Blogging About The Montreal Canadiens and Canadiens Hockey

A great article about the World Juniors Canada/Germany game and P.K. Subban’s end to end rush which lead to Evander Kane’s goal.

Damien Cox, TheStar.com

As one among an array of talented teens, P.K. Subban knows he doesn’t have to perform with eye-catching flair, doesn’t have to deliver a spin-a-rama or two per game and doesn’t have to be the riverboat gambler on defence some accuse him of being.

Read More Here.

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Canada never really expected Kazakhstan to be a challenge, but I doubt they expected a blowout either. The final score of this one was 15-0 for Team Canada with 10 different goal scorers, including 2 Goals for Montreal Canadien prospect, P.K. Subban.

Subban finished the game 2 Goals, 2 Assists, and a +6 defensive rating. Other notables in this game include Jamie Benn, a hat trick and 2 Assists, and Cody Hodgson with 2 Goals and 4 Assists.

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Tonight is the final Exhibition game of the World Junior Hockey Championships before the tournament starts on Friday, December 26th. In the last game against Finland the Canadians had some troubles in the beginning but quickly came back and finished witha 7-3 win.

Subban ended the game with two Assists and looked much better than the last game. He maintained better positioning, expecially on the Power play which is nice to see. He should be excellent in a year or two with the Bulldogs and should crack the Canadiens roster in about 3 years.

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The final score of the game was 4-2 with both Tavares and Hedman getting goals for their respective teams.

P.K. Subban had a decent game and made some really good decisions and some really bad decisions. He used his compact frame well to take the body and throw the body. He was caught pinching a few times during the Power play which led to the second goal by Sweden’s Victor Hedman.

Torp had a similar game but took a bad penalty due to some frustration because of the big hits by Canada. He was making some big hits though and can really take the body when he needs to. Played well but needs to learn more control.

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Tonight starts the first of three exhibition games that Canada will play before the opening game on December 26th, and P.K. Subban was practicing with Cody Goloubef on the second D pairing so expect to see him there.

This game is against Sweden and with John Tavares being first line center and Victor Hedman being on the first D pairing for Sweden, it should be an interesting head-to-head situation at times. Sweden has always had a good team coming into the WJHC, so goals may be few and far between. Let’s hope our boys rip it up. You’ll also be able to see Niklas Torp, another Canadiens prospect on the ice for Sweden tonight.

For those in Canada the game will be televised at 7:00pm EST on TSN, for other countries, I’m honestly not sure, but check your local issues.

Player Links:
Cody Goloubef
P.K. Subban
Victor Hedman
John Tavares

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The International Scouting Services has released their Top 30 prospects in this upcoming draft as of December 2008. Without furthe a due, here they are:

1. Victor Hedman, LD 12/18/1990 L 6.06 220 Modo SweE
2. John Tavares, C 9/20/1990 L 6.00 200 Oshawa OHL
3. Matt Duchene, C 1/16/1991 L 5.11 196 Brampton OHL
4. Jared Cowen, LD 1/25/1991 L 6.04.7 218 Spokane WHL
5. Magnus Svensson-Paajarvi, LW 4/12/1991 L 6.01 198 Timra SweE
6. Jordan Schroeder, RW 9/29/1990 R 5.08.2 175 Minnesota WCHA
7. Evander Kane, C 8/2/1991 L 6.01 180 Vancouver WHL
8. Nazem Kadri, C 10/6/1990 L 5.11.5 180 London OHL
9. Richard Panik, C 2/7/1991 L 6.01 202 Trinec CzeJr
10. Brayden Schenn, C 8/22/1991 L 6.00 193 Brandon WHL
11. Drew Shore, C 1/29/1991 R 6.02 190 USA Under-18 NTDP
12. Jeremy Morin, C 4/16/1991 R 6.00.5 189 USA Under-18 NTDP
13. Dmitri Kulikov, LD 10/29/1990 L 6.00 190 Drummondville QMJHL
14. Zack Kassian, RW 1/24/1991 R 6.02.5 212 Peterborough OHL
15. Simon Despres, LD 7/27/1991 L 6.03.5 214 Saint John QMJHL
16. Ryan Ellis, RD 1/3/1991 R 5.09.2 183 Windsor OHL
17. Jacob Josefson, C 3/2/1991 L 6.00 187 Djurgarden SweE
18. Stefan Elliott, LD 1/30/1991 R 6.00.2 185 Saskatoon WHL
19. Scott Glennie, C 2/22/1991 R 6.01 180 Brandon WHL
20. Peter Holland, C 1/14/1991 L 6.01.5 188 Guelph OHL
21. Landon Ferraro, RW 8/8/1991 R 5.11 169 Red Deer WHL
22. Tommi Kivisto, RD 6/7/1991 L 6.00.5 198 Red Deer WHL
23. Louis Leblanc, C 1/26/1991 R 6.00 178 Omaha USHL
24. Taylor Doherty, RD 3/2/1991 R 6.06.5 217 Kingston OHL
25. Ethan Werek, C 6/7/1991 L 6.00.5 191 Kingston OHL
26. John Moore, LD 11/19/1990 L 6.02 189 Chicago USHL
27. Carl Klingberg, LW 1/28/1991 R 6.03 205 V. Frolunda SweJE
28. Joonas Nattinen, C 1/3/1991 R 6.02 176 Espoo FinJrA
29. Anton Lander, LW 4/24/1991 L 6.00 187 Timra SweE
30. Erik Haula, LW 3/23/1991 L 5.11 170 Shattuck-St. MN-HS

No real surprise that Victor Hedman and John Tavares are 1/2, but I can almost guarantee that positions may shift between those two a few more times and the World Juniors could also have an impact on that. Both Hedman and Tavares will be participating in the World Juniors for there respective countries. Hedman for Sweden and Tavares for Canada.

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Well folks, it’s just about that time of the year again, and no, I’m not talking about Christmas. I’m talking about the U-20 World Junior Hockey Championships which is being held in Ottawa, Canada this year, just three provinces over. Team Canada announced it’s final cuts and the final roster of it’s team this year so I thought I’d show you who we’re going to have on the ice this year.

I’m glad to see Angelo Esposito make the lineup this year as well, he’s missed the last three years and this was his last attempt to make the tournament so I hope he just rips it up.

Forwards

Defense

Goalies

Related Links:

Team Canada 2009 Roster – TSN.ca
Tavares, Boychuk lead Team Canada into WJC – NHL.com
Esposito finally fulfills WJC dream – NHL.com
Canada chooses world junior hockey team, makes 16 cuts from camp – NHL.com
Sixteen players released at conclusion of Canada’s National Junior Team Selection Camp – NHL.com
Hockey Canada Team Roster – TeamCanada.ca
Tavares knows what he must do for Canada’s juniors – TSN.ca
TSN Broadcast Schedule – TSN.ca

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