"Here comes the 2022 World Junior Championship 2.0, and for the first time the entire tourney will be played in the same calendar year," Starman said. "The United States opens against Germany, whose national amateur hockey federation has deeply invested both time and resources into the development of its hockey players. You've seen the results as Germany has produced some good NHL players and Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers) has been an impact player at the NHL level. The key for Germany is its work ethic and they have grit up front and are heavy and hard on their back end. Defenseman
Luca Munzenberger
(Oilers) is as tough as they come; many have compared his hitting prowess to former NHL defensemen Scott Stevens and Jeff Beukeboom."
Here are Starman's 3 keys to victory for the United States against Germany:
1. Who plays goal?
"In 2009, Josh Unice and Thomas McCollum were the duo and that had a few folks asking if the goaltending was up to the challenge. Unice never played. McCollum was good but not great, and the U.S. lost in the quarterfinals. The goaltending trio of Kaidan Mbereko (2023 draft eligible), Andrew Oke (2023 draft eligible) and Remington Keopple don't make you think Jake Oettinger,
Joseph Woll
, Jeremy Swayman, but is a solid trio. Who takes the first step towards playing Sweden (on Aug. 14) and beyond starts Tuesday night."
2. The defensemen
"This group is elite in so many ways and is the best skating back end in Alberta the next two weeks.
Brock Faber
(Minnesota Wild) is calm, cool, skilled, and a solid 200-foot player. The rest of this group can defend with their feet or their brains, get involved in or create offense, and are multi-dimensional. I have seen these eight play a lot of NCAA games, and they make a lot happen with their college teams. They should allow the United States to play a possession game and get north, fast and efficiently."
3. Stay awake
"Germany is no pushover, and do not let their pre-tournament record fool you. They will outwork you, win 50-50's, attack the net and end wall battles. Basically, they are that mosquito at night that keeps buzzing your ear as you sleep. In a Game 1, it's hard to keep your foot on the throttle for 60 minutes and realistically no one plays 60 minutes ... it's impossible. However, for the U.S., a hard-driving 45 minutes and no mental mistakes or bad penalties in the other 15 should have them on their way to a win in Game 1."
