World Juniors Day 2 Recap: Jesper Wallstedt Is The Best Goalie In The World Not Currently In The NHL
When we came into the 2022 World Juniors, the two goalies on everybody's radar were Yaroslav Askarov of Russia and Jesper Wallstedt from Sweden. Askarov was a 1st round draft pick to Nashville in 2020. Wallstedt was a 1st round draft pick to Minnesota in 2021. It's not every year that a goalie is taken in the 1st round of the draft. I'm pretty sure there have only been 15 goalies drafted in the 1st round since 2000. Some of those names are guys like Carey Price, Marc-Andre Fleury and Andre Vasilevskiy. Spencer Knight won a gold medal with Team USA at last year's tournament and he was the 13th overall pick in 2019. So if you're a goalie drafted in the first round, you're a stud.
The only thing is that Yaroslav Askarov struggled in last year's tournament. And he hasn't exactly been lighting the KHL on fire (granted, he's still just 19 years old playing in one of the best leagues on the planet). So was Askarov going to turn it around this year? We're still yet to see. But he got yanked after giving up 3 goals on 16 shots in 2 periods playing against Sweden in the tournament opener, and then didn't play yesterday against Switzerland. Meanwhile, Wallstedt has faced 78 shots and only given up 3 goals. Including a 48-save shutout against Slovakia last night.
And the 2 goals he gave up against Michkov in the Russia game were both pretty fluky. So Jesper Wallstedt came into this tournament as one of the best goalies to watch out for. And just 2 games in, I don't think there's any question that he's clearly the best goalie at this tournament. And I don't think there's any question that the Minnesota Wild have a full blown superstar on their hands for the future. And it's not just at this tournament either. He currently has the 4th best save percentage and 2nd best GAA in the top Swedish league. I feel like it's only a matter of time before we see him suit up in Minnesota.
As for the rest of yesterday's games…
Group A: Finland 7 - Austria 1 // Finland (2-0-0-0) Austria (0-0-0-1)
Not really much to say about this game. Austria isn't very good, and Finland was able to just cruise in this one. Good news for Austria, however, is that things only get easier from here. They get to play against Canada tonight. Should be a breeze.
Group B: Russia 4 - Switzerland 2 // Russia (1-0-0-1) Switzerland (0-0-0-1)
Kind of a weird game here. Russia went up 3-0 in the first period and you figured this was going to be the 2nd dick kicking of the day. But then Switzerland scored with just over a minute left to close out the first. Nothing really happened in the 2nd. Then Matvei Michkov got his 3rd goal of the tournament already after just turning 17 a couple of weeks ago…
Speaking of Michkov, this kid is a total menace out there. Just zero regard whatsoever for humanity. Not a care in the world.
And then Switzerland scored with just over a minute left in the 3rd period. So the game was never really as close as the score makes it out to be. But at the same time, Russia was never able to really turn it on and put this game out of reach. Which could have a bigger impact later in the tournament when goal differential comes into play for seeding. USA plays Switzerland later today. If they're able to shit pump the Swiss and pick up a few extra goals in the GD column against Russia, that'll be huge for the elimination rounds.
Group A: Germany 2 - Czechia 1 (OT) // Germany (0-1-0-1) Czechia (0-0-1-1)
I'm almost certain that is now 3rd time in a row where Germany has beaten the Czech Republic at the World Juniors. Which is a tough look for the Czechs. I know that German hockey is still in their golden age of producing talents like Draisaitl and Stutzle. But they did it in 2014, the did it in 2019, and now they did it again last night in overtime. Just a nice little rivalry to keep your eye on between a couple of bordering nations.
The biggest thing Czechia needs right now is for Jaromir Jagr to start popping out a few kids. I mean there has to be droves of illegitimate Jagrs running around the Czech Republic right now. That dude fucks and he fucks often. By now you figure at least some of them should be 17 or 18 years old. Suit them up in the next couple of tournaments and get them back to being one of the top hockey playing nations on Earth. Until that happens, the Germans are going to continue to own them.
Group B: Sweden 3 - Slovakia 0 // Sweden (2-0-0-0) Slovakia (0-0-0-2)
We already mentioned this game at that top with Wallstedt putting on a clinic with a 48-save shutout. But now the hardest part of the schedule is out of the way for Slovakia. And this is a really good team who gets to play in front of a really good goalie themselves.
They play against Russia tomorrow and I can absolutely see a world where they upset the Russians. And then they close out the preliminary round against Switzerland on Thursday. It sucks they had to start off with USA and Sweden but that puts Slovakia in a pretty good spot moving forward even though they already have 2 regulation losses.
Again, though, you simply cannot take penalties against Sweden. Not even once.
Today's matchups on the schedule seem like more of a formality than anything. I think I'll skip doing the live blog for USA vs Switzerland, but I'll be back if anything crazy happens. Tomorrow is when things really get going. Finns vs Czechs. Slovakia and Russia. Canada vs Germany. And USA vs Sweden. Buckle up.