LEWISTON, N.Y.?The stakes aren?t quite so high, the buildup not even close to being the same.
Still, when Team Canada and Sweden lock horns Friday afternoon at the 2011 world junior hockey championships, in what many fervently hope will be a bona fide match between two competitive teams after a week of lopsided scores, once more the game will feature two players, one from each country, jockeying to be the top overall pick in the next NHL entry draft.
Two years ago in Ottawa, it was Team Canada centre John Tavares vs. Swedish blueliner Victor Hedman. They met in the gold medal game, Canada won easily and Tavares? superior performance on the big stage effectively ended the debate over the identity of the planet?s most coveted teenage hockey player.
Or at least, ended it in terms of the 2009 entry draft. Tavares went first to the New York Islanders, Hedman second to Tampa Bay. Today, however, it?s still not clear which player will be the better NHLer.
In this year?s world junior tournament, it?s another Canadian forward, Sean Couturier, in a head-to-head matchup of sorts against another Swedish defenceman, Adam Larsson, with both players contenders to be the top pick in next summer?s NHL draft.
That, however, is where the comparison, both between players and between the situation ends.
Couturier is not Tavares and Larsson isn?t Hedman. Moreover, this is only the final game of the preliminary round, albeit a New Year?s Eve tilt that will see the winner earn a bye to Monday?s semifinals.
The 2011 entry draft, most believe, isn?t as strong as the ?09 draft. Finally, the draft debate isn?t confined to just Couturier and Larsson. Another Canadian, centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and another Swede, forward Gabriel Landeskog, are also very much in the conversation, although neither will likely be in Friday?s game.
Nugent-Hopkins didn?t make the Canadian team, something Dave Cameron and Co. may be second-guessing themselves on after losing dynamic winger Jaden Schwartz for the tournament with a broken ankle.
Landeskog, captain of the Kitchener Rangers, has a high ankle sprain and didn?t play for Tre Kronor Thursday in their 6-3 romp over the Czech Republic at Dwyer Arena on the grounds of Niagara University. Few believe he?ll play against Canada.
Larsson, however, did play against the Czechs, impressing NHL scouts in attendance with his vision and skating talent while notching an assist and going plus-one. At 6-foot-3, he?s like a slightly bigger version of Ottawa?s Erik Karlsson, but very different from the 6-foot-6 Hedman. At the same age Hedman was a powerful skater and end-to-end puck carrier, while Larsson is more of a first pass-type blueliner, a skill he had on display against the Czechs.
That said, he also doesn?t carry as significant a role with the Swedes as Hedman did two years ago. Larsson gets some power play time, but he?s on the third Swedish defensive pairing most of the time despite being in his second full season with Skelleftea of the Swedish elite league.
Couturier, meanwhile, is the only undrafted member of an older Canadian team. Injuries and suspensions have pushed him upwards in the lineup, but essentially he?s the third-line centre behind Braydon Schenn and Ryan Johansen, although Johansen played wing beside Schenn Wednesday against Norway.
Couturier is even more different than Tavares than Larsson to Hedman. Couturier is a 6-foot-3 power forward, regarded as accomplished at both ends of the ice, but not the slick scorer Tavares was as a junior. Like Larsson, he gets some power play work, but not with the first unit, so his opportunities to shine offensively are more limited than was the case for Tavares.
Back in ?09, Canada was going for a fifth straight gold medal and got it with a 5-1 romp in the gold medal game over the Swedes. Tavares won honours as the tournament?s MVP and top forward. Hedman, meanwhile, didn?t make the all-star team while his teammate, Karlsson, did.
For Couturier and Larsson, it?s a different scenario. Neither will nail down the No. 1 spot by their performance in this event, or lose it. Both are likely to play a much bigger role in next year?s event, providing they?re not in the NHL, of course.
Similarly, neither Canada nor Sweden will define their tournament on Friday. Both enter the game 3-0 after finishing second and third, respectively, in last year?s tournament in Saskatoon. The Swedes didn?t play star goalie Robin Lehner against the Czechs, ostensibly to have him fresh for Canada.
So, much can be learned today. But nothing decided.
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