11/07/2021 – Page 2 – CanucksBanter

by Andrew Podnieks 07 NOV 2021 IIHF

We are one month into a new NHL season, and so far 43 players, of which 17 are European, have made their first turn in an NHL arena. There have been notable debuts and impressive ones, ones to follow and some to surprise. Here is a top-10 list that combines a little bit of everything.

Mason McTavish

The Canadian who was born in Switzerland is the youngest player in the league right now and the highest draft choice from the 2021 class. First overall Owen Power and second overall Matty Beniers both opted to return to college with Michigan, so McTavish, taken by Anaheim third, is the highest draftee playing. He is also one of only two 2003-born players (with Cole Sillinger). McTavish had a goal and an assist in his first game, a 4-1 home win against Winnipeg. The son of Dale, a long-time player in Switzerland, Mason was a dominant force with Canada’s gold-medal-winning team at last year’s IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship.

William Eklund

The top-ranked European from the 2021 draft, Eklund made his NHL debut with San Jose just a few days after his 19th birthday, earning an assist in the game. Selected 7th overall by the Sharks, he is the son of another player, Christian Eklund, and after nine games he was sent back to Sweden by San Jose for more development. He missed the 2021 World Juniors because of a positive Covid-19 test, but his future is bright and he can now call himself an NHL player.

Nico Daws

One of only two goalies to make his NHL debut so far, Daws is another Canadian born abroad, in his case Munich, Germany. He played junior with the Guelph Storm and then a year in Germany during the Covid-19 season of 2020/21. He was also part of Canada’s gold-medal team at the 2020 World Juniors in the Czech Republic. Drafted 84th overall by New Jersey in 2020, Daws made his debut with the Devils on 23 October, winning, 2-1, in overtime, against Buffalo.

Vladimir Tkachyov

The oldest player to make his debut so far, the 26-year-old Tkachyov has been there and back and then some. He had an excellent U18 in 2013 with Russia, but despite being a solid mid-level draft choice according to scouts, he was never selected. The Oilers signed him, but the contract was voided because of CBA rules violations, and he played two years of junior in Quebec before returning home for several years in the KHL. Then, last May, the Los Angeles Kings signed him, and he played his first game on 14 October, earning two assists. Go figure.

Lucas Raymond

Few debuts were as anticipated as that of Swede Lucas Raymond. Drafted 4th overall by Detroit in 2020, he made the Red Wings at training camp this year and hasn’t disappointed, scoring 10 points in his first 11 games, including a hat trick against Chicago in just his sixth career game. Raymond was developed by Frolunda and had extensive success with the national team as well, winning gold at the 2019 U18 and bronze at the World Juniors a year later.

Cole Perfetti

Few young players have had the calendar year Perfetti has had in 2021. He won a silver medal at the World Juniors and then contributed to Canada’s stunning gold medal at the World Championship, and completed his hat trick of milestones by making his NHL debut with the Winnipeg Jets on 13 October. Perfetti was drafted 10th overall by the Jets in 2020 and after two games this season was sent to the minors, but he’ll be back in The Show at some point.

Karel Vejmelka

The only Czech to debut so far, and the only other goalie besides Daws, Vejmelka is another feel-good story. Drafted well down the list at 145th by Nashville back in 2015, it didn’t look like he would ever reach the NHL. He happily played in the Czech league, mostly with Brno, but in the fall of 2021 he made a great impression at Arizona’s camp and made the team. The bad news is he’s on a terrible Coyotes team that has lost its first 11 games to start the season, and Vejmelka is 0-7 during that time.

Moritz Seider

After being drafted 6th overall by Detroit in 2019, Seider played a bit in North America and then Sweden, his NHL debut delayed by Covid-19. In the meantime, he also helped Germany move up to the top level in World Junior play. He also played at the 2019 and 2021 World Championship, being named IIHF Directorate Best Defender in the latter. He made the Red Wings to start this season and was named rookie of the month for his great play, and last month he was also one of the three Germans named to the Olympics alongside Leon Draisaitl and Philip Grubauer.

Chase Priskie

When you think of a player living the dream by playing for his hometown team, you think Toronto or Montreal, Boston or Detroit. Florida? Not so much. But Priskie became the first native of South Florida to play for the Panthers. He had been drafted 177th overall by Washington in 2016, was later part of the Carolina system, and was called up three times by the Panthers in the first month of the current season before finally getting into a game on 4 November against, ironically, the Capitals.

Anton Lundell

Drafted 12th overall by Florida in 2020, not many players arrive for their first NHL game with an international resume as impressive as Lundell’ s. He helped Finland win gold at the U18 in 2018, won gold at the World Juniors in 2019, and won two more medals in 2021 – bronze in the World Juniors and silver at the World Championship. The 20-year-old centreman has five points in his first six games and is averaging about 16 minutes a game for the Panthers.

