Gavin Brindley: The United States won the tournament for the first time since 2021, and Brindley was a big reason why. The U-M sophomore had three two-goal games in the preliminary round, then used his pace and battle level to play his role perfectly and provide energy in the medal round. In all, Brindley had a 6-4-10 line in seven games to place third in the tournament in goals and fourth in points.
“We’re very excited for Gavin,” Nash said. “We’re also very proud of him. He’s a big part of the Blue Jacket family. Anytime you go to those tournaments, you’re representing your NHL club, too, and he did an outstanding job. I remember talking to a lot of people before and how impressive Gavin was with his 200-foot game, and I think it really showed over there, what he can do on both sides of the rink. Gavin comes home with a gold medal and sometimes it hurts being a Canadian, but I’m super proud of Gavin and the way he played.”
Denton Mateychuk: The two-time defending champion, Canada was upset in the quarterfinal round when Czechia scored in the final minute of regulation to advance. It was no fault of Mateychuk’s, though, as the Moose Jaw (WHL) defenseman was Canada’s top minutes eater on the blue line and pushed the pace throughout the entire tournament, finishing with a 0-4-4 line and plus-6 rating in five games.
“I thought Denton had a great tournament,” Nash said. “He was driving the bus for Canada. He was playing a ton of minutes. He was playing in every situation. His hockey sense I think came out. Everyone knew how good of a player he was on the defensive side of the puck, making that first pass, but his creativity came out during the World Juniors. He had some great plays in the O-zone, and he was really reliable in the D-zone as well. I was really happy with Denton’s tournament.”
Jordan Dumais: CBJ fans are well aware of Dumais’ point-scoring exploits in junior hockey with Halifax of the QMJHL, but the wing finished with a goal and an assist in five games. The goal was a big one – the winning third-period tally in a preliminary game vs. Germany – but Dumais was snakebit at times as he was unable to put up the production he likely would have hoped for. It has since come out that Dumais has been bothered by injury throughout the season, but Nash still saw reason to appreciate the third-round pick’s offensive game in Sweden.
“Jordan obviously is a point producer, and with his time in Halifax, he puts up huge numbers and didn’t really seem to have the same success with Hockey Canada at the World Juniors,” Nash said. “But in watching his game, he was still making some high-end plays and highly skilled plays. That part of his game was still impressive. He couldn’t seem to get into a groove just like their whole team to have major success in the tournament, but if you watched him closely, he was still making some pretty good, high-end offensive skill plays.”
Oiva Keskinen: The Finnish forward came into the event under the radar as he was taken in the last round of the draft this summer by the Jackets, but he had an impressive tournament, posting a 2-3-5 line in seven games as a middle-six center. Keskinen, who is having a solid season with Tappara of Finland’s Liiga at age 19, had a “coming out party” in Nash’s eyes for his solid play in all three zones.
“HIs game is a very mature game,” Nash said. “It’s very responsible. He plays above the puck a lot, meaning he’s not really taking those chances in the O-zone when you’re getting beat going back into your D-zone. He seems like a real responsible center. He had the highlight-reel goal where he shot it short side. He’s a player that I think coaches will love to have on their team.”
Monsters Keep Rolling
Whatever the formula, things are clearly working down in Cleveland.
The Monsters just keep on winning, and the top farm team of the Blue Jackets has stretched its lead to seven points atop the AHL North Division. With a 23-9-1-0 record on the season, Cleveland has a points percentage of .712, good for second in the entire league.
Right now, Cleveland doesn’t have such key names as captain Brendan Gaunce as well as Kent Johnson, Emil Bemstrom and Nick Blankenburg, who have been key pieces of the team’s early season success but are now up with the big club. No matter, though, as the Monsters have won nine of their last 11 to open up their lead on Syracuse atop the North.
The Monsters have started the new year with two wins in three games, starting with a 2-1 win at Toronto on Jan. 3 in which Carson Meyer and Jake Gaudet scored. The red-hot Jet Greaves earned the victory in net, stopping 29 shots against.
