Among the players participating in the tournament are six of the 13 players they selected at the 2021 NHL Draft, including all three of their second-round picks: United States defenseman Scott Morrow (No. 40), Finland defenseman Aleksi Heimosalmi (No. 44) and Finland forward Ville Koivunen (No. 51).
Hurricanes assistant general manager Darren Yorke said he has been most impressed by the growth Morrow has shown in going from Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault, Minnesota, last season to scoring 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 15 games as a freshman at Massachusetts this season.
“Watching him play high school hockey was like, I don’t know if you’re a ‘Seinfeld’ fan, but Kramer taking the karate class against kids,” Yorke said, referencing a scene where an adult character hilariously dominates younger competitors. “He was so much better than the competition and maybe that raised doubts among other teams or whatnot. We obviously didn’t see it that way. And then he goes and plays [six] games in the [United States Hockey League] (with Fargo) and does the exact same thing. And then he goes to college and does the exact same thing. And now he’s going to go to the World Junior level. And the best predictor of the future is going back to past performances, so I would imagine Scott is able to utilize his skills and have a pretty good impact on Team USA.”
Carolina’s group doesn’t include a first-round pick — forward Seth Jarvis, the No. 13 selection in the 2020 NHL Draft, is eligible to play but will not be released by the Hurricanes — but does include four seventh-round picks: Russia forwards Alexander Pashin (No. 199, 2020) and Nikita Guslistov (No. 209, 2021), Canada defenseman Ronan Seeley (No. 208, 2020), and Sweden defenseman Joel Nystrom (No. 219, 2021).
“Our scouts do a tremendous job, our development coaches do a tremendous job,” Yorke said. “When all that comes together, it leads to organizational depth and really speaks volumes to the process and how we go about solving the draft itself.”
The Detroit Red Wings are second with eight prospects, followed by the Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings and Minnesota Wild with six each. Thirty of the 32 NHL teams will have at least one prospect in the tournament; the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning won’t have anyone playing.
The 2022 WJC is scheduled for Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta. The 10 teams are split into two groups for the preliminary round. Group A consists of Canada, Finland, Germany, Czechia and Austria, and will play its preliminary-round games at Rogers Place in Edmonton. Group B features the United States, which won the 2021 WJC, along with Russia, Sweden, Slovakia and Switzerland, with preliminary-round games at WP Centrium in Red Deer.
All games will be broadcast live in the United States on NHL Network, and on TSN and RDS in Canada.
World Junior Championship rosters
Austria
Goalies
Lukas Moser, Villach Jr., Austria Jr. league (2022 draft eligible)
Leonhard Sommer, Linz 2, Austria 2nd division (2022 draft eligible)
Sebastian Wraneschitz, Victoria, WHL (2022 draft eligible)
Defensemen
Luca Erne, Fresno, USPHL (2022 draft eligible)
Lukas Horl, RB Hockey Juniors, Austria 2nd division (2022 draft eligible)
Lorenz Lindner, Klagenfurt 2, Austria 2nd division (2022 draft eligible)
Matteo Mitrovic, HTC Hockey Academy U20, Austria Jr. league (2022 draft eligible)
Lucas Necesany, RB Hockey Juniors, Austria 2nd division (2022 draft eligible)
David Reinbacher, Kloten, Swiss 2nd division (2023 draft eligible)
Tobias Sablatting, Klagenfurt 2, Austria 2nd division (2022 draft eligible)
Christoph Tialler, Klagenfurt 2, Austria 2nd division (2022 draft eligible)
Martin Urbanek, Kitzbuhel, Austria 2nd division (2022 draft eligible)
Forwards
Luca Auer, RB Hockey Juniors, Austria 2nd division (2022 draft eligible)
Mathias Bohm, Vienna, AUT (2022 draft eligible)
Tim Geifes, South Shore, USPHL PRE (2022 draft eligible)
Maximilian Hengelmuller, RB Hockey Juniors, Austria 2nd division (2022 draft eligible)
Marco Kasper, Rogle, SHL, (2022 draft eligible)
Oskar Maier, RB Hockey Juniors, Austria 2nd division (2022 draft eligible)
Carolina Hurricanes (10): CAN- Ronan Seeley, D; FIN- Aleksi Heimosalmi, D; Ville Koivunen, F; GER- Nikita Quapp, G; RUS- Nikita Guslistov, F; Alexander Pashin, F; Vasily Ponomarev, F; SWE- Zion Nybeck, F; Joel Nystrom, D; USA- Scott Morrow, D
Detroit Red Wings (8): CAN- Sebastian Cossa, G; Donovan Sebrango, D; CZE- Jan Bednar, G; FIN- Eemil Viro, D; SWE- Simon Edvinsson, D; Theodor Niederbach, F; USA- Carter Mazur, F; Redmond Savage, F
Los Angeles Kings (6): FIN- Samuel Helenius, F; Kasper Simontaival, F; RUS- Kirill Kirsanov, D; SVK- Martin Chromiak, F; SWE- Helge Grans, D; USA- Brock Faber, D
Minnesota Wild (6): CAN- Carson Lambos, D; Ryan O’Rourke, D; CZE- Pavel Novak, F; RUS- Marat Khusnutdinov, F; SWE- Jesper Wallstedt, G; USA- Jack Peart, D
The past weekend of football was all about the favourites.
