World Juniors Update

After Canada prevailed over the USA, 7 - 4, in their highly anticipated battle to end pool play, they enjoy a bye into the semis, as does Sweden, who had a surprisingly easy time in beating Russia 5 - 0. Today, the US takes on Slovakia for the right to go against Sweden, while Canada awaits the winner of the Russia -- Czech Republic quarterfinal. The puck drops for the US at 3:30 PM EST, and for Russa at 7:30 PM.

Both semi-final matches are on Saturday, with the Championship and 3rd place games on Monday.

The CBJ have deployed some scouts to Ottawa to catch the action (and perhaps discuss a few Senators' players?) Despite the shutout at the hands of Sweden, Filatov has played well for Russia, and will be interesting to watch in the match against the Czechs. Don't forget about Cody Goloubef for Canada and Ted Ruth for the US, both of whom could figure prominently in the Jackets' future.

USA, Russia, Sweden Win -- Canada Dominating After 2 Periods

Few surprises emerged during the first day of competition at the World Junior Championships in Ottawa. Russia beat Latvia in the opening contest, 4 - 1, with Russian outshooting Latvia 44 - 15. Perhaps the only surprise in that game was that the Russian top line, Nikita Filatov, Evgeni Grachev, and Dmitri Kugryshev, was held scoreless, despite creating numerous chances.

In the 3:30 contest, the US had no trouble with Germany, prevailing 8 - 2 behind 2 goal performances from both Drayson Bowman and James van Riemsdyk. The USA amassed 46 shots on goal against the beleaguered German squad.

In other action, Sweden started off with a 3 - 1 victory over Finland. In progress at the moment, the favored Canadian team is having no difficulty with the Czech Republic, leading 5 -0 after two periods of play.