Augustine, Plante’s Americans take gold at the World Junior Championship; Sandin Pellikka’s Swedes lose bronze to Czechia in a shootout

At the World Junior Championship in Ottawa, Ontario:

Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine stopped 21 of 24 shots, and Max Plante had an assist, finishing at +1 with 1 shot in 10:45 played as Team USA won 4-3 in overtime over Finland to capture the gold medal. Augustine didn’t dominate, but he didn’t have to be anything other than really steady.

Jesse Kiiskinen scored a goal on 3 shots in 17:10 played, finishing even, and the Finns nearly won thanks to the remarkable 40-save performance of Petteri Rimpinen.

Elsewhere, Axel Sandin Pellikka had an assist, finishing even with 4 shots in 26:44 played, and he scored a shootout goal, but Sweden lost 3-2 in a 14-round shootout to Czechia.

Expressen’s Tim Dahlbacka and Johan Eriksson quote Axel Sandin Pellikka as saying, “It sucks, of course. It was like a small lottery back and forth,” says team captain Axel Sandin-Pellikka about the shootout.”

The Swedish captain accentuated the positive:

“You always want a medal around your neck, but now it didn’t happen. So it sucks of course. But still we’re proud of the boys in there. It’s a bunch of magical guys. We’ve fought the whole tournament. We should be proud of ourselves,” Sandin-Pellikka said.

You can watch a video of Sandin Pellikka speaking in mostly Swedish on Aftonbladet, and Hockeysverige.se’s Robin Olausson quotes Sandin Pellikka from Viaplay’s broadcast:

“You always want a medal so it sucks. There is not much we can do now, but just to pat each other on the back and look forward,” Sandin Pellikka told Viaplay.

It took 14 rounds of shootouts before the Czechs could finally secure the bronze medal. Axel Sandin Pellikka says it is extra sour to lose that way.

“It’s boring. We still want to fight for that bronze medal, so it’s sad that we’re going out on…Yes, I want to call it a lottery. It’s extremely sad, it’s the last game with the guys here that you’ve been playing with since the Under-17 days. It’s a boring ending,” Sandin Pellikka said, continuing: “It’s like a lottery. You never know when someone will score. Sometimes the ice is snowy going in and then there’s a lot of misses. It’s sad that we just go out that way.”

HockeyNews.se also has an interview with ASP from just after the game, but again, it’s in Swedish…Mattias Persson adds this, though:

Sweden may leave the World Junior Championship without a medal after the loss against the Czechs in the bronze match.

For team captain Axel Sandin Pellikka, it also meant the last match with the 2005-born gang.

“These’s a bunch of damn nice guys in there, so I’ll make sure to hang out with all the last night here,” he said.

Sandin Pellikka ended the tournament tied for second in scoring with 10 points, and he was named the best defenseman of the tournament, and he was named to the All-Star team:

Update: Sandin Pellikka and Augustine were the headliners for the Red Wings’ WJC contingent, but Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis gave credit to Jesse Kiiskinen for a good game on Sunday…

#38 Jesse Kiiskinen, RW (Detroit Red Wings): Kiiskinen was everywhere early in the game, and it started by scoring the 1-0 goal. He had two other good looks in that period, but wasn’t able to extend Finland’s advantage, Still, it was an excellent medal round for Kiiskinen, who finished as one of Finland’s top three players at the WJCs.

And The Athletic’s Corey Pronman agreed…

Jesse Kiiskinen, RW, Finland (Detroit)

Kiiskinen was full of big goals for Finland in this tournament. He’s a skilled player who can finish, but what makes him endearing as a pro prospect is the pace and work level in his game. He can shoot from range, but looks to finish at the net and is constantly around the puck. He’s not that big, but he plays in a way that gives him a chance to make it to the NHL.

But Pronman praised Sandin Pellikka, too…

Axel Sandin Pellikka, RHD, Sweden (Detroit)

ASP was the driver of Sweden’s team and offense. Just like in the SHL, he was expected to make a lot of plays and score a lot of goals for this Sweden team while playing big all-situation minutes. He did that successfully. I wouldn’t say he was full of highlight reels, and in that way, he reminds me a lot of a former Detroit Red Wings defender, Filip Hronek, in how I think his game could translate to the next level. He isn’t very big, but he plays hard and doesn’t shy away from using his body to make stops.

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George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!

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