It’s happening folks! We’re just a few weeks out from the start of the World Juniors on the 26th, and with USA Hockey announcing their preliminary roster yesterday, we’ve finally got an idea of which Flyers prospects (and any of your favorite non-Flyers prospects) may be representing their counties in the tournament.
The Flyers, while not as strongly represented as they have been in the past couple of years, do still have a few prospects who were named to the preliminary rosters. We’ve got:
Yegor Zamula – Russia
Adam Ginning – Sweden
Bobby Brink – USA
Cam York – USA
I know I’ve made note twice already that these are just the preliminary rosters, so each of these players will still have to survive the selection camp cuts in order to make their respective teams. But, with that said, we can feel pretty good about their chances. Both Brink (6 G, 5 A in 14 GP) and York (4 G, 5 A in 14 GP) are off to very good starts to their freshman seasons with the University of Denver and the University of Michigan, respectively. The same is the case with Zamula, in his third full season with the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL and already up to 28 points in 28 games. Ginning has struggled a bit to start this season—he started with Linköping of the SHL and then was sent down to their SuperElit team, before finally being loaned to HC Vita Hästen, where he has four points in 16 games—but he did play for Sweden in the World Juniors last year, and his “seniority” may well work in his favor.
A lot depends on these players’ performances in their camps, but we should still have a couple of familiar faces to watch, which just makes that tournament just that much more fun. It’s right around the corner!
