For fans of Canada’s NHL teams, this year’s World Juniors is a big opportunity to watch their team’s best prospects playing on one of the biggest stages the game has to offer.
Coverage of the 2024 World Juniors begins on Boxing Day with Slovakia vs. Czechia at 6 a.m. ET/3 a.m. PT on TSN3 and streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.
The United States and Sweden are gold-medal favourites with a rematch of the 2022 U18 championship game a distinct possibility with many players from those teams returning from that tournament.
Here are seven Canadian NHL team prospects to watch in Gothenburg.
Lane Hutson – United States (Canadiens)
Since being drafted 62nd overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 2022, Hutson has done everything to prove the organization was right to take a chance on the undersized defenceman.
Now 5-foot-10, Hutson has eight goals and 20 points in 15 games with Boston University this season. This comes after a dominant rookie season in 2022-23, where he scored 15 goals with 48 points in 39 games.
He was named an associate captain for Team USA.
“He could end up being the best defenceman in the tournament,” said TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button. “There is no stage too big for Lane Hutson. He’s brilliant; emanates from his head to his hands into his feet.”
As an 18-year-old in last year’s tournament, Hutson had one goal and three assists to help the Americans win bronze. He has skated in nine games for the United States at the World Championships in the spring, scoring twice with four assists.
Samuel Honzek – Slovakia (Flames)
Honzek’s World Junior tournament was cut short last year after sustaining a skate cut to his left calf that caused him to be out of action for two months.
It didn’t prevent the Calgary Flames from drafting the Trencin, Slovakia native 16th overall in June‘s draft after he scored 23 goals with 56 points in 43 games with the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants in 2022-23.
However, injury struck again during training camp, as Honzek suffered a lower-body injury in an NHL preseason game on Oct. 4 that caused him to miss the first two months of the season. He made his season debut for the Giants on Dec. 1 and had three goals and eight points in five games.
Now in his third World Junior tournament, he was chosen as an associate captain for Slovakia.
“Samuel is big, strong,” said Button. “He’s an equal playmaker and goal scorer. His abilities to push inside the dots to push to the net not only gives him, if he sees the opening, he’s going to drive the puck to the net.
“But if the opening isn’t there, it’s going to create openings elsewhere. So his playmaking skills and goal scoring work hand in hand. He can exploit those opportunities either way.”
Filip Mesar – Slovakia (Canadiens)
Like Honzek, Mesar is returning for his third World Juniors for Slovakia and will wear an ‘A’.
Mesar, who was drafted 26th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 2022, is off to a hot start in his second Ontario Hockey League season with the Kitchener Rangers. In 20 games this season, he has 13 goals and 32 points.
“One of their most skilled players,” said Button of Mesar. “Filip is going to be counted upon to provide offence and he’s capable. This is his third World Junior tournament. To be able to get in there and be a leader and be able to provide offence, it’s really, really significant.”
Mesar also skated in two games with the AHL’s Laval Rocket earlier this season, recording one assist.
Jonathan Lekkerimaki – Sweden (Canucks)
After a down season offensively in 2022-23, Lekkerimaki has rebounded this season.
Drafted 15th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in 2022, the 19-year-old has 10 goals and 16 points in 24 games with Orebro in the Swedish Hockey League.
At last year’s World Juniors, he had one goal and four points in seven games as Sweden finished fourth. At the 2022 tournament, he helped Sweden win bronze.
“Offensively gifted, he’s got a really strong, deceptive shot,” said Button of Lekkerimaki. “He’s quick, he’s fast. If you take away the shot, he can make plays. He led the U18 tournament in 2022, when Sweden won the gold medal, in scoring. He’s a frontline player for Sweden.”
At the 2022 U18s, Lekkerimaki had five goals and 15 points in six games as he helped Sweden win its second title at the tournament.
Tom Willander – Sweden (Canucks)
Another Canucks first-rounder, Vancouver snagged the defenceman 11th overall in June’s draft after a strong 2022-23 season with Rogle BK J20 in Sweden.
As a rookie this season with Boston University, Willander has three goals and eight points in 15 games this season.
“He’s like Charlie McAvoy in my view,” said Button. “He’s robust. He’s going to be a factor in some many different areas. Big minutes, hard defensively, good offensively, in transition. Him and Axel Sandin-Pellikka are going to be linchpins on that blueline.”
At the 2023 U18s, he had three goals and eight points in seven games as Sweden earned silver.
Tomas Hamara – Czechia (Senators)
A third-round pick (87th overall) by the Ottawa Senators in 2022, Hamara is skating in his second OHL season.
On Nov. 11, he was traded from the Kitchener Rangers to the Brantford Bulldogs. In 32 games split between the two teams, he has one goal and 11 points.
The Prague native is skating in his World Juniors for Czechia after helping the team earn silver in last year’s tournament.
“He’s more to the offensive side of the game with respect to jumping into the attack. He’s a real good skater,” said Button of Hamara. “He’s bold.”
Rutger McGroarty – United States (Jets)
A punctured lung and fractured rib suffered in mid-November put McGroarty’s tournament in jeopardy, but he has healed enough to play and was named captain for the United States.
Taken 14th overall by the Winnipeg Jets at the 2022 NHL Draft, McGroarty has six goals and 18 points in 13 games with the University of Michigan this season.
At the 2022 U18s, he helped the Americans earn silver and took home bronze at last year’s World Juniors after notching seven points in seven games.
“Rutger simply put, is the heartbeat of the team,” said Button. “He is the model of ‘I’m here for one reason: to win. I’m here to show you how to win. I’m here to lead the way in winning.’
“He’s a dyed-in-the-wool competitor. There’s players that compete and there’s players who love competing. Rutger is that player.”
