Islanders rewind: Roster players at the World Junior Championship

2 of 3

MONTREAL, QC – JANUARY 04: Mathew Barzal #14 of Team Canada skates after the puck during the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship semifinal game against Team Sweden at the Bell Centre on January 4, 2017 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Team Canada defeated Team Sweden 5-2 and move on to the gold medal round. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

Canada

Andrew Ladd: 6GP, 3G, 7Pts
Years: 2005
Medals: Gold

The 2005 tournament was loaded with talent: Russia had both Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin, the US had Phil Kessel and Ryan Suter, and the Canadians had Sidney Crosby and Patrice Bergeron. The Canadians also had Andrew Ladd, who put up a solid tournament with seven points in six games.

Two of his seven points came in a 6-1 win in the gold medal game against Russia. The rest came in the preliminary round where Canada walked through Group B with a 4-0-0 record and +27 goal differential.

Thomas Hickey: 13GP, 4Pts
Years: 2008, 2009
Medals: Gold x2

Talk about an impressive world junior career. In both tournaments he played in, Hickey picked up a gold. He had one point in 2008, a primary assist on a Kyle Turris goal against Denmark. In 2009, then captain for Team Canada, Hickey had three assists on route to his second gold in as many years.

Jordan Eberle: 12GP, 14G, 12A, 26Pts
Years: 2009, 2010
Medals: Gold, Silver

If you’ve watched the World Junior Championships over the years you’ll likely be familiar with Jordan Eberle’s most famous moment. it was this clutch last-second game-tieing goal with 5.4 seconds left on the clock against Russia in the Semifinals (assist on the goal came from Tavares). Eberle would also score the game-winner in OT.

Casey Cizikas: 7GP, 2G, 3Pts
Years: 2011
Medals: Bronze

The 2011 tournament wasn’t a great one for Canada who picked up a bronze medal. But Casey Cizikas had a good tournament with three points in seven games. His ability on the penalty kill was also on full display with this incredible shift against Team Russia where Cizikas kills nearly 30 seconds off a Canadian PK by himself. This is vintage Zeeker.

Adam Pelech: 7GP, 1Pts
Years: 2014

Pelech’s lone point at the tournament came on Josh Morrissey’s goal in Canada’s 2-1 loss to Russia in the bronze medal game.

Anthony Beauvillier: 5GP, 1G
Years: 2016

The 2016 tournament wasn’t any better for Canada. They crashed out in the quarterfinals against Finland. Beau’s only point was a goal in a 6-1 win over Switzerland.

Mathew Barzal: 12GP, 5G, 16Pts
Years: 2016, 2017
Medals: Silver

Barzal helped make up for Canada’s disappointing run in 2016 where he scored three points in five games. In 2017, wearing an ‘A’ on his jersey, Barzal put up eight points in seven games but lost out on the gold medal in a shootout against Team USA.

Noah Dobson: 5Gp, 1Pts
Years: 2019

Having your stick break is a haunting experience for any player. For Noah Dobson, one stick break will haunt him for years. In 2019, with a wide-open goal and the game on his stick against Finland in the semis, Dobson’s twig broke and Toni Uutonen scores the OT winner. Heartbreaking.