Seven Oilers Making Their Mark at World Championship in St. Petersburg
By Carol Schram
7 years ago
ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA – The round-robin portion of the 2016 IIHF World Championship is reaching its midpoint, with seven members of the Edmonton Oilers participating in the Group B pool at Yubileiny Arena in St. Petersburg.
Here’s a rundown of how the Magnificent Seven have fared through the first three games of the preliminary round.
TEAM CANADA (3-0-0-0): Taylor Hall, Connor McDavid, Cam Talbot
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Taylor Hall returned to the World Championship after winning a gold medal in his first appearance in 2015. Playing primarily on Team Canada’s top line with Sidney Crosby and Jordan Eberle, in Prague, Hall was tied for third place in the tournament with 12 points, including seven goals. He was also named to the tournament All-Star Team.
After going a perfect 10-0 in Prague last year, Canada has now extended its winning streak to 13-0 with three wins to kick off this year’s tournament. Once again, Hall is manning the left wing on the top line, this time playing with Corey Perry and Derick Brassard. He’s leading the explosive Team Canada attack with three goals and is among the tournament leaders with a plus-six.
At age 19, Connor McDavid is playing in his first men’s world championship. “You’re playing against pro guys. Guys from the NHL, from pro leagues all around the world,” he said after his first game against Team USA. Previously, at World Juniors, he was part of Canada’s fourth-place team in 2014 and gold medal-winners in 2015.
Through his first three games, McDavid is acquitting himself just fine at this level. He has four assists, which ties him for the tournament lead, and is ranked among the tournament’s Top 20 faceoff men, winning 58.1% of his draws.
Cam Talbot’s only previous international experience came in the 2006 World Junior A Challenge, where he won a silver medal. A decade later, the 28-year-old hasn’t looked the slightest bit out of place for the Canadians, allowing just one goal in his two starts so far and picking up his first World Championship shutout against Belarus. Talbot’s 0.50 goals-against average and .974 save% both lead the tournament in the early going.
TEAM USA (1-0-0-2): Matt Hendricks, Patrick Maroon
For the second straight year, Matt Hendricks is captaining Team USA. He led his group to an unexpected bronze medal in 2015 in Prague.
The Americans have been dealt a tough schedule through the early part of the round robin, losing 5-1 to Canada and 3-2 to Finland with a 6-3 win over Belarus sandwiched in between.
“We need to continue to prepare and get better every night or we won’t see anybody at the end,” Hendricks said after the loss to Finland when asked about potential medal-round matchups, though he likes the progress his team is making. “I thought we got out and used our assets a little bit more in terms of our skating ability, our speed, advancing pucks north, trying to be hard on the forecheck. Tonight we played better but if we want to be at the calibre of (Finland and Canada) we need to continue to work and continue to prepare and be better every night.”
Hendricks is averaging 11:48 per game and is still looking for his first point on a U.S. roster that is made up of a blend of NHL and NCAA players.
Teammate Patrick Maroon is skating on a physical No. 1 line for the United States, along with Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings and Nick Foligno of the Columbus Blue Jackets. To this point, Maroon has put up 1-1-2 so far. He scored his team’s only goal against Canada, on the power play, and is averaging 14:57 of ice time per game.
TEAM GERMANY (1-0-1-1): Leon Draisaitl
The Germans opened the tournament with a 3-2 shootout loss to France and a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Finland before turning the tables on unbeaten Slovakia with a 5-1 win. Leon Draisaitl has picked up two assists in the tournament so far—returning to the World Championship after being part of the German team for the first time as an 18-year-old in 2014.
“The tournaments are always a lot of fun,” Draisaitl said after the loss to Finland. “It’s always an honour to play for your country. We have to make sure we bear down on our chances and maybe tighten up in the D zone a little bit, but I think other than that, we’ve actually played some decent hockey.”
Germany’s next test will come against the high-powered Canadians on Thursday.
TEAM SLOVAKIA (2-0-0-1): Andrej Sekera
Slovakia’s Andrej Sekera is tied for second place in scoring among defencemen with two goals and one assist through Slovakia’s first three games—a 4-1 win over Hungary and a 5-1 defeat of France before the 5-1 loss to the Germans.
Along with Sekera, the Slovaks are being led offensively by Tomas Jurco of the Detroit Red Wings, who has a goal and three assists so far. Marko Dano missed the game against Germany after being injured in the second period of the win over France.
Slovakia is back in action on Wednesday against Belarus.
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