The NHL Network will broadcast all games of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Moncton, New Brunswick.
That includes extensive coverage of the U.S. Junior National Team (2-0-0-1), which will play its final preliminary round in Group B against Finland (2-0-1-0) at the Avenir Center in Moncton on Saturday (4 p.m. ET ). The USA won 5-2 against Latvia on Monday, lost 6-3 to Slovakia on Wednesday and won 5-1 against Switzerland on Thursday. The playoff round begins on Monday.
Longtime NCAA hockey analyst Dave Starman, who will handle the broadcasts along with Stephen Nelson and Jon Rosen, will provide his three keys to victory for the USA before each of their games during the 11-day tournament.
“The coaching staff have preached simplicity, directness and speed and for 35 minutes or so against Slovakia you saw that, but the middle 20 minutes… you didn’t. And we all know what happened,” Starman said. “It’s not a hard game to play, especially with their skill level, when you make it easy on yourself, and that’s what Team USA did against Switzerland. They stayed off the dot lanes coming up the ice to avoid the Swiss layers.
“They back-checked, sorted out and were responsible for a man and a zone coming back. They went to the net and kept hope through the middle to a minimum. They defended hard.”
Here are Starman’s 3 keys to victory for the USA against Finland:
“I think we know who the goalie is. This is a mini-marathon, but it’s more of a sprint. The pace horse isn’t as important as the thoroughbred family, and right now Trey Augustine (2023 NHL Draft eligible) is leading the pack down the stretch. . He’s calm, he’s composed, he plays a quiet game and he’s a presence at the top of the crease. He has good rebound control and he reads the situations around him well. Aside from a great surprise, I think he’s your goalie. This is his game to solidify him playing Jan. 2 (in the playoffs) and hopefully for Team USA Jan. 4 and 5.”
“Cutter Gauthier (Philadelphia Flyers), Logan Cooley (Arizona Coyotes) and Jimmy Snuggerud (St. Louis Blues) have announced their presence as a line. Each had good moments through Games 1-2. In Game 3, they were a line for I game 1 I discussed how Gauthier and Snuggerud, two tough guys, should make room for Cooley and they have. Snuggerud is a beast to deal with. Gauthier is showing many that he might be the most complete forward they have. If this line is the dreaded line as advertised, it creates matchup issues and potential matchups to take advantage of. Other than Canada, no one’s roster is as deep as the USA.”
“We all know defenseman Luke Hughes (New Jersey Devils) is the straw that stirs the drink in the rear end. He does some things that NHL defenseman can’t. That being said, defensemen #2-7 have been very good . Ryan Chesley (Washington Capitals) came alive against Switzerland, (Jack) Peart (Minnesota Wild) and Sean Behrens (Colorado Avalanche) are studs. Lane Hutson (Montreal Canadiens) has gotten better every game, and Luke Mittelstadt ( 2023 draft-eligible) have made good contributions and pushed for more ice time. I said it before the tournament, and here’s a reminder: If this defenseman corps just holds up and does what’s expected, the U.S. is in really good shape. If they just overachieve a bit, no other defense corps in the tournament will duplicate their contribution.”
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