With the United States roster split into two teams for the first half of the World Junior Summer Showcase, it can be hard to balance such a large locker room. It seems like the US team has done just that though, with both USA Team White and Team Blue winning their matchups yesterday.
Team White, carrying three Red Wings prospects recovered from an opening day loss to Finland with a 6-4 victory over Sweden, while Team Blue kept their record unblemished with a 5-1 victory over the Finns. Victor Plante had three assists for Team White while playing on the top line and serving on the power play.
Plante, JP Hurlbert and Brent Solomon will have to hope that their performances over the past week have earned them a spot on the US Team’s final roster, as from this point forward Team USA will have to compete as one team in the showcase tournament. If they do, the American team will rematch with Finland and Sweden on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, before facing off against Canada on Saturday.
If they don’t make the roster, the trio does have the opportunity to reunite in December for the World Junior Championship being held in Red Deer, Edmonton.
Meanwhile, the dust is beginning to settle around the fact that Patrick Kane has re-joined the Chicago Blackhawks, adding to an offseason of loss for the Detroit Red Wings. Speaking with Pardon My Take, Kane revealed that his plans had initially been to stay in Detroit, but, as the veteran winger put it; ‘Things happened.’
It likely doesn’t come as a surprise to many that Kane decided to depart. With Dylan Larkin’s trade request and Steve Yzerman exiting as GM, the path to the playoffs is uncertain, 37-year-old Kane wants an opportunity to ring chase.
Red Wings Extra
There was a lot of ‘fake news’ running around for Red Wings fans on the site formerly known as Twitter yesterday. Several aggregator accounts posted that insider Jeff Marek had indicated that the Red Wings were considering Jim Rutherford for their currently vacant GM position, only for Marek to post several replies to the contrary. Another account parodying “NHL Rumour Report”, an aggregator run by PolyMarket Sport, posted false, inflammatory statements about Larkin and his most recent appearance on ‘Family Feud.’
It just goes to show you should always double and triple check the name of the account you’re reading from. And that allowing payment for checkmarks was a mistake, but that’s neither here nor there.