A look at Tampa Bay Lightning prospects at the World Junior Championships

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
December 26, 2017

Boxing day is World Junior Hockey Day.

The day after Christmas is the start of the World Junior Hockey championships which pits the top U20 players in the world together for two weeks. The eight-team tournament starts on Tuesday in Buffalo and concludes on Jan. 5.

This year’s game features an outdoor game at New Era Field, home of the Buffalo Bills, between the United States and Canada on Friday.

While Tampa lost out on the bid to host this year’s tournament – largely due to the outdoor game presentation during the bidding process – the Lightning will once again be well represented with five players participating in the tournament, four on Canada and one on Czech Republic.

It’s quite the accomplishment for one team to place so many prospects represent Canada in this tournament. Canada is largely considered to have the deepest talent pool in which to draw from, even if they have not had the same run of success they’ve had in the past.

Last year the Lightning saw five players play for Canada and go on to win a silver medal – Taylor Raddysh, Anthony Cirellil, Mitchell Stephens, Mathieu Joseph and goaltender Connor Ingram. The group lost in the gold medal game in a shootout to the U.S.

Raddysh tied for the team lead in goals with five, which included a four-game game in the preliminary rounds, tying a Canadian World Junior record accomplished three other times.

This year Raddysh, a second-round pick in 2016, returns with expectations to be one of the team’s leaders and top players. Raddysh has 15 goals and 44 points in 30 games with Erie.

Katchouk, also a second-round pick in 2016, is a top line player with Sault Ste. Marie with 27 goals in 30 games with 45 points and plus-32 rating. He’s on pace to set a new career high in scoring after he had 35 goals and 64 points last season with the Greyhounds.

Howden, the team’s first round pick in 2016, has been limited to 20 games this season with Moose Jaw in the Western Hockey League. Howden has 13 goasl and 31 points in 20 games for the Warriors. He was one of the final cuts from Canada’s pre-tournament camp last season.

Foote, the son of former NHLer Adam, was Tampa Bay’s first pick in the 2017 draft. The 6-foot-4 defenseman is a steady and smart blue liner with Kelowna in the Western Hockey League. In 30 games with the Rocket, Foote has six goals and 30 points in 30 games.

Hajek was also a second-round pick in the 2016 draft by Tampa Bay. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound defenseman has eight goals and 24 points, third on the team in scoring, in 32 games with the Blades this season. This is his first appearance with the Czech Republic at the World Junior Championships.

Tampa Bay third-round pick in 2017, Alexei Lipanov, was on the Russian team up until the last minute when he was among the final cuts on Christmas Day. Lipanov had an excellent training camp with Tampa Bay before heading to Barrie in the OHL where the 6-foot, 170-pound center has 11 goals and 28 points in 31 games in his first season in North America.

Group A: USA, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia

Group B: Russia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Belarus

Full World Junior Schedule (all times Eastern)

Dec. 26

Czech Republic 5 vs Russia 4 – Libor Hajek logs 21:21 of ice time with one assist and two shots on goal and plus-1 rating. He played nearly half of the first period as the first upset of the tournament happened in the opening game.

Belarus 1 vs. Sweden 6

Finland 2 vs. Canada 4 – Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk both finished with a goal and two points, a plus-2, as well as two penalty minutes, to lead Canada to an opening-round victory while playing on the second line. Raddysh played 13:47 of ice time while Katchouk logged 14:31. Defenseman Cal Foote made a diving play in the third to clear a puck off the goal line with his glove to keep Canada in front 4-2 at the time. He finished with 12:55 of ice time on 18 shifts in the game. Brett Howden was kept off the scoresheet while playing the fourth-line center role, finishing as a minus-1 in 13:17 of ice time.

USA 9 vs. Denmark 0



Dec. 27

Belarus 2 vs. Switzerland 3

Slovakia 0 vs. Canada 6 – Taylor Raddysh picked up his second goal in as many games for Canada, set up in front of the crease to get his own rebound on the power play. He finished with four shots on goal, hit two posts and was a plus-1 in 14:29 of ice time. Boris Katchouk had two shots on goal in 12:49 of ic time. Brett Howden ended the game with 14:06 of ice time, four shots on goal, also hit a post and was a plus-1 as he was moved up to the third line for the game after playing on the fourth line on Tuesday. Defensman Cal Foote logged 19:51 of ice time on a banged up Canadian blue line that played with five defensemen for most of the second period and all of the third.



Dec. 28

Finland 4 vs. Denmark 1

Russia 5 vs. Switzerland 2

Sweden 3 vs. Czech Republic 1 – Lightning defenseman Libor Hajek as named the player of the game for the Czech Republic (each team has one player voted on by their respective team) after logging 21:20 of ice time, most among the Czech defensemen. Hajek finished with one assist and two shots on goal and now has two assists in two games as the Czech Republic fell to 1-1 in Group B action.

USA 2 vs. Slovakia 3



Dec. 29

Belarus 2 vs. Russia 5

USA 4 vs. Canada 3 (SO) – The snow and frigid conditions were front and center for the game played outdoors at New Era Field outside of Buffalo,
but the real story was the U.S. twice shaking off the weather conditions to rally from down two goals on two occasions, including down 3-1 in the third,
to pick up a key victory after losing to Slovakia on Thursday. Lightning prospect Boris Katchouk had the third goal of the game for Canada, tipping in a point shot from Jake Bean for his second goal of the tournament. Katchouk finished with four shots on goal and was a plus-1 in 16:08 of ice time … Taylor Raddysh was a plus-1 with zero shots on goal in 16:37 of ice time. Raddysh also went second in the shootout for Canada, missing his with his shot attempt … Brett Howden had two shots on goal, and two penalty minutes in 15:18 of ice time … Defenseman Cal Foote finished as a plus-1 in 10:59.



