The WJC tournament featuring four New York Rangers prospects starts this week
If you are starved for New York Rangers hockey (and who isn’t?), you will get a chance to see some future Rangers in action at the World Junior Championships, beginning this week. With four prospects in action on two teams, it will be simple to figure out which games to watch if you want to see Brett Berard, Dylan Garand, Brendan Schneider and Hunter Skinner.
Goalie Dylan Garand (4th round, #103) and defenseman Brendan Schneider (1st round, #19) were both drafted in October and will be playing for Team Canada. Left wing Brett Berard (5th round, #134) was drafted this year and Hunter Skinner was a 2019 4th round draft pick (#112) and they will be playing for Team USA.
The only player of the four who has played in a game this season is Brett Berard who plays for Providence in the Hockey East Conference.
The teams are split into two groups with Canada and the USA in different groups. That means the teams cannot meet until the medal round. The top four teams in each group advance to the medal round. Here are the two groups:
GROUP A
- Canada
- Finland
- Germany
- Slovakia
- Switzerland
GROUP B
- Austria
- Czech Republic
- Russia
- Sweden
- United States
All games including exhibitions will be televised by the NHL Network. Here is the full schedule with the preliminary round games involving Rangers prospects in italics. All times are EST.
EXHIBITIONS
Tuesday, December 22 (Exhibition Games)
6 pm: Switzerland vs. Austria
930 pm: Finland vs. USA
Wednesday, December 23 (Exhibition Games)
6 pm: Canada vs. Russia
930 pm: Czech Republic vs. Slovakia
PRELIMINARY ROUND
Friday, December 25
2 pm: Switzerland vs. Slovakia
6 pm: Germany vs. Finland
930 pm: Russia vs. USA
Saturday, December 26
2 pm: Sweden vs. Czech Republic
6 pm: Germany vs. Canada
930 pm: USA vs. Austria
Sunday, December 27
2 pm: Finland vs. Switzerland
6 pm: Slovakia vs. Canada
930 pm: Czech Republic vs. Russia
Monday, December 28
6 pm: Austria vs. Sweden
930 pm: Slovakia vs. Germany
Tuesday, December 29
2 pm: USA vs. Czech Republic
6 pm: Canada vs. Switzerland
930 pm: Austria vs. Russia
Wednesday, December 30
2 pm: Finland vs. Slovakia
6 pm: Switzerland vs. Germany
930 pm: Russia vs. Sweden
Thursday, December 31
2 pm: Czech Republic vs. Austria
36pm: Canada vs. Finland
930 pm: Sweden vs. USA
MEDAL ROUND
Saturday, January 2
12 pm: Quarterfinal Game 1
330 pm: Quarterfinal Game 2
7 pm: Quarterfinal Game 3
1030 pm: Quarterfinal: Game 4
Monday, January 4
6 pm: Semifinal Game 1
930 pm: Semifinal Game 2
Tuesday, January 5
530 pm: Bronze Medal Game
930 pm: Gold Medal Game
Last year the United States was eliminated by Finland 1-0 in the quarterfinals. Canada won the gold medal, beating Russia 4-3 on three third period goals.
It’s been too long since we’ve had meaningful hockey games to watch that involve the Rangers. Set your alarms for 930pm Tuesday to get a first look at Brett Berard and Hunter Skinner as Team USA takes on Finland.