites of this tournament every year: each junior league in this country can easily provide the youth coach with more than one roster for the national team, and before Buffalo, Ducharme was once again blindsided by the rich choice.

There is virtually no doubt that the Canadians will perform strongly in the group stage and, most likely, will take first place there. It will be difficult to stop Canada even before the final.

A year ago in Montreal, the founders of hockey lost decisive match US team in shootouts. Now on American ice The Canadians will probably want to make up for both that defeat and the missed victory on the ice in Buffalo in 2011.

Forecast: a year ago in Montreal, the founders of hockey lost the decisive match of the US team in shootouts. Now on American ice, the Canadians will probably want to make up for both that defeat and for the missed victory on Buffalo ice in 2011. It’s just that we see Ducharme’s team’s opponents not as the USA or Russia, but as the Finnish team.