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World Juniors 2018
Get ready for the World Junior Championship with The Hockey News 2018 World Junior Championship Preview edition. We’ve got scouting reports and the one-to-watch prospect for all 10 countries, plus in-depth previews for Canada and the U.S. Also in the issue: features on Evander Kane, Taylor Hall, David Pastrnak, Brayden Schenn & Sean Couturier, we rank the NHL’s mascots, explore Houston as the next NHL city, and much more.
BLEEDING ORANGE
EXPECTATIONS AREN’T HIGH FOR Slovakia – they rarely are – but, based on team unity, the nation should be able to scrape by once again. Most of the Slovakian side will be comprised of players from the national Orange 20 program, the local version of the American NTDP. “The big advantage is playing all season long together in the men’s league,” said one scout. “They don’t win many games, but it makes them mentally strong. If you look at the past four or five years, they didn’t have great players, but they survived. The coach did a good job.” Bench boss Ernest Bokros is back once again, and he knows the score when it comes to his group. And while the Orange 20 crew will supply the soldiers, the high-end players…
KAILER YAMAMOTO
IT WAS BOUND TO happen for Kailer Yamamoto, this introduction to NHL royalty, but few, perhaps even the prized rookie included, thought it would come this soon. Imagine, for a moment, that you were him. On June 23, as a modestly sized, impossibly baby-faced 18-year-old, the Spokane Chiefs winger was drafted 22nd overall by the Edmonton Oilers. On stage in Chicago, as he shook hands with a lineup of team brass, waiting for him with an outstretched grip was the man himself, Wayne Gretzky, who again represents the team in an official capacity, as a club partner and vice-chairman of the Oilers Entertainment Group. There was little Yamamoto could do to hide the stunned look on his face, the weight of the moment not lost on the teen even then. Welcome to…
THE COUNTDOWN
THERE’S MORE THAN ONE way to define a great mascot. Some get by on fabulously intimidating or memorable looks. It’s awfully difficult to screw up the giant shark in San Jose, for instance. Others wow the fans with acrobatics thanks to the hardworking people inside the suits. Modern-day mascots also take their acts on the road and online, extending their reaches globally. Mascots in generations past did all their work in stadiums and arenas. Nowadays it’s a badge of honor if a mascot’s taunting tweet goes viral. Who are the NHL’s best costumed entertainers today? The elite combine all the qualities listed above. As for mascots we’ve ranked at the bottom: no hard feelings, furry folk. There’s no such thing as a deadbeat mascot – we know how hard you work…
MIRO HEISKANEN
THE HELSINKI ICE HALL is a nice old barn. Built in 1966, it’s home to Finland’s HIFK franchise and is modest compared to Jokerit’s gleaming Hartwall Arena, a 10-minute drive away. Hartwall is also where the international Karjala Cup was held this year. That meant HIFK blueliner Miro Heiskanen was skating under the brighter lights of Hartwall for once – but considering he’s a teen, playing in a tournament that had Olympic implications already meant the spotlight was in full effect. Heiskanen is having a great season with HIFK. The Dallas Stars prospect, drafted third overall in 2017, is playing 24 minutes per game to lead his team by a wide berth. Only four other players in the Liiga are logging more ice time, and Heiskanen is the only positive plus-minus…
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