☀️ Good morning and welcome back to The Nosebleeds.

🥂 Hope everyone had a happy holidays!

💥 Big things coming in 2024.

🍁 Canada falls in quarterfinals to Czechia

Czechia scored with 11 seconds remaining to defeat Canada by a score of 3-2 in Tuesday morning’s quarterfinal match-up.

Here’s the goal:

Many years ago, this kind of thing would have broken my heart. As a Canadian kid who played hockey his whole life, my Christmas wasn’t on December 25, it was on Boxing Day—because that meant the start of the World Junior Hockey Championships. I lived and died with the success of team Canada over the holidays. I remember how upset I was when Russia scored five unanswered goals in the 3rd period to defeat Canada and win gold in 2011, but I also remember how awesome it was to see Canada win gold in 2015 with a team filled with future NHL superstars such as Connor McDavid, Josh Morrissey, and Brayden Point.

But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve found myself not caring about Canada’s success at the World Juniors. Heck, I find myself cheering against them most of the time. So how did I go from a kid who’s happiness over the holidays hinged on the success of a bunch of Canadian teenagers, to cheering against them on a regular basis?

These kids are put on a pedestal their whole lives, and many of them (but certainly not all) become absolute jerks. It’s not all their fault either, Canadian sports media giants like TSN make sure these kids know they’re top shit, and it works. Many of these Canadian junior hockey players simply think they’re better than everyone else and they can get away with everything. Look no further than the 2018 Canadian World Junior squad. I’m by no means accusing every player who’s donned the maple leaf on their chest to be as awful as those who were involved in the sexual assault scandal, but not committing sexual assault does not make you a good person. Simply put, many of the players are bad people, and I can’t justify cheering for them.

You can call me jealous, unpatriotic, or whatever you please. But I was far from upset when the Czechs scored that late goal. I might’ve even chuckled.

🔮 WJC = Prospect Prophecy?

The other problem I have with this tournament is the constant overreaction to player performances, good or bad. People seem to think the World Juniors are the be-all end-all of prospect evaluation. But it is not that. At all. It is simply a few more games to watch your favorite team’s prospects play hockey. Of course it is great to see how they perform in a high-pressure situation like the World Juniors, but their performance at the World Juniors is not indicative of how successful these players will become in the future (that’s just what TSN wants you to think).

I can’t just go out and say that with no evidence to back it up. So, let’s take a look at some recent players who have thrived or struggled at the World Juniors, but have done the opposite in the NHL.

• Nathan Mackinnon: 6 GP, 0 G, 1 P, 4th place finish

  • Before Mackinnon was a Stanley Cup champion and perennial Hart Trophy candidate, he represented Canada as an underager at the 2013 WJC. Pretty poor performance that he took a lot of heat for, but he turned out okay if you ask me…

• Barrett Hayton: 12 GP, 6 G, 16 P, 1st & 6th place finish

  • I’m picking on Hayton here because I watched him captain Canada to gold in 2020, but there was something about his game that I didn’t think would translate to the NHL level. Hayton has been a fine NHL player, scoring 78 points in 192 games. But after his performance at the WJC, many people thought this guy would light the NHL on fire—but that has been far from reality.

• Alexis Lafrenière: 10 GP, 5 G, 6 A, 1st & 6th place finish

  • Lafrenière was one of those rare players who played on team Canada twice before he was drafted to the NHL. I was thoroughly impressed with Lafrenière at the WJC in his draft year—I thought he was more dominant at the tournament than McDavid was in his draft year. Frankly, I thought Lafrenière was destined for NHL stardom, and while he has been better this season, he is far from the superstar player many thought he would become, with only 113 points in 252 NHL games.

• Quinton Byfield: 14 GP, 2 G, 8 P, 1st & 2nd place finish

  • Byfield was a dominant junior hockey player. 6’5”, 220 pounds—a legitimate man amongst boys. But he wasn’t just an absolute unit, he had boatloads of talent to accompany his large frame—which is why many people were surprised when he looked average in both of the WJCs he participated in. But the Kings still took him 2nd overall, and that is paying major dividends for them as Byfield has been a staple on their first line this season. 26 points in 34 games on one of the best teams in hockey… I guess a poor WJC performance didn’t mean he was going to be a bust after all.

I know I talked a lot of crap about the World Juniors in this newsletter, but don’t get me wrong—I still love the tournament. The best young hockey players in the world facing off with the weight of a country on their shoulders? I watch every second I can. But as a fairly knowledgeable hockey fan, I don’t let performances at this tournament dominate my evaluation of prospects, I simply enjoy the wonderful hockey that is on display during the holiday season.

I hope everyone enjoys the gold medal game between USA and Sweden today!

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