Luke Kunin and the United States got off to a winning start at the World Junior Championship.
Kunin, the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey captain who’s serving in the same capacity for the U.S. at the under-20 tournament, had an assist in the Americans’ 6-1 victory over Latvia on Monday in Toronto.
Tyler Parks started the season with Evansville, where he went 0-4 and struggled. But the Rivermen jumped at the chance to get him when he was released, and he has shined with fourth-place Peoria. On Monday he was called up to the ECHL by Missouri.
Keller scored his second of the game with 7:41 to play in the third. Jeremy Bracco added another at 17:31 while Jordan Greenway got on the scoreboard in the final minute of regulation time.
It was on Matthew Tkachuk’s career checklist — to score an opportunity to skate for Team USA at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.
Wisconsin sophomore center Luke Kunin will serve as captain while Boston University sophomore defenseman Charlie McAvoy and Boston College sophomore center Colin White will be alternate captains. McAvoy and White are the only returnees from the 2016 U.S. team.
The newest name added to the injury report is goaltender Ben Bishop who will be out 3-4 weeks due to a lower-body injury. Of course, this weakens the Bolts depth and talent at the goalie position. However, Bishop’s injury means so much more than just that.
“I had a meeting with them (Canucks) at the (draft) combine and it never seemed like they were that interested,” said the 19-year-old Tkachuk. “I knew once (Pierre-Luc) Dubois went third, that I was going to Calgary. I’m happy and grateful to be drafted by Calgary.
It’s unclear how much time Stastny will miss. He has seven goals and 17 points in 34 games this season, including an assist in a 3-2 overtime win against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. He took a couple of shifts in the third period against Dallas before sitting out the rest of the game.
Team USA announced the first two cuts from their preliminary World Juniors roster this morning. OHL forwards Logan Brown and Alex DeBrincat were released.
We’ll start with Logan Brown. I had Brown pegged as one of, if not the main contributor on this year’s team.
Walleye goalie Cal Heeter has been called up to Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League.
Heeter won his first eight games in a Walleye uniform and did not lose a start until Dec. 10 against Alaska. This is the second time Heeter has been promoted to Grand Rapids.