The favoured teams went 13-1 straight up and 10-4 against the spread in the NFL. In college football, the three most teams bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook in terms of number of bets and money all won and covered. All three were favourites.
Trends of the Week
The three most bet college teams that won and covered on Saturday were Ohio State (-3.5) vs. Penn State, Indiana (-7.5) at Michigan State and Oregon (-14.5) at Michigan. Penn State has now lost seven straight home games as underdogs. The Nittany Lions were up 10-0 in the first quarter and were 3.5-point favourites at the time. The Buckeyes won 17-10.
In the NFL, the three most bet teams in terms of number of bets and money were the Washington Commanders (-4) at the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions (-2.5) at the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills (-6) vs. the Miami Dolphins. All three teams won, but only two of the three covered the spread as Buffalo beat Miami 30-27.
When it came to the players with the most bets to score a touchdown on Sunday, only two of the five reached the end zone — Chase Brown (-125) and Taysom Hill (+185). David Montgomery (-140), Brian Robinson Jr. (+110) and AJ Barner (+500) did not score.
Upsets of the Week
The biggest upset in the NFL was the Carolina Panthers coming from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints 23-22. New Orleans closed as a 7-point favourite and took in 76% of the bets and 79% of the money in against-the-spread betting. The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following the loss. They have now lost seven straight games after starting the year 2-0.
Arguably the biggest upset in college football was South Carolina beating No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home. Texas A&M closed as a 2.5-point favourite and took in 59% of the bets and 58% of the money.
NEW YORK – Washington Capitals left-wing Alex Ovechkin, Carolina Hurricanes centre Martin Necas and Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s three stars of the week.
Ovechkin had a league-leading five goals and nine points in four games.
The 39-year-old Capitals captain has 14 points in 11 games this season, and his 860 career goals are just 34 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record.
Necas shared the league lead with nine points (three goals, six assists) in three games.
Crosby factored on seven of the Penguins’ eight total goals scoring four goals and adding three assists in three appearances. The 37-year-old Penguins captain leads his team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 13 games this season.
Crosby and Ovechkin, longtime rivals since entering the league together in 2005-06, will meet for the 70th time in the regular season and 95th time overall when Pittsburgh visits Washington on Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
TORONTO – Running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell are the finalists for the CFL’s outstanding player award.
Oliveira led the CFL in rushing this season with 1,353 yards while Mitchell was the league leader in passing yards (5,451) and touchdowns (32).
Oliveira is also the West Division finalist for the CFL’s top Canadian award, the second straight year he’s been nominated for both.
Oliveira was the CFL’s outstanding Canadian in 2023 and the runner-up to Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for outstanding player.
Defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund of the Montreal Alouettes is the East Division’s top Canadian nominee.
Voting for the awards is conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and the nine CFL head coaches.
The other award finalists include: defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette (outstanding defensive player); Saskatchewan’s Logan Ferland and Toronto’s Ryan Hunter (outstanding lineman); B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte and Toronto returner Janarion Grant (special teams); and Edmonton Elks linebacker Nick Anderson and Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges (outstanding rookie).
The coach of the year finalists are Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas.
The CFL will honour its top individual performers Nov. 14 in Vancouver.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31.