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — No. 1 Texas will start Arch Manning at quarterback Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe while regular starter Quinn Ewers continues to recover from a strained muscle in his abdomen, coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.
It will be the first career start for Manning, a second year freshman. He relieved Ewers in the second quarter last week against UTSA, and passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in a 56-7 Texas victory.
Manning is the son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning.
Ewers missed several games over the previous two seasons with shoulder and sternum injuries.
The Longhorns are No. 1 for the first time since 2008 and Saturday’s matchup with the Warhawks is Texas’ last game before the program starts its first SEC schedule against Mississippi State on Sept. 28.
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Making 104 senior appearances for Canada over a 20-year span, Atiba Hutchinson embodied quiet professionalism and leadership.
“He’s very humble but his influence is as strong as I’ve ever seen on men,” said former national team coach John Herdman.
“For me it was just a privilege, because I’ve had the honour to work with people like (former Canada women’s captain Christine) Sinclair. And Atiba, he’s just been a gift to Canada,” he added.
Hutchinson documents his journey on and off the field in an entertaining, refreshingly honest memoir called “The Beautiful Dream,” written with Dan Robson.
The former Canada captain, who played for 10 national team coaches, shares the pain of veteran players watching their World Cup dream slip away over the years.
Hutchinson experienced Canada’s lows himself, playing for a team ranked No. 122 in the world and 16th in CONCACAF (sandwiched between St. Kitts and Nevis and Aruba) back in October 2014.
Then there was the high of leading his country out at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after a 36-year absence by the Canadian men.
And while he doesn’t throw anyone under the bus — for example, he notes the missed penalty kick in Canada’s World Cup opener in Qatar against Belgium without mentioning the taker (Alphonso Davies, whom he is very complimentary to) — he shares stories that paint a picture.
He describes the years of frustration the Canadian men experienced, with European club teammates ridiculing his commitment to the national team. In one telling story about a key World Cup qualifier in Honduras in October 2012, he relates learning in the dressing room before the match that the opposition players had been promised “land or homes” by their federation if they won.
“Meanwhile an executive from the Canadian Soccer Association entered and told us that we’d each receive an iPad or an iPod if we won,” Hutchinson writes.
Needing just a draw to advance to the final round of CONCACAF qualifying, Canada was trounced 8-1. Another World Cup campaign ended prematurely.
Hutchinson writes about the turnaround in the program under Herdman, from marvelling “at how good our younger players were” as he joined the team for World Cup qualifying ahead of Qatar to Canada Soccer flying the team to a game in Costa Rica “in a private jet that was swankier than anything I’d ever seen the federation pay for.”
Canada still lost 1-0, “a reminder we weren’t there yet,” he notes.
And Hutchinson recalls being “teary-eyed” during Canada’s memorable World Cup 2-1 qualifying win over Mexico in frigid Edmonton in November 2021.
“For the first time we had the respect of the other countries … We knew we had been viewed as an easy win by opponents like Mexico. Not anymore,” he writes.
The Canadian men, currently ranked 38th in the world, have continued their rise under coach Jesse Marsch
“I’m extremely proud to see how far we’ve come along,” Hutchinson said in an interview.
“Just to see what’s happening now with the team and the players that have come through and the clubs they’re playing at — winning leagues in different parts of Europe and the world,” he added. “It’s something we’ve never had before.”
At club level, Hutchinson chose his teams wisely with an eye to ensuring he would get playing time — with Osters and Helsingborgs IF in Sweden, FC Copenhagen in Denmark, PSV in the Netherlands and Besiktas in Turkey, where he payed 10 seasons and captained the side before retiring in June 2023 at the age of 40.
Turkish fans dubbed him “The Octopus” for his ability to win the ball back and hold onto it in his midfield role.
But the book reveals many trials and tribulations, especially at the beginning of his career when he was trying to find a club in Europe.
Today, Hutchinson, wife Sarah and their four children — ranging in age from one to nine — still live in Istanbul, where he is routinely recognized on the street.
He expects to get back into football, possibly coaching, down the line, but for the moment wants to enjoy time with his young family. He has already tried his hand as a TV analyst with TSN.
Herdman, for one, thought Hutchinson might become his successor as Canada coach.
Hutchinson says he never thought about writing a book but was eventually persuaded to do so.
“I felt like I could help out maybe some of the younger kids growing up, inspire them a bit,” he said.
The book opens with a description of how a young Hutchinson and his friends would play soccer on a lumpy patchy sandlot behind Arnott Charlton Public School in his native Brampton, Ont.
In May, Hutchinson and Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown celebrated the opening of the Atiba Hutchinson Soccer Court, an idea Hutchinson brought to Brampton city council in March 2022.
While Hutchinson’s playing days may be over, his influence continues.
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“The Beautiful Dream, A Memoir” by Atiba Hutchinson with Dan Robson, 303 pages, Penguin Random House, $36.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024
LONDON – Canada will meet three-time champion Germany in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain this November.
Canada secured a berth in the quarterfinals — also called The Final 8 Knockout Stage — with a 2-1 win over Britain last weekend in Manchester, England.
World No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal anchored a five-player squad that included Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C.
The eight-team draw for the quarterfinals was completed Thursday at International Tennis Federation headquarters.
Defending champion Italy will play Argentina, the United States will meet Australia and Spain will take on the Netherlands. Schedule specifics have yet to be released but the Final 8 will be played Nov. 19-24.
Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz were unbeaten in doubles play last week to help Germany reach the quarterfinals. The country’s top singles player — second-ranked Alex Zverev — did not play.
The Canadians defeated Germany in the quarterfinals en route to their lone Davis Cup title in 2022. Germany won titles in 1988, ’89 and ’93.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
