World Juniors Championship Day One Round Up
The first day of the World Juniors Championship is in the books, as a full day with four games took place between the Air Canada Center and Bell Center, with the first two games going to a shootout and the latter two games being won in rather blown out fashion. Here’s a full scoreboard for you.
Russia 3 – Denmark 2 F/SO
USA 2 – Finland 1 F/SO
Sweden 5 – Czech Republic 2
Canada 4 – Slovakia 0
Along with a full day of action, all four Columbus Blue Jackets prospects took the ice as well. Here’s how they did.
USA. Milano put together a really good game, but couldn’t come away with any points to show for it. He came close a couple of times; twice he hit the post on the attack, once on a power play and again in the shootout (unfortunately, he has the unique distinction of being the only USA shooter who didn’t score in said shootout). It seemed like he was on the ice every other shift, but couldn’t really seem to find his footing, falling down multiple times while going after the puck due to nothing but the ice being underneath him. The NHL Network crew was very complementary of him when they talked about him, and I can’t wait to watch him throughout the rest of the tournament... vs. Germany. Sunday 8:00 p.m. SONNY MILANO
RYAN COLLINS. USA. Milano’s fellow countryman, Ryan Collins, wasn’t much of a factor in the back half of the game. He put together a some good early shifts, as well as took a penalty in the first period, but other than that he didn’t do much. I don’t remember seeing him on the ice in the third period. I’m sure he took a shift, I just simply don’t remember seeing him. Collins and Milano have the day off today before taking on Germany tomorrow.. vs. Germany. Sunday 8:00
OLIVER BJORKSTRAND. DEN. Oliver Bjorkstrand has a unique place in the history of this year’s World Junior Championships, as he scored the opening goal of the entire tournament. He also assisted on the second goal, which at the time put the Danes up 2-0, but they couldn’t hold on and wound up falling to Russia in a shootout. However, they picked up a very valuable point and surprised a lot of people in the process. Bjorkstrand also left his print on the game, making a lot of people marvel over how good and dangerous he can be. It should be an exciting tournament for him.. vs. Sweden. Today 1:00 p.m.
vs. Germany. Today 8:00 p.m.. DILLON HEATHERINGTON. CAN. Getting to play as a member of the host country is Dillon Heatherington, who finished with a +1 and had the first penalty of the night for the Canadians. Also, this tweet was pretty cool to see, as Heatherington came into the game as Canada’s #7 d-men.<blockquote class=
So, here’s how the table looks after the opening four games.
| Team – Pool A | GP – W-L-OTW-OTL | GF – GA | Points |
| Canada | 1 – 1-0-0-0 | 8 – 0 | 3 |
| USA | 1 – 0-0-1-0 | 2 – 1 | 2 |
| Finland | 1 – 0-0-0-1 | 1 – 2 | 1 |
| Slovakia | 1 – 0-1-0-0 | 0 – 8 | 0 |
| Germany | HAS NOT PLAYED YET | HNP | HNP |
| Team – Pool B | GP – W-L-OTW-OTL | GF – GA | Points |
| Sweden | 1 – 1-0-0-0 | 5 – 2 | 3 |
| Russia | 1 – 0-0-1-0 | 3 – 2 | 2 |
| Denmark | 1 – 0-1-0-0 | 2 – 3 | 1 |
| Czech Rep. | 1 – 0-1-0-0 | 2 – 5 | 0 |
| Switzerland | HAS NOT PLAYED YET | HNP | HNP |
There are four games today, just as yesterday, as Switzerland and Germany will begin their 2015 WJC’s. Here’s today’s schedule.
Denmark vs. Sweden 1:00
Slovakia vs. Finland 4:00
Czech Republic vs. Switzerland 5:00
Germany vs. Canada 8:00
Bjorkstrand will look to continue his streak and make more eyes learn who he is, while Heatherington will once again protect is native ice.