GDT: 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship/Buffalo, NY/Gold-Canada/Silver-Sweden/Bronze-United States

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

Luukkonen getting lit up and he's all over the place at this showcase. Hope he improves with time.

 

[Moskau]

Luukkonen getting lit up and he's all over the place at this showcase. Hope he improves with time.

Probably not. More than likely hit his peak.

 

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

Probably not. More than likely hit his peak.

You sound very smart.

 

[Zman5778]

Luukkonen getting lit up and he's all over the place at this showcase. Hope he improves with time.

Did you read the article where it kind of detailed UPL's offseason so far?

Kid has barely had any chance to rest. It doesn't shock me at all that he's struggling right now.

 

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

Did you read the article where it kind of detailed UPL's offseason so far?

Kid has barely had any chance to rest. It doesn't shock me at all that he's struggling right now.

Just stating what I'm seeing. No I haven't read it but I know he's been in several camps over the summer in various places so I'd imagine he's a bit tired. He looked better at the 3on3 Buffalo scrimmage IMO.

By no means a specialist but a few things I noticed from both this tournament and the 3on3 are (whether they are due to fatigue or just bad parts of his game in general):
- he's particularly bad with the glove right now and opponents are actively looking to shoot there and take advantage
- he has some instinct to immediately drop on his pads wherever the shot is going - don't like this too much as it doesn't put him in a position to use his size quite often and for anything going up he has to rely on blocker or his glove in often awkward positions
- he seems a bit too aggressive which puts him in some bad positions and easy open net tap ins result if the opposition offense is smart enough to take advantage (instead of staying in a bit and using his size)
- he is a bit too happy to flop on his belly when out of position (although I've seen less of this at this showcase than I did at the 3on3)

Plenty of things to work on (I'm sure there's plenty of things I miss too), and we have to (and probably will) give him all the time to do so. Ullmark or Lehner better work out long term as we likely need them for good 5 years. I am rooting for this kid as I really wanted us to draft someone like him this year and he sounded like a good kid from the interviews.

 

[LaxSabre]

Kris Baker‏ @SabresProspects -

Marcus Davidsson in the lineup for Sweden today vs Finland. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen gets the start for the Finns. Game on NHL-Network.
Luukkonen slides to his left to make the stop and leaves a yawning cage open for Jesper Boqvist to make it 1-0 SWE.
Penn State commit Aarne Talvitie bats in his own rebound after taking a nice pass from Kuokkanen to make it a 1-1 game.
Sweden scarfs up a turnover and takes it the other way. Oskar Steen gets it past Luukkonen. 2-1 SWE.
Oskar Steen sprung for a break on a long pass from Erik Brannstrom. He goes in alone and beats Luukkonen high glove. 3-1 SWE.
Liljegren takes the play deep, shot on goal stopped. FIN takes it quickly back in transition and Jaaska strikes. SWE lead cut to 3-2.
SWE 3 FIN 2 End 2nd - Luukkonen 16 saves on 19 shots - Davidsson looking for his first SOG. Had a couple nice shifts in 2nd.

Tie game 3-3 iearly 3rd as Joni Ikonen squeezes a short-side shot past Larsson on the PP.
Oskar Steen gets his third of the game to put Sweden up 4-3. Took a pass down left side, beat Luukkonen far side, stick side.
Ikonen again on the PP. Again short side. 4-4 game between FIN and SWE.
Oskar Steen gets a tap-in to beat Luukkonen for the fourth time today. Steen a Bruins prospect so might as well get familiar.
Joni Ikonen gets his third PPG of the 3rd period. We have a 5-5 game between FIN and SWE. Going to OT.
SWE wins 6-5 in OT. Soderlund rips one past Luukkonen from the left dot. Luukkonen out to edge of the white ice. Blew past him high glove.

Mittelstadt playing with Brown and Yamamoto as USA takes on CAN at 7. Pu in for Canada playing wing with Howden and Kaspick.
You can watch USA (Mittelstadt) vs CAN (Pu) at 7:00 on NHL-Network. Replay at 1:00 AM for those of you in the Beer Barn at the Eden Corn Fest.

 

[Beerz]

Keith Tkachuk has tan lines from his sun glasses.

That's new for me.

 

[jc17]

I still can't believe Yamamoto and Gadjovich didn't go earlier.

 

[Ralonzo]

Keith Tkachuk has tan lines from his sun glasses.

That's new for me.

Very common among avid golfers.

UPL got some bad breaks in his first game, and the kick-in today. But it did look like he ran out of steam and the whole top of the net was there after that.

Valimaki was very good again and I've been impressed by Lias Anderson, poised and smart player. I didn't see anything from Davidsson to make me think he should be ranked above Asplund.

Samuel Girard looking great in the current game. USA making a point to run him every chance they get.

 

[Tatanka]

Fox is a nice player. Great sense of where the play is going.

 

[Ace]

Mittelstadt can move the puck up ice and gain the zone on his own.

So when he gets here that'll make 2.

 

[Chainshot]

Keith Tkachuk has tan lines from his sun glasses.

That's new for me.

A dear friend who does a lot of roofing work has those every year.

Funny to see his sons both exhibit a certain level of attitude that he did.

That top line with Casey on it is just beastly.

 

[Chainshot]

PLD needs to tone it down. The stripes are very keyed in on what he's doing and he's making it too easy to send him off.

 

[AustonsNostrils]

Ryan Poehling has impressed me, good pick for Montreal that low. The more I see of Pierre Luc Dubois the less I think of him, he'll be a good NHLer but not the star you expect a 4th overall pick to be.

 

[Slangston]

The officials are getting Canada back into the game.

 

[Tatanka]

Casey splitting the d. Nice.

 

[Chainshot]

That last rush was filthy. Oh man, so close for Casey.

 

[AustonsNostrils]

 

[Ralonzo]

The officials are getting Canada back into the game.

I'm just tired of this same script year after year. Canada gets down, starts gooning it up, refs call mystery penalties on their opponents instead.

PLD looks to be a major bust. Kyrou and Fox have great hockey IQ, conversely. Logan Stanley is a pylon. Logan brown is on the ice more than Girgensons

 

[Moskau]

The 2nd USA goal was all Mittlestadt. He has the same ability Eichel does to push the puck forward and gain entry into the opposition zone.

PLD has 2 years of development and about 20 pull-ups on Casey and he isn't even on the same planet in terms of dictating the pace of the game.

Logan Brown and Colin White on the same team is going to be a great combo. Too bad they'll get traded away when they need contracts.

 

[Chainshot]

That backcheck on Pu also reminds me of Eichel.

 

[Chainshot]

Mete has not impressed me in the action I've caught for the Nats.

 

[jc17]

Was the US supposed to be this strong compared to Canada or is this and the last game a suprise?

 

[Moskau]

Let's all take the time to admire that Winnipeg had so many 1st round picks and prospects that they said "You know what, let's draft Logan Stanley" ... and here we are with posters *****ing about trading for Robin Lehner.

 

[Chainshot]

Was the US supposed to be this strong compared to Canada or is this and the last game a suprise?

Canada's been real sloppy in their own zone and that seems like a feature of summer hockey. Do read too much into tonight's game.

Let's all take the time to admire that Winnipeg had so many 1st round picks and prospects that they said "You know what, let's draft Logan Stanley" ... and here we are with posters *****ing about trading for Robin Lehner.

Okay, I just snorted my drink up my nose laughing at this. Well played.