On Monday, Team USA easily handled Slovakia in the opening matchup of the 2023 World Junior A Challenge. Beckett Hendrickson scored his first of the tournament to put the Americans up 3-0 but it was the setup by Chris Pelosi that was the highlight. Pelosi took a pass on the left faceoff dot, patiently waited for the defender to go down to take away the pass and threaded the needle around the outstretched skates to Hendrickson who barely had to move his stick to direct it into the open cage. The chemistry these two posses is outstanding.
On Tuesday, the Americans came out on top defeated Sweden by a score of 7-4. Hendrickson took a penalty less then 3 minutes in on a call I haven’t seen in years – use of an illegal stick. Early in the second and tied 2-2, Hendrickson took a pass behind the goal line. With both skates still behind the line, he moved towards the side of the goal and bounced one in for the goaltender to give the Americans the 3-2 with his second goal of the tournament. Pelosi would score his first to give the Americans the lead again. The US moved in on the PP and the Swedish defender fell. Pelosi skated untouched towards the net with his stick on the ice and deflected it into the open side of the net. Some think had the defender not fallen, there wouldn’t have been a goal. Me? I think with his size and skating, Pelosi still would have got there even with a body on him. He would have had inside position. Hendrickson got the secondary assist on the goal.
On Thursday, Team USA won all the battles they needed to win to defeat Canada West by a 5-1 score. The Americans have one game remaining in the preliminary round and are a perfect 3-0 and tied with Canada East at the top of the standings. Both Hendrickson and Pelosi were held off the scoresheet in this one.
In the OHL on Thursday, the London Knights defeated the Windsor Spitfires 6-2. Jackson Edward did not factor in the scoring. In fact, with the game out of reach in the third, Edward did not get the TOI he was accustomed too as coach Dale Hunter had his rookie d-men play a little more.
Then, on Friday the Knights defeated the Owen Sound Attack by a score of 8-2. Owen sound led 1-0 after one but London would score 5 unanswered in the second period. Edward would assist on the 4-1 goal when Owen Sound cleared the puck out of their zone, Edward fed a perfect bank pass back the other way and his teammates did the rest.
Back at the World Junior A Challenge, Team USA spanked Canada East 7-2 to take top spot in the standings in the preliminary round. Hendrickson would notch an assist in this one and finish the preliminary round with 2G and 2A in 4 games. Pelosi did not register a point and finished with 1G and 1A. Mid-way through the first, Pelosi took a cross-checking penalty. Hendrickson took a roughing penalty with Canada’s Marcus Lougheed on the play. These two are always right there for each other. With a minute remaining in the game, Hendrickson was ejected with a 10-minute misconduct as it was getting rough out there.
On Saturday, the Americans would suffer a disappointing loss to Canada West in overtime by a 4-3 score. Disappointing in my opinion because this is America’s tournament and they were the favorites. Down 1-0, Hendrickson skated down the left-wing boards into the Canadian zone beating a Canadian defender wide. He then cut across towards the net beating another Canadian defender and setting up Brandon Svoboda in front for the tying goal. For reasons unknown to me, the official scoring did not give Hendrickson an assist on the goal. The USA will face Sweden for the bronze medal while the two Canadian teams go head-to-head for gold.
In that Bronze medal game, the US came out on top with an 8-5 win over the Swedes. Pelosi had a goal and an assist in this one. He pounced on a loose puck at the top of the right faceoff circle and ripping a shot through a screen and past the Swedish netminder. He finished the tournament with 2 goals and 2 assists in 6 games. Hendrickson finished with the same stat line but was held off the scoresheet in this one.
In the OHL, London defeated Sudbury 4-3. No points for Edward in this one and he finished a plus-1 with 1 SOG in 19:29 TOI.
Here’s a look at the Providence Bruins leaders. You will notice a new column called “value” with the Providence Bruins stats. This is provided by our friends at Benchrates. Created by a retired hockey player, Benchrates has created and algorithm that computes values in real time. The value you see below is calculated over more than one season. They do produce a value on the current season only. Give them a look and check out their site.
Coming up this week:
Coming up next week: A series of mid-season prospect reports!
Dom - Hockey 