It isn’t just the usual West Coast winter clouds. It is an air of intrigue that hangs heavy over Blanshard Street.
Several questions remain as Sweden prepares to play Switzerland at 1 p.m. and the United States meets the Czech Republic at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the 2019 International Ice Hockey Federation world junior championship quarter-finals at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
Will U.S. forward Jack Hughes, the projected No. 1 pick for the 2019 NHL draft, be ready to play after missing the past three games due to an undisclosed injury? There are strong indications he is close to making a return Wednesday for the Americans (3-0-1), who placed second in Pool B despite missing Hughes for much of the tournament to date.
The other speculation concerns Pool B-champion Sweden (4-0) and the illness that kept five of the Swedish players out of the lineup in Monday’s 4-1 victory over winless Kazakhstan at the Memorial Centre.
“It started [Sunday] night and we don’t know what it is . . . we think stomach flu,” said Swedish head coach Tomas Monten, following the victory over Kazakhstan that, due to the circumstances, was much more modest than expected.
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Monten said one of the ill Swedish players could have played if needed Monday, but the other four “couldn’t have played.”
“We tried to battle through it and spread the ice time as much as possible, but still lost our pace.”
Sweden managed to extend its winning streak in pool play, dating to 2006, to 48 games. But it’s hardly an ideal situation the defending world junior silver-medallist Swedes find themselves in heading into the playoff round.
“It’s not super, especially playing in the early game at 1 p.m. Wednesday,” said Monten. “It could affect [the quarter-final game].”
The Swedes are hoping it’s a 24-hour bug and nothing more. Reports indicate it is just that, although physical strength is always a concern after bouts of the flu, lengths notwithstanding.
“Hopefully, we get back and healthy,” said Swedish defenceman Rasmus Sandin, a first-round draft pick of the Maple Leafs, who plays in the AHL for the Toronto Marlies.
A factor in favour of both Sweden and the U.S. is that both were based in Victoria for Pool B play while the Czechs (2-2) and Swiss (1-2-1) have come across the strait as the respective third and fourth seeds out of Pool A at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
“We know the rink and hotel and city,” said Sandin, of staying on the Island for the quarter-final.
Swedish captain and Las Vegas Golden Knights first-round draft pick Eric Brannstrom, selected 15th overall in 2017, agreed staying put is probably a good thing.
“We’ve played well here in Victoria and need to keep playing our game,” said the AHL Chicago Wolves blueliner.
That is a general sentiment among the Swedes. “It’s a huge bonus . . . we get to stay in our locker room,” said defenceman Nils Lundkvist, a first round draft pick of the New York Rangers.
“It’s good because we know the ice and have a good setup here,” said Swedish defenceman and Arizona Coyotes second-round draft pick Filip Westerlund.
Meanwhile, the U.S. clinched second place in Pool B with a 4-1 victory over Finland (2-2) Monday night at the Memorial Centre as Vancouver Canucks third-round draft pick Tyler Madden scored twice. That avoided not only a ferry ride for the Americans, but also a quarter-final matchup against host Canada at Rogers Arena. That is the unenviable fate that now awaits Pool B third-place Finland.
“That was a big bounce-back win for these young men to close out the preliminary round [following a 5-4 overtime loss to Sweden],” said U.S. head coach Mike Hastings.
The Finns meet Pool A second-place Canada at 3:30 p.m. while Slovakia, which was fourth in Pool B in Victoria, meets Pool A-champion Russia at 7:30 p.m. in the two quarter-finals scheduled Wednesday for Rogers Arena. The semifinals and final will be at Rogers Arena through Saturday.
So too will the relegation final between winless squads Kazakhstan and Denmark, the latter featuring Victoria Royals forward Phillip Schultz. The winner gets to stay in the top tier for the 2020 world juniors in the Czech Republic. The loser will be dropped and replaced in the top tier by recent Tier 1 champion Germany.
Nothing against Schultz, but a lot of Island fans will be cheering for Kazakhstan to beat Denmark. The winless and woefully outshot Kazakhstanis became the darlings of Group B in Victoria.
“Thank-you Victoria,” said Kazakhstan goaltender Denis Karatayev, while making a heart sign with his hands. “The city is very beautiful and the support was very good,” he added, through a Russian interpreter.
“It was amazing for us to have the crowd cheering for us like that. Thanks for everything and for welcoming us. We didn’t expect that song [Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline as the Kazakhstan goal song]. It was wonderful and I am going to download it.”
