For the Ottawa Senators organization, this has been one of the best World Junior tournaments in recent memory.
In total, five Ottawa prospects participated in this year’s showcase of the best junior talent the world has to offer and each one of those prospects played a significant role on their respective teams. Senators General Manager Pierre Dorion was on TSN 1200 yesterday and made it clear that in his opinion, this is the best collection of prospects the organization has ever had at this tournament.
Four of five Ottawa prospects will play for medals today.
While Team Sweden was considered by many to be the Gold Medal favourite, they now have to shift their focus to the bronze medal game. Jonathan Dahlen and Filip Ahl were both fairly quiet in last night’s semi-final and they’ll be looking to end their tournament on a high note.
While there have been many impressive moments for Ottawa’s representatives in this tournament, the performance of Dahlen is one of the most encouraging. He’s an incredibly talented forward and is beginning to look like a steal in the second round of last year’s Draft. Until this tournament, all we really knew of Dahlen was the occasional YouTube clip. Watching him in this tournament, it’s clear why the organization was so high on him.
But it’s the Gold Medal game that Sens fans will be watching closely. Thomas Chabot and Team Canada vs. Colin White and Team USA for the Gold Medal. A fitting end to an incredible tournament for Ottawa’s prospects.
It’s not like Chabot and White have been supporting cast players either. Both were named as top players for their teams throughout the tournament and both will be relied on heavily in tonight’s Gold Medal game. In the New Year’s Eve showdown, White and Chabot went head to head for most of the game, with each guy taking an extra shot at the other when the opportunity presented itself. Pretty fun to watch.
They’ll be teammates as early as next season but that’s clearly the furthest thing from their mind heading into tonight’s Final.
Puck drop in the Bronze Medal game is set for just after 3:30 PM. The Gold Medal game starts just after 8:00 PM.
Here’s to a Bronze Medal for Jonathan Dahlen and Filip Ahl and a Colin White hat trick spoiled by a Thomas Chabot overtime winner.
