U-18 World Championship Scouting Notebook: The top standouts from the quarterfinals

Steven Ellis
Steven Ellis
Macklin Celebrini
Credit: Macklin Celebrini (Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff)

BASEL, Switzerland – Whoa.

It was an interesting day of hockey in Switzerland, with Canada, USA, Sweden and Slovakia advancing to Saturday’s semifinal action. The Slovakian win was huge, with the recently promoted team pulling off a shocking 3-2 win over Finland, never trailing once.

The rest of the games went status quo, with Canada beating Switzerland 7-3, USA beating Czechia 4-1 and Sweden landing a 6-1 blow to Latvia.

So now we know the final four teams moving on, with this semifinal schedule set for St. Jakob Arena in Basel on Saturday:

USA vs. Slovakia – 9:00 AM ET
Canada vs. Sweden – 1:00 PM ET

Canada stomps on Switzerland

  • The entire Macklin Celebrini, Calum Ritchie and Matthew Wood line was nuts. Celebrini had four points, Ritchie had a pair and Wood had a goal and an assist in a dominant run for the trio. Canada’s offense has been hit or miss, but, today, they were flying on all cylinders.
  • Andrew Cristall started the tournament in the top six but eventually fell down to the 13th forward spot by the third game. Today, with a pair of goals and an attempted Michigan move, Cristall looked like the scoring threat we know he can be. Scouts are definitely mixed on him, but there’s no shortage of talent there.
  • That was the best game of the tournament for Andrew Gibson, someone I have mixed feelings about as a blueliner. He’s willing to take risks but execution isn’t always here. Today, he looked on top of his game, pinching only when he needed to.
  • Matteo Wagner is going to have nightmares after getting robbed by Carson Bjarnason in the second. He looked determined to score at all costs and eventually made it 6-2, capping off a decent tournament for the forward. He then scored Switzerland’s lone goal of the third, capping off an excellent evening.

USA cruises to 4-1 win over Czechia

  • At some point, Will Smith is going to slow down. Smith scored a beautiful goal in the first period to make it 1-0 and then, alongside Ryan Leonard and Gabriel Perreault, kept the fun flowing with some nonstop pressure. It felt like the Americans had a continuous power play when the trio was out there, and they combined for the first two goals. At this point, it’s a race between all of them for the tournament MVP.
  • That felt like Cole Hutson‘s most composed game. He limited his mistakes, was playing with full confidence and moved the puck as well as ever. Hutson’s been one of the best defensemen in the tournament despite being one of the youngest. Coach Dan Muse likes him, and he’s standing out.
  • Michael Hrabel did everything in his power to keep the Czechs in it, and was notably down on his performance after the game. But he made 48 saves, including some 10-bell stops against an American team that was in clear control. He’s one of the best goalies in the tournament, and this tournament, for the most part, was solid from the Omaha Lancers goaltender. By the way, for USHL fans, he’s heading back for 2023-24.
  • I thought Jakub Dvorak looked great today. Hit or miss with him at this tournament but he was excellent at making USA’s life miserable around the net and blocked a few shots. The same goes for Martin Matejicek.
  • That was Oliver Moore‘s best game of the tournament. The projected top 10 pick has had his ups and downs, but he looked extra creative today. He snagged an assist for his efforts.
  • That might have been Danny Nelson‘s best game in a while. He’s often overlooked since he’s more of a defensive forward, but he scored today and took home best play honors.

Slovakia stuns Finland 3-2

  • Samuel Urban might have earned himself the goalie of the tournament honors with that performance. He was excellent during the round-robin, but then he followed it up with a massive 54-save performance against the Finns. Simply put, he was the reason the Slovaks won that game.
  • I’m not falling into the “Dalibor Dvorsky top 10″ trap just yet. But with another three-point game, Dvorsky has been as advertised in Ajoie. Without him, either today or against Germany in the final round-robin game, the Slovaks wouldn’t be playing for a medal. What a showing.
  • Juraj Pekarcik‘s strong tournament continues. He’s the leading setup man for the top line, and he prevailed with another great two-assist performance.

Sweden remains perfect to eliminate Latvia

  • Scouts love watching Otto Stenberg, and for good reason. He had a two-goal effort, including the third Swedish goal on the power play and the fifth goal just 42 seconds into the third. His lack of production in the SHL scared some scouts, but, like I’ve said before, his play in this tournament has been excellent.
  • Tom Willander doesn’t want Axel Sandin Pellikka to get all the credit. Willander had a pair of assists again, showing his worth on the power play and on the rush. The thing with Willander is he does his best work when you give him time and space to do whatever he wants. Pellikka, by the way, might be the best defenseman in this tournament.
  • Aksels Ozols didn’t bring home the win, but he allowed just six goals to a rested Swedish team that put up eight against Canada. Ozols made 49 saves in his best performance of the tournament. It was never going to be an easy game, but he gave Latvia a fighting chance.
  • Swedish netminder Noah Erliden has allowed just one even-strength goal in four games. Today’s opponent wasn’t very challenging, but Erliden has been lights out when needed and that confidence should carry over on Saturday.
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