HF Habs: 2025 World Junior Championship: Canada vs USA, Tues. December 31st, 8 PM | TSN, RDS

[MarkovsKnee]

We might as well start this thread since the Team Canada winter camp invites have been released and none of Iginla, Sennecke, Parekh & Yakemchuk have been invited.

Montreal prospect Michael Hage also wasn't invited, but that wasn't much of a surprise.

I said in the NHL Draft thread that Ottawa was going to be furious about Yakemchuk's exclusion and they are. The whole organization has made comments this morning.

The issue with him is he's a 2005, which means this is actually his last year of eligibility. All other above players will get a chance next year.

The thinking is Ottawa only sent him back to junior hockey because they wanted him to get WJC experience. He had an excellent camp with them. They probably keep him if they knew this was going to happen.

It's also nice to see a lot of Detroit fans, who also tend to be Michigan fans, furious on our behalf with Hage's exclusion. They are calling him not just one of the best rookie NCAA players, but one of the best NCAA players period.

Only 3 weeks til this tournament starts.

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[EveryDay]

We might as well start this thread since the Team Canada winter camp invites have been released and none of Iginla, Sennecke, Parekh & Yakemchuk have been invited.

Montreal prospect Michael Hage also wasn't invited, but that wasn't much of a surprise.

I said in the NHL Draft thread that Ottawa was going to be furious about Yakemchuk's exclusion and they are. The whole organization has made comments this morning.

The issue with him is he's a 2005, which means this is actually his last year of eligibility. All other above players will get a chance next year.

The thinking is Ottawa only sent him back to junior hockey because they wanted him to get WJC experience. He had an excellent camp with them. They probably keep him if they knew this was going to happen.

It's also nice to see a lot of Detroit fans, who also tend to be Michigan fans, furious on our behalf with Hage's exclusion. They are calling him not just one of the best rookie NCAA players, but one of the best NCAA players period.

Only 3 weeks til this tournament starts.

Do we have any prospects going this year?

 

[David Suzuki]

Do we have any prospects going this year?

Matthew Schaffer.

All joking aside, I don't believe so. Still wish there was a solution so we could see a Russian team, devalues the tournament without them.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

I think Koivu and Bergqvist are the only prospects left with a chance of making it

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

Will Vecvanags play for Latvia? He was on Latvia's U16, U17 and U18 teams in the past so would assume he might be on the radar for the junior team.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Do we have any prospects going this year?

Just a few maybes. All of our 2023 draft picks have aged out.

From 2024: Demidov is Russian. Hage not invited.
Koivu (Finland), Vecvanags (Latvia) & Bergqvist (Sweden) are the only potentials.

It's entirely possible we have no prospects in this tournament. I'm not sure when that last happened.

 

[David Suzuki]

Will Vecvanags play for Latvia? He was on Latvia's U16, U17 and U18 teams in the past so would assume he might be on the radar for the junior team.

Totally forgot about him ngl hope he does

 

[WeThreeKings]

Totally forgot about him ngl hope he does

He's not even starting in the BCHL.. he probably will be there but man that slip up by Lapointe feels like another Trunev move.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

He's not even starting in the BCHL.. he probably will be there but man that slip up by Lapointe feels like another Trunev move.

He should have stayed with the Q. No idea why he went BCHL. Latvia doesn't exactly have a lot of depth, so I expect him to be there even if it's as 3rd string goalie.

 

[WeThreeKings]

He should have stayed with the Q. No idea why he went BCHL. Latvia doesn't exactly have a lot of depth, so I expect him to be there even if it's as 3rd string goalie.

Probably didn't want to live wherever they took him vs where he was supposed to go before Lapointe spilled the beans.

 

[morhilane]

He should have stayed with the Q. No idea why he went BCHL. Latvia doesn't exactly have a lot of depth, so I expect him to be there even if it's as 3rd string goalie.

He went BCHL because he wanted to go the NCAA route.

 

[Ezpz]

I normally have zero interest in the WJC and now I have even less. Most of our prospects aren't the right age/nationality.

TBH Hage could have double his already impressive point total and get snubbed. Wasn't a top 5 pick and not playing in the CHL. Tied for 11th in PPG in the entire NCAA with Ryan Leonard, a guy his D+2 and Hagens, the presumptive #1 overall pick. Plus our Sam Harris. Everyone ahead is 20+ years old.

I can't help but feel a ton of our prospect's stocks have cratered this season. Don't think we're even top 5 anymore tbh.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

I normally have zero interest in the WJC and now I have even less. Most of our prospects aren't the right age/nationality.

TBH Hage could have double his already impressive point total and get snubbed. Wasn't a top 5 pick and not playing in the CHL. Tied for 11th in PPG in the entire NCAA with Ryan Leonard, a guy his D+2 and Hagens, the presumptive #1 overall pick. Plus our Sam Harris. Everyone ahead is 20+ years old.

I can't help but feel a ton of our prospect's stocks have cratered this season. Don't think we're even top 5 anymore tbh.

A recent polling had us as #2, I believe. I don’t see this cratering, you speak of.

In any case, we don't need all of our prospects to hit. No team gets that. Demidov, Fowler & Reinbacher are our 3 most important prospects. If they all hit their potential, the team is in good position to improve. They all fill needs.

Fowler & Reinbacher are too old for this tournament as they're Oct-Dec birthdays. Demidov is Russian.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

He went BCHL because he wanted to go the NCAA route.

I understand that, but he has no agreement with a university.

 

[Habs]

No Habs prospects = I don't care much. Getting sick of the Team Canada politics and old boys club, they can go f*** a sock.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

I normally have zero interest in the WJC and now I have even less. Most of our prospects aren't the right age/nationality.

TBH Hage could have double his already impressive point total and get snubbed. Wasn't a top 5 pick and not playing in the CHL. Tied for 11th in PPG in the entire NCAA with Ryan Leonard, a guy his D+2 and Hagens, the presumptive #1 overall pick. Plus our Sam Harris. Everyone ahead is 20+ years old.

I can't help but feel a ton of our prospect's stocks have cratered this season. Don't think we're even top 5 anymore tbh.

Poor Sennecke...

Team Canada has truly believe that one game elimination tournament teams need to be built like they are heading into seven games series for some strange reason. US has a similar ideology.

 

[Adam Michaels]

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Cool. We get to see him play!

 

[Adam Michaels]

I think the only other prospect that might be at the WJC is Koivu for Finland. If he's not there, it will only be Bergqvist.

With Hage not invited to Canada's camp and Fowler being too old for this tournament, and of course with Russia not participating (Demidov), Habs will be very little represented. But that is more to do with prospects being too old for the tourny and that they are now in the pros.

 

[ngc_5128]

I understand that, but he has no agreement with a university.

I think he committed to the University of Maine?

 

[Adam Michaels]

I think he committed to the University of Maine?

Yes he did. And I believe if the CHL/NCAA agreement came earlier, he might have stuck with AB Titan.

 

[ngc_5128]

Yes he did. And I believe if the CHL/NCAA agreement came earlier, he might have stuck with AB Titan.

Maybe, but maybe going from Riga to Bathurst was just too much of a downgrade

 

[Adam Michaels]

Maybe, but maybe going from Riga to Bathurst was just too much of a downgrade

And yet, BCHL is more of a downgrade than QMJHL.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

And yet, BCHL is more of a downgrade than QMJHL.

And he would presumably have been the starter in the Q.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

He went BCHL because he wanted to go the NCAA route.

How is this not obvious to everyone???? This board is frustrating.