The calendar has flipped over to 2023.
And that’s the fact thatConnor Bedard (2023 Eligible)has been making this tournament his bitch.
The next closest in the tournament is his teammate Logan Stankoven, who has 8 points.
Bedard has scored the most career goals by a Canadian at the World Juniors.
He’s tied for the most points scored by a Canadian in a single WJC tournament.
Ever heard of ‘em?
Now the other story of the 2023 World Juniors so far has been parity and some pretty big upsets.
You look at Group B and the 4 teams moving on are all separated by just 3 points.
Only issue is that all of those wins came in overtime.
But they beat Finland, they beat Slovakia, they beat Latvia.
And for all of that, they get to play the top seed in Group A as their reward.
Group A is a little more open with Germany having a tough go at it this tournament.
They looked real good against Sweden to open up their tournament and only lost that game 1-0.
But then they were on the receiving end of a massacre by the Canadians.
It wasn’t really their fault.
Canada had just lost to the Czechs and needed to quiet the critics with a full blown beatdown.
Speaking of the Czechs…what a tournament it’s been for those pesky bastards so far.
But it’s really not all that surprising.
This is a Czech team that took USA out in the quarterfinals last summer.
Also, Slovakia beating the US is technically considered an upset.
But at this point, it’s to be expected.
But that’s the way she goes.
Kid has a fucking flame thrower of a shot.
The blue line has been great, goaltending has been really solid out ofTomas Suchanek (Tri-City Americans/WHL).
And they’re just pesky.
No other word to describe them.
They don’t stop, and they just grind you down.
That’s the key to pulling off upsets at the World Juniors, and they’ve perfected it.
So for the Swiss, you just have to use the same strategy against them.
Aside from getting smoked by the Americans, the Swiss took every other team to overtime or a shootout.
So at the very least, they’re prepared to play a full 60+ minutes.
And if somehow this game goes into overtime?
Well the Swiss can get real silky there.
The issue has just been finishing those chances for the most part.
They’ve been putting up points, no doubts about it.
But they’re still leaving plenty of money on the table.
But this has been Connor Bedard’s tournament, and it’s not ending on January 2nd.
Not when he has history on the line.
There’s a chance that Guenther gets to play with Bedard next year in Arizona.
There’s a chance that Zellweger gets a chance to play with Bedard next year in Anaheim.