Cleveland had a slight setback last Friday as the team dropped a 3-1 game at Rochester, with the lone goal coming from Owen Sillinger. But the Monsters got back to their winning ways Saturday in the second half of the home-and-home in Cleveland, capturing a crazy 6-5 win on Trey Fix-Wolansky's 2-on-0 overtime goal. The tally was his second of the night, while the Monsters also got multipoint efforts from Justin Pearson (1-2-3), Jake Christiansen (1-1-2) and Gaudet (1-1-2) as well as a goal from Alex Whelan.
Greaves stepped in in relief of Pavel Cajan and got the win with 11 stops on 12 shots against, moving the 22-year-old goalie to 17-4-1 on the season. Greaves has won 11 of his past 12 appearances, allowing just 23 goals in that span and posting a .930 save percentage, while his win total leads the AHL.
Fix-Wolansky has also made Monsters history of late, moving into first place in team history in all three major scoring categories over the past few weeks. The 2018 seventh-round pick of the Jackets, now in his fifth season in Cleveland, has career marks of 72 goals, 99 assists and 171 points in 195 career games with the squad.
Cleveland gets back in action this weekend when the Monsters travel to upstate New York again to take on Utica on Friday and Syracuse on Saturday. The next home games will be Jan. 19-20 vs. Lehigh Valley.
In addition, head coach Trent Vogelhuber will serve as the coach for the North Division All-Stars at the league’s All-Star Game, to be held Feb. 4-5 in San Jose.
Checking in on Russia
Because of the geopolitical climate, Russia has been unable to participate in international tournaments of late, keeping the CBJ draft picks from the country from taking part in such events as the World Juniors.
Had Russia been able to play this year, it seems likely that two CBJ draft picks – forward Kirill Dolzhenkov and goalie Sergei Ivanov – would have been in Gothenburg with the squad. The two have started to make an impact at the KHL level this year despite both being 19 years old, with Ivanov in particular impressing.
The goalie taken in the fifth round of the 2022 draft was loaned from SKA St. Petersburg – one of the top KHL teams – to Admiral Vladivostok early this season, and all he’s done is post a 2.40 GAA and .933 save percentage in his first 21 games with the squad. Ivanov has won just five of those games as Admiral is in last place in the division, but he’s clearly showing he has what it takes to stop pucks in the top overseas professional league.
Dolzhenkov, meanwhile, is a 6-foot-6 forward who was taken in the fourth round of the 2022 draft. It’s hard not to think of Dmitri Voronkov comparisons, and Dolzhenkov has started to earn a regular shift with CSKA Moscow, notching a 4-3-7 line in 21 games this season while playing just over 10 minutes per game.
Another CBJ draft pick, 2021 fifth-rounder Nikolai Makarov, is a 20-year-old defenseman who has split this year with CSKA and the team’s top minor league affiliate after winning the Gagarin Cup with the team last year.
Prospect Notes
- 2023 fourth-round pick Luca Pinelli continues to be one of the top scoring forwards in the Ontario Hockey League, as the Ottawa 67s winger has 27 tallies on the year to place fifth in the league. The 18-year-old has six goals in the last eight games and has a 27-12-39 line this season in 36 games.
- 2023 third-round pick William Whitelaw just missed out on Team USA’s roster for the World Juniors, but he got back in the swing of things with the University of Wisconsin this weekend, notching a goal and an assist Saturday as the Badgers swept Notre Dame. Whitelaw has a 7-6-13 line this year as a freshman in 21 games for the No. 3-ranked Badgers.
- 2023 fourth-round pick Andrew Strathmann is continuing a strong season as the captain of Youngstown of the USHL, posting a 5-16-21 line in 21 games this year with the Phantoms. The 18-year-old recently also served as an alternate captain with Team USA at the World Junior A Challenge, notching four assists in six games as the United States took third place at the event held in December in Nova Scotia.
