If you had to build a starting lineup of former Edmonton Oilers who’ve played in the World Junior Hockey Championship, what would it look like? We’re going to dig into that topic today, but first things first, the source for my info from the man, the legend himself, Lowetide. He’s written a fabulous post called “A short history of Oilers’ impact prospects at the world juniors” and that is a massive help. I encourage you to go and check it out and if you don’t have a subscription to The Athletic, sign up and reap all the Lowetide-y benefits!
From the get-go, we run into some issues with our first position, goaltender.
The Oilers haven’t had a lot of homegrown netminders suit up in the annual u20 tournament. Both Devan Dubnyk and Olivier Rodrigue were on Canada’s roster but never got into any games whereas Oliver Roy got into three in 2010/11 but it wasn’t a great performance.
That said, from my brief research, goalies they’ve acquired from other clubs have had some success at the WJHCs. Such as Ilya Bryzgalov, Nikolai Khabibulin, Kari Takko, Tommy Salo, Jussi Markkanen, and Mathieu Garon.
The best out of the bunch was Bryzgalov though. According to Elite Prospects, in his four appearances in the 99/200o tourney, he had a GAA of 0.77 and a SV% of .977 for Russia.
Moving on to the defencemen, why not to go with Reijo Ruotsalainen and Jiri Slegr here. Just from a production standpoint.
Ruotsalainen holds the record for most goals by a defenceman all-time at the u20 tournament whereas Slegr is 3rd all-time in assists. The Finn is the 2nd-highest scoring defender and the Czech sits at 6th on that same list.
I do have one issue with these selections though. Between the two, they only played 69 games each for the Oilers. Ideally, But it is what it is. As players at the World Juniors, they both stood out and as things stand, they also spent time in Edmonton. So they qualify but the slightest of margins.
The forwards won’t be hard at all. One, Esa Tikkanen. Two, Jordan Eberle. Three, Wayne Gretzky.
Fun fact: Gretzky had 17pts in six games at the ’78 tournament which gives him a PPG of 2.83. Doug Weight had a 2.71 PPG in seven games when he played for Team USA at the 1991 one and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ 2.5 PPG in 2013 isn’t that far off. (link)
Tikk had a gaudy 36 points in three tournaments for Finland in the early 80s and Jordan Eberle is one of the most accomplished right-wingers to ever lace up the blades for Canada’s u20 team. 26 points in 12 games is nothing to shake a stick at and then there’s “The Goal”.
From 1980 to 1983, Vladimir Ruzicka scored 25 goals for the Czechs at the World Juniors and he did that in 19 games. Only the Russian Rocket Pavel Bure sits above him in the record books. That said, as a 16-year-old, Wayne Gretzky was scoring at nearly three PPG. Had he played as many games as Rosie did, theoretically, The Great One would’ve ended up with close to 55pts and around 25 goals and that’s not even considering that Gretzky no doubt would’ve improved as a player. That final number, once again, in theory, might’ve been closer to 70pts.
My All-Time Edmonton Oilers World Junior Starting Lineup
G – Ilya Bryzgalov
D – Reijo Ruotsalainen
D – Jiri Slegr
LW – Esa Tikkanen
RW – Jordan Eberle
C – Wayne Gretzky
What does yours look like?
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