Dec. 30

Czech Republic 6 vs. Belarus 5 – Lightning prospect D Libor Hajek had another strong game for the Czechs, picking up his first goal of the tournament and finishing with two points, two shots on goal and a plus-2 while logging 20 minutes, 22 second of ice time. Hajek finished with the third most ice time on the team, second among defensemen. Through three preliminary games, Hajek has four points, is a plus-3 and has six shots on goal.

Sweden 7 vs. Switzerland 2

Finland 5 vs. Slovakia 2

Denmark 0 vs. Canada 8 – Canada rolled to victory and clinched first place in Group A with the victory and all four Lightning prospects were front and center in that success. Defenseman Cal Foote, Tampa Bay’s first round pick in 2017, led the way with team-high three assists and plus-4 rating while logging 20 minutes, 47 seconds of ice time. … Brett Howden picked up his first and second goals of the tournament on three shots on goal and finished as a plus-3 rating in 14:13 of ice time. … Taylor Raddysh picked up an assist and was a plus-1 in 12:40 of ice time giving him points in three of the four games in the preliminary rounds. … Boris Katchouk, who continues to play on a line with Raddysh, also picked up an assist and a plus-1 in 13:19 of ice time. …
All three of the Lightning forwards have two goals through the preliminary round. … Canada will be off until the quarterfinals on Tuesday against the fourth place team in Group B.



Dec. 31

Czech Republic 6 vs. Switzerland 3 – Lightning prospect Libor Hajek picked up a pair of assists, two shots and a plus-1 in 20:54 of ice time as the Czechs clinched a spot in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. In the preliminary round, Hajek finished with one goals and six points in four games.

USA 5 vs. Finland 4

Slovakia 5 vs. Denmark 1

Russia 3 vs. Sweden 4 (SO)



Jan. 2: Quarterfinals

Czech Republic 4 vs. Finland 3 (SO) – Libor Hajek was a workhorse for the Czechs, which rallied late in the third before pulling out the victory in the shootout to advance to the semifinals. Hajek picked up an assist on the opening goal of the game, coming on a power play in the first period. He finished with three shots on goal and was a plus-1 while logging a game-high 30 minutes, 46 seconds. Hajek played more than half the overtime, picking up 5:15 in the extra session, after playing 9:47 in the third period.

Canada 8 vs. Switzerland 2 – Brett Howden was the breakout star of the game, picking up a goal and three assists and was a plus-4 in 11:56 of ice time to lead Canada back to the semifinals after outshooting the Swiss 60-15. Howden now has three goals and six points in the tournament for Canada. … Taylor Raddysh registered an assist and three shots on goal in 14:32 of ice time. …Boris Katchouk also picked up an assist and was a plus-1 in 12:19. … Cal Foote had a clean scoresheet in 17:04 of ice time.

Sweden 3 vs. Slovakia 2

Russia 2 vs. USA 4



Jan. 4 Semifinals

Sweden 4 vs. USA 2

Czech Republic 2 vs. Canada 7 – For the second consecutive season, Lightning prospect will play for gold at the World Juniors after a dominationg semifinal victory. Boris Katchouk had the seventh goal for the Canadians, his third of the tournament, while logging 13:47 of ice time with a plus-1. … Taylor Raddysh finished as a plus-1 with one shot on goal in 12:02 of ice time. … Brett Howden had an assist and was a plus-1 in in 12:38 of ice time. … Cal Foote just 10:32 of ice time on 14 shifts. … Czech Republic defenseman Libor Hajek finished with an even plus/minus rating while logging a game-high 25:22 of ice time. Hajek was named one of the top three players of the tournament for the Czech Republic, as voted by their coaches.



Jan. 5<.br>
Bronze medal game – USA 9 vs. Czech Republic 3 – Libor Hajek denied going home with hardware despite a strong tournament overall for the former second round draft pick. Hajek finished the game with an assist in 24:09 of ice time, but took a hit with a minus-5 rating. Overall in seven games,
Hajek finished with one goal and eight points to finished tied with Canada’s Cale Makar for the most points among defensemen while finishing second overall with seven assists, one off the tournament lead.

Gold medal game – Sweden 1 vs. Canada 3 – A late goal lifted Canada to the gold medal at the tournament concluded in Buffalo. Taylor Raddysh played 17:48 with two shots on goal, and just missed out on a potential game-winning goal when his redirect chance in front was struck twice by his own stick blade and hit off the crossbar. Raddysh, who won silver with Canada last year, finished the tournament with two goals, five points and a plus-five rating. … Boris Katchouk finished with 15:41 of ice time and two shots on goal. He also had a potential game-winning goal strike iron in the third period on a clean shot from the left circle. Katchouk finished the tournament with three goals, six points and a plus-five. … Brett Howden had two shots on goal in 14:21 of ice time. Howden finished with four goals and seven points to go with a plus-9 rating. … Cal Foote logged just 7:42 of ice time, including just 2:14 in the deciding third period. Foote finished the tournament with three assists and a plus-5 rating.

For the tournament, the Lightning led all prospects groups with a combined 29 points, the most of any NHL team’s players in the tournament.