World Juniors: Top 5 one-hit wonders of all time
Anyone who followed the World Junior Championship in the early 2000s will remember Canada’s Nigel Dawes and Al Montoya.
Both looked like superstars early on in their junior careers. Dawes, for example, had 11 points in 2004 and another six the following year. He took home a gold and a silver in that span to help establish himself as one of the best goal-scoring prospects in the game at the time. He’d go on to play 212 games in the NHL, but never really turned into the scoring threat some hoped he would.
Montoya, meanwhile, was the backbone for USA’s first gold medal in 2004. He was nearly unstoppable, outdueling Marc-Andre Fleury when it mattered most to finish with one of the best goalie performances in tournament history just months before getting selected sixth overall by the New York Rangers. Montoya never became an NHL starter, though, often finding himself bouncing between teams in the NHL and AHL.
While neither player became household names, they still went on to play in the NHL for a significant amount of time. Dawes would later represent Kazakhstan nationally after spending some of his latter seasons playing in the KHL.
They might have been big-league busts, but they still did better most players listed below. Today, we’re looking at five players who became World Junior stars but couldn’t translate that success to the NHL. The idea is that all of them had to have played in the NHL at some point – and in the case of some of them, they were viewed as a top prospect in the world at one point.
Justin Pogge, Canada (2006)
When Pogge went 6-0-0 with three shutouts and a .952 save percentage en route to gold in 2006, he instantly became a Canadian tournament legend. It was his first time as Canada’s starter at any event, and he stole the show with a Canadian squad that, beyond Kris Letang and Jonathan Toews, lacked high-end talent. It was arguably one of the best Canadian goalie performances ever, and it was probably helped lead to the deal that saw the Toronto Maple Leafs send Tuukka Rask to the Boston Bruins for Andrew Raycroft.
Pogge, of course, never became a full-time NHLer. He won one game in 2008-09 before he wasn’t brought back and bounced around teams for the rest of his career. He never did see any NHL action after his time in Toronto, though. Pogge was Canada’s starter at the 2006 Spengler Cup and was then in the running to make the 2022 Olympic team, but was ultimately left off. Pogge retired from pro hockey after the 2022-23 season and went on to work with Hockey Canada as a goalie coach across the U-18, U-20 and World Championship levels the past two years. These days, Poggee is working as a goalie coach with the Vancouver Canucks’ farm team.
Zachary Fucale, Canada (2015)
It’s hard to be a No, 1 goaltender two years in a row. But after a difficult showing in 2014, Canada brought back Fucale – one of the most hyped goalie prospects at the time – to run the show again 2015. He was outstanding, going 5-0-0 with two shutouts and a .939 save percentage en route to a gold medal on home ice. Having Connor McDavid, Brayden Point, Sam Reinhart, and Max Domi steering the ship helped, too, but Fucale stood tall when they needed him to, and his play couldn’t be ignored.
The Montreal Canadiens had him pegged as a long-term option for the club, but he never ended up playing with the team/ Instead, he bounced around the AHL and ECHL for three years before the club ultimately gave up on him. In fact, he never really became a full-time AHLer again until he joined the Washington Capitals organization in 2021-22. That season, he also went 1-1-1 with a shutout and a .924 save percentage in his first, and only, NHL action to date. There are reports he’s looking to get back to the NHL next year after two great seasons in the KHL, so there might be some interest in the 29-year-old veteran. So, hey – maybe it’s not over and done with for Fucale.
Max Friberg, Sweden (2012)
Nobody could stop Friberg during that 2012 tournament – the last one the Swedes took home gold in. He had nine goals and 11 points in six games to lead the team and earn a spot on the tournament all-star team. His goal total beat out the likes of what Mark Stone, Evgeni Kuznetsov, Mika Zibanejad and Ryan Strome were capable of that year, and no player has scored more goals in a single tournament ever since.
Friberg would only play six NHL games with the Anaheim Ducks, failing to score a goal. By 2017-18, he was done with North America for good, returning home to Sweden to play for the famed Frolunda franchise. He has represented Sweden a few times ever since, including at the 2022 Winter Olympics. But in 18 World Championship games, Friberg – mainly playing in a depth role – has only been able to tally three goals and five points. Friberg is a decent SHLer these days, but imagine if he was able to turn that WJC run into NHL magic.
Jerry D’Amigo, USA (2010)
D’Amigo was a man on a mission in 2010, his first of two World Juniors. he had six goals and 12 points to help USA win gold, building upon his title at the 2009 U-18 World Championship the season prior. D’Amigo was so good that year at RPI that he turned pro immediately after and played over half the year with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies in 2010-11. He even returned to the World Juniors, but he only had two points in six games en route to bronze. It’s rare to see a point swing that big in a second showing, especially after such a dominant run in the first one.
D’Amigo would go on to play 31 NHL games with the Maple Leafs and Sabres, registering just three points. He’s still active today, recently joining HK 32 Liptovsky Mikulas in the Slovakian league after playing in the ECHL last season. D’Amigo was a bit of a longshot to make the NHL to start with as a sixth-rounder in 2009. But his international play, in particular, suggested he might have been a diamond in the rough, only to fizzle out after turning pro.
Jordan Schroeder, USA (2008-10)
It’s rare for an American-born player to skate in three World Junior Championships, especially when the first came as an underager. He made an immediate impact in 2008, nabbing seven assists and eight points over a year before he was drafted into the NHL. In 2009, he upped the ante with 11 points in six games and then finally won gold after registering eight points in his third go-around in 2009-10. By all accounts, the playmaking center looked primed for the big leagues – and Vancouver Canucks fans were understandably excited about the 2009 first-rounder.
But Schroeder never seemed to figure it out in Vancouver. He played parts of two seasons with the club before joining Minnesota, where he also struggled to produce. In all, Schroeder had 42 points in 165 NHL games before leaving for Europe in 2019-20, where he remains to this day. At the very least, Schroeder is tied for the American all-time points lead with Trevor Zegras with 27. He’s one of just 20 American skaters to have played in the tournament three times, and he did so as after graduating from the blossoming USA Hockey National Team Development Program. Many of USA’s top players from the past decade look at Schroeder’s play those three years as one of their favorite WJC memories, which can be taken away from his legacy.
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