Will Canada be able to defend their gold medal at the 2019 World Juniors? Their quest for a repeat starts against Denmark on Wednesday, Dec. 26 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
At the 2018 World Juniors, Canada was expected to dominate. And they did precisely that, winning the gold medal. Canada will look to repeat as the gold medalists at the 2019 World Juniors, icing one of the fastest and most talented rosters they’ve ever put together.
Their quest starts on Wednesday, Dec. 26 at 8:00 p.m. ET when they square off against Denmark. Last year, Denmark finished ninth, barely avoiding relegation to Division I. Canada enters the 2019 WJC as the favorites to repeat.
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What: Canada vs. Denmark
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 26
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Rogers Arena
TV Schedule: NHL Network, TSN
Live Stream: Reddit
There’s a good reason Canada enters the 2019 World Juniors as the favorites to win – their roster is incredibly good. They won’t be getting Carter Hart back, but their goaltending group is still impressive. Canada will carry two goaltenders – WHL standout Ian Scott and 2018 OHL goaltender of the year Michael DiPietro.
Much like their goaltenders, Canada will trot out a group of new blueliners. Evan Bouchard and Josh Brook will likely be their most relied on defensemen, but Ian Mitchell, Noah Dobson, Ty Smith, Jared McIsaac, and Markus Phillips will help form what should be a fun group of defensemen to watch. None of these guys have WJC (under 20) experience, but they’re skilled.
Similarly, Canada won’t have any returning forwards. But that’s largely due to some of their better forwards sticking in the NHL. They’ll still have arguably the strongest group of forwards in the NHL. Montreal Canadiens prospect Nick Suzuki should provide a ton of scoring.
Max Comtois of the Anaheim Ducks will serve as Team Canada’s captain. Alexis Lafrenière is a guy to watch, as many have him projected as the consensus top pick of the 2020 NHL Draft.
On the other side of the ice, Denmark goaltender Mads Sogaard is a fascinating guy. He’s thought of as one of the better goalies available in the 2019 NHL Draft. A strong performance could put him in the second or even first round.
For more 2019 World Juniors coverage, be sure to check out our International Tournaments page!