Ukrainian World Junior Team

I was checking the IIHF site to check the rosters and Ukraine's team is young, sizeable( for this division) and is made up mostly of players playing US highschool. What has brought this development on?

I was checking the IIHF site to check the rosters and Ukraine's team is young, sizeable( for this division) and is made up mostly of players playing US highschool. What has brought this development on?

These players come from Druzhba'78 that was on tour in the US last year. The players apparently want to play college hockey in the US.

Read more here:
http://www.druzhbau18.com/

These players come from Druzhba'78 that was on tour in the US last year. The players apparently want to play college hockey in the US.

Read more here:
http://www.druzhbau18.com/
Thanks for the link. That explains it nicely. Are they any good?

Well,they lost the first game of U20 tournament today.

Ukraine - Denmark 1:6 (0:4,0:1,1:1)

0:1 DEN SH1 Hansen (Ma Bodker, 4)
0:2 DEN PP2 Madsen (10)
0:3 DEN PP1 Christensen (Moller, Mi Bodker, 10)
0:4 DEN EQ Jensen (16)
0:5 DEN EQ Jakobsen (Mi Bodker, 24)
0:6 DEN EQ Christensen (Mi Bodker, Jakobsen, 48)
1:6 UKR PP1 Gumenyuk (51)

Is it the top two teams that go through to play in the WJC's?

No,just the first one.

Ohh,this IS an WJC championship.Division I

No,just the first one.

Ohh,this IS an WJC championship.Division ISpecifically, this is Div I Group A, and yes, only one from this group will advance. One from Group B will also advance.

You can read more discussion on the 2 groups here:
Div I, Group A (http://www.internationalhockeygang.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1705)
Div I Group B (http://www.internationalhockeygang.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1704)

Thanks for the link. That explains it nicely. Are they any good?

It's interesting how these players chose to come to the US to play. To be honest though, they don't seem to be particularly talented. Here's an explanation of where the US based players are playing...

The two players at The South Kent School and the two players at The Trinity-Pawling School are playing in New England Div.I Prep leagues. There are some good players in the league but there are also a very large number of mediocre players. The only one of the four that's doing anything worth mentioning is the goalie, Sorocolat, who is ranked sixth in the league with a .945 save percentage. The three skaters have three points between them in around fourteen combined games. Keith Yandle, a defenseman who almost made the US U20 team, had 54 points in around 25 games last year so that should give you an idea of the relative strength of talent.

Culver Academy and The Northwood School both play independant schedules against various different teams from across the country. Thier schedules are not as strong as those of the New England Prep leagues and the few high quality players that play there are typically gone by the time they are 15 or 16. The fact that the Ukrainians playing there are already 18 tells you something about thier ability.

Suffolk PAL is actually an umbrella organization for a large number of teams from youth hockey up to Junior B. The Ukranian plays on the latter team in the MJHL. Again though, the most talented US players to play for this team are around 15 while the Ukranian is 18.

I'd be very surprised if these players ever play for an NCAA Div.I team. Perhaps they'll make a Div.III team or a Div.II club team.

The only two that seem to be playing against strong competition are Yegorov (or Egorov as I've seen it listed elsewhere) and Ogleznev. They were both playing Major Junior in Canada for a time but are now both listed with USHL teams (The USHL is the top junior league in the US) though only Ogleznev has played in the league at this point (he has two points in 23 games). However, they won't be able to play NCAA hockey as they've lost thier eligibility due to thier time in the CHL. They'll probably have to play in the USHL until they get signed by a minor pro team or go back to Europe.

It's interesting how these players chose to come to the US to play. To be honest though, they don't seem to be particularly talented. Here's an explanation of where the US based players are playing...

The two players at The South Kent School and the two players at The Trinity-Pawling School are playing in New England Div.I Prep leagues. There are some good players in the league but there are also a very large number of mediocre players. The only one of the four that's doing anything worth mentioning is the goalie, Sorocolat, who is ranked sixth in the league with a .945 save percentage. The three skaters have three points between them in around fourteen combined games. Keith Yandle, a defenseman who almost made the US U20 team, had 54 points in around 25 games last year so that should give you an idea of the relative strength of talent.

Culver Academy and The Northwood School both play independant schedules against various different teams from across the country. Thier schedules are not as strong as those of the New England Prep leagues and the few high quality players that play there are typically gone by the time they are 15 or 16. The fact that the Ukrainians playing there are already 18 tells you something about thier ability.

Suffolk PAL is actually an umbrella organization for a large number of teams from youth hockey up to Junior B. The Ukranian plays on the latter team in the MJHL. Again though, the most talented US players to play for this team are around 15 while the Ukranian is 18.

I'd be very surprised if these players ever play for an NCAA Div.I team. Perhaps they'll make a Div.III team or a Div.II club team.

The only two that seem to be playing against strong competition are Yegorov (or Egorov as I've seen it listed elsewhere) and Ogleznev. They were both playing Major Junior in Canada for a time but are now both listed with USHL teams (The USHL is the top junior league in the US) though only Ogleznev has played in the league at this point (he has two points in 23 games). However, they won't be able to play NCAA hockey as they've lost thier eligibