Junior Super Series

The series is finally over. Was it competitive? Not really. Was it entertaining? Occasionally. Here are my thoughts on what went down and some of what it might mean.

- The Russians lost scoring machine Alexei Cherepanov to a length of the ice charge by Brandon Sutter that left Cherepanov concussed and out of the series. Without his goalscoring prowess the Russians were never going to score enough to win games.

- Without question the top player for Canada was Sam Gagner. He had 15 points in the tournament (just shy of 2ppg) to lead everyone in scoring - a full 6 points more than second place.

- The much hyped John Tavarres did manage to finish 2nd in tournament scoring, but that was on a miserable 1 goal 8 assist performance further tarnished by a team leading 26 min (just under two minors a game) in penalties. On the one hand, it's clear Tavarres can compete at this level and wasn't totally outclassed by his compatriots, but it's also clear that he benefited from a lot of cheap powerplay assists on Kyle Turris goals. Expected to dominate the tournament, Tavarres was merely good. Perhaps most disturbing was that the sniper only had one goal (and that was on the pp) for the entire 8 games after leading the OHL in goalscoring last year.

- Alexander Vasyunov and Alexander Ryabev were the only two consistent scoring threats for the Russians, and each demonstrated they had plenty of heart throughout the tournament. Despite getting their heads handed to them game after game, these two guys never took a shift off, and constantly worked to create offense for the goal starved team.

- The biggest deficit the Russians had other than losing Cherepanov, was on defense. The Canadians worst defenseman would likely have been a top two or three guy for the Russians. Game after game saw the Canadian forwards wear down the Russian defenders with their strong forecheck and high foot speed leading to turnovers and goals.

- Karl Alzner reminds me a tonne of Shea Weber. He's big, strong, and does everything well.

- Claude Giroux is the next Martin St Louis or Brian Gionta. A waterbug offensive weapon with the full range of shots and stick-handling gimmicks, he's got a great shot to advance quickly with the Flyers and is a likely top end prospect.

- I haven't said as much yet, but it's clear to me that if Cherepanov was the clear consensus as best prospect available not named Tavarres - he isn't anymore. Sam Gagner has made himself a pretty solid case for consideration ahead of the concussed Euro-winger, even if he is going to be playing in Edmonton.

- Along with Gagner, Tavarres and Cherepanov; Jonathon Bernier-G, the aforementioned Giroux-F, Thomas Hickey-D, Drew Doughty-D, Karl Alzner-D, Kyle Turris-C, and David Perron-L have all proved themselves quality FUNHL prospect selections.