Dinamo Riga was heading into their final game prior to entering the national team break. This time their task was to face the team that has handed them the toughest loss yet – 8:0 in their first meeting shortly after Sergei Zubov left the team. Riga also hasn’t had a victory against Finnish side in their last seven meetings. A rough patch that they would have to get over.

Jokerit was riding a high having a three-game winning streak while Riga had lost their previous game against Sochi – 0:3 while prior to that the home side had provided some quality hockey biting into teams such as SKA St. Petersburg and Dynamo Moscow.

“This wasn’t an easy situation for us because we had a long road trip with two days off and then a single practice session and a single game to play prior to the break, I’m very satisfied with how we played. In the first period we held on, in the second our special teams were impressive and our goalie did a great job. We now deserve to rest and then get back into action next Monday,” Lauri Marjamaki said after the game.

Valerijs Kulibaba was visibly upset “Special teams decided the who would win the game, we couldn’t score on power-play while the opponent did it very well in three out of four chances. In the first the team did what they were asked to do. Game discipline worked. We weren’t afraid to play against such an opponent. Maybe they didn’t play as aggressive as we expected. We got an unwanted penalty and then another one – it changed things a lot. Now we will rest for a few days and then get back to practicing.”

“It wasn’t a very good game, we didn’t come out to play very well. I don’t think that we were aggressive enough, I think that we sat back a little and felt kinda scared. They are a very good team and you have to play against them with confidence and we didn’t do it. We gotta use the break to get our bodies back and find a way to be better. When you lose two in a row and other teams gain on you in the standings it isn’t good, but we will come back and do whatever we need to,” Hunter Shinkaruk said with confidence.

Slow game but Jokerit score on power-play

First period opened up carefully. The task at hand for Riga was to be ready defensively due to their sloppy start last time around and it seemed to be going well – nothing dangerous early on. Dinamo had changed a whole lot in the line-up to balance out whatever Jokerit had to offer.

Things didn’t change at all as the game progressed, still careful but not a very engaging hockey game. Loads of ice time in the neutral zone and nothing besides dump-in style of play between the sides. Daniels Berzins with the first real chance in the game going one against the goalie but he was stopped.

With 4:34 left in the period Jere Karjalainen of Dinamo Riga was assigned to the box for cross-checking giving Jokerit their first actual chance to take the lead – Mattsson stopped one very dangerous chances in front but the following one went past the goalie – O’Neill awarded with a goal after a beautiful back-hand pass by Bjorninen.

Gints Meija followed up with another penalty and Jokerit had two amazing chances with a one-timer from the right side but Mattsson was sharp. Third one-timer didn’t connect putting an end to the power-play and as the time ran out – Jokerit were ahead with a single goal after the first period.

The visitors keep on going

Jokerit came out motivated to begin the second frame. Multiple scoring chances early on with puck control. However, Riga would answer with chances of their one thus leveling the field once again. Lukas Radil had a golden chance being left all alone in front of Juvonen’s net but the goalie did manage to stop the shot from a close range.

After a well rounded attack Martins Karsums drew a penalty sending Marko Anttila to the penalty box for cross-checking. The best chance was when Jere Karjalainen shot towards the net and Hunter Shinkaruk almost re-directed it into an empty side of the net but it went wide. Nothing further could be accomplished.

Riga followed up with a penalty of their own – Filips Buncis was sent to the box for high-sticking. Jokerit straight away began attacking and in just four seconds Mattsson had to get involved.

Ten seconds later the puck hit the post. A short-handed two-on-one for Riga with Berzins and Shinkaruk going to the net – Berzins decided to shoot and Juvonen stopped it point blank.

Jokerit did eventually get their goal after quick regrouping in their zone they went in on an attack mode – O’Neill did the job getting Mattsson out of place for Nicklas Jensen to put the puck in the net from a close range. Later on Lauris Darzins had a chance to pull his team back within a goal but it did not go in.

The lead became 3:0 to round out the second. Alex Grant with a shot from the blue-like, a rebound and Teemu Turunen finished the sequence with a goal. O’Neill followed up with a penalty that would carry over into the third.

Dinamo Riga get one but it isn’t enough

Riga had golden chances on man advantage as the third began but they weren’t capitalised upon. Eventually Jokerit once again had a shot at playing on man advantage. A single chance and it became 4:0 – this time it was Alex Grant.

Jokerit did have another puck land in the net however, it was disallowed for goalie interference. The Helsinki side did continue to control things as they were left to finish out. Hunter Shinkaruk managed to get one for Riga. The teams did exchange penalties but the score remained unchanged 1:4 victory for Jokerit.