World Juniors 2022: Mason McTavish’s dominance, USA’s top forwards highlight biggest takeaways from preliminary round

Abraham Smith

The first leg of World Juniors 2022 is complete and boy was it filled with excitement. We’ve seen history made for a small country, a player who entered the Canadian record books, a sensational goal in Michigan and much more.

The prelims are always exciting and August’s was no exception. Given the unusual time of year for the tournament, it took a little longer for the teams to settle down, but after four games it’s time for the knockout rounds.

The quarterfinals begin on Wednesday when eight teams eye gold. It should be filled with more exciting moments to complement the summer competition.

MORE: Schedule, Scores, Results for all World Juniors 2022 games

Before the knockout stages begin, let’s take a look at some of the biggest takeaways from the World Juniors 2022 preliminary round.

The takeover by Mason McTavish

As we gear up to start World Juniors 2023 in December, Mason McTavish should be nowhere near the Canadian list. Because he should play regular minutes with the Ducks in the NHL.

The Canadian captain has been absolutely dominant for the host country so far. His 13 points lead all players so far in the World Juniors and ended the preliminary round with seven goals and six assists. Having started the games with two assists against Latvia, McTavish has found at least one goal in the last three games.

He also went down in Canadian World Juniors history as only the seventh player from Canada to score four goals in a single game at an under-20 tournament. The historic feat came in the 11-1 win over Slovakia.

MORE: Canada’s Kent Johnson scores for Michigan goal at World Juniors 2022

It’s not just his offensive play. McTavish’s physicality and penalty shootout skills make him the most versatile player in the Canada squad. While other high-profile talent like Owen Power and Shane Wright decided to skip the Summer Games, McTavish returned with one goal — a gold medal. He’s doing everything he can to put Canada in a great position early on.

The dominant top six forward group in the United States

Team USA went into the tournament without a clear, trustworthy scorer like McTavish or Connor Bedard who could easily take over a game. Turns out you don’t need one when you have two lines that roll like the US does.

The combination of Thomas Bordeleau-Landon Slaggert-Carter Mazur and Matt Coronato-Logan Cooley-Matt Knies has been sensational at the tournament so far. It seemed like those two lines were getting stronger with every game, creating multiple chances for the Americans.

In the opening game against Germany, both sides were enthusiastic, responsible for the first three goals in the 5-1 win. Against Switzerland, the front row dominated as all three front row members had a goal and several points.

Mazur added two goals against Austria for the top line while Coronato had a goal and an assist for the second unit. Finally, against Sweden, it was Coronato again who scored the second and third goals for the Americans in a narrow 3-2 win.

Getting deep out of the group was crucial for the Americans and Nate Leaman’s side have delivered so far. With two essentially No. 1 forward lines at his disposal, he will have the ability to create imbalances against opponents.

Finland’s top line from Hirvonen, Räty and Kemell

It was a brief appearance in December, but the Finnish line of Brad Lambert, Ville Koivunen and Samuel Helenius carried the team into its two teams. Now, at the summer edition of the tournament, it was Roni Hirvonen, Aatu Räty and Joakim Kemell who rolled for the Finns.

Kemell and Räty finished the heats with nine points each, taking the second most points of the tournament so far, behind only McTavish. They have identical stat lines with three goals and six assists. Hirvonen is third on the team with six points.

MORE: Why is the World Juniors being played in August?

The trio were particularly deadly on the power play. Finland go into the quarter-finals with the second-highest power-play success rate ever, scoring nine goals on 16 occasions. Much of this is due to accurate passing/shooting from Hirvonen, Räty and Kemell. Hirvonen has two powerplay goals, while Räty and Kemell each have three helpers distributed among the majority.

Latvia’s historic preliminary round

Latvia surprised some with their competitive performance against Canada to open their World Juniors 2022. While many blamed it for Canada’s rust and getting back on track, Latvia and its resilience should have received more credit.

After three straight losses at World Juniors 2022, Latvia upset the Czech Republic in their last preliminary round match and not only secured a place in the quarterfinals, but also gave the country its first win of the preliminary round at the World Juniors.

Ralfs Bergmanis scored a hat-trick for the team while Rainers Rullers and Martins Lavins each hit the back of the net. Bruno Bruveris stopped 33 shots en route to the historic victory.

“A dream come true,” said Lavins after the game. “We knew we had just done something special and it’s an incredible feeling to share something like this… We’re not done yet, there’s still a lot of struggle in us.”

Latvia wasn’t supposed to compete in Edmonton. Since Russia lost its spot due to IIHF ban and Belarus failed to advance after taking first place in Division IA tournament due to its ban, it opened the door for Latvia to compete in the top tournament.

Now Latvia reach the quarter-finals for the first time ever and look to continue their Cinderella story.

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