Alberta's Berlin Makes NHL Debut in Relief

Matt Berlin (Alberta) got to see his NHL dream come true Saturday night.

The 6-foot-4 Edmonton native dressed for his hometown Oilers that evening as an emergency goaltender, replacing an ill Stuart Skinner. He played the last 2:26 of regulation, stopping the only shot he faced in Edmonton's 7-3 victory over the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.

Berlin, 25, is in his third campaign with the University of Alberta, where he has fashioned a 4-0-1 mark with a 2.57 goals-against average in five appearances so far this season. In 21 career contests with the Golden Bears, he has gone 14-5-1 with a 2.09 GAA and three shutouts.

Prior to suiting up for Alberta, Berlin went 28-9-1 (2.57, 2 SO) in the 2018-19 season with Sherwood Park (AJHL). He spent parts of the previous three seasons in the WHL with Spokane, Seattle and Kootenay, going 23-18-8 (3.40, 2 SO) in 57 games. He was also part of Seattle's 2016-17 squad that won the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL postseason champions, which also earned the Thunderbirds a berth in the Memorial Cup that season.

Canada, U.S. Win 2022 WJC Openers

Both Canada and the United States got off to winning starts at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship in Alberta on Sunday.

Powered by a hat trick from defenseman Owen Power (Michigan), host Canada began matters with a 6-3 victory over the Czech Republic. The top draft choice in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Power scored two power-play goals, and is the first Canadian defenseman to ever score three goals in a single WJC contest. 

The U.S., the defending WJC champion, opened up the new tournament by edging Slovakia, 3-2. Matthew Knies (Minnesota), Matthew Samoskevic (Michigan) and Landon Slaggert (Notre Dame) scored goals for Team USA, while goaltender Drew Commesso (Boston University) finished with 23 saves.

The Americans will now take on Switzerland in Red Deer on Wednesday, while Canada will face off with Austria in Edmonton later that same day.

ADDENDUM: Team USA has forfeited its game to Switzerland, after two American players tested positive for COVID, which forced a mandatory team quarantine. According to IIHF.com, "the result of the game will be recorded as a 1-0 win for Switzerland by forfeit in accordance with the IIHF Rule Book." The U.S. is tentatively scheduled to play Sweden on Thursday.

U.S. Begins 2013 World Juniors Thursday

 

The 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship gets underway Thursday morning for the U.S. National Junior Team in Ufa, Russia against Germany. The Americans went 1-1 in preliminary play, edging Sweden, 3-2, in overtime on Dec. 20 before getting pasted two days later by Finland, 5-1.

According to USCHO.com, Wisconsin sophomore defenseman Jake McCabe has been named captain of the 2013 U.S. National Junior Team, while alternates will include Cornell sophomore forward Cole Bardreau and Michigan freshman defenseman Jacob Trouba.

The U.S. is looking to improve upon last year's showing in Alberta, when it finished out of the medal running at 1-3-0 overall, and was dropped to the relegation pool, where it finished with a 3-0 mark. 

This year's final U.S World Junior roster features 13 current collegians out of a total of 24 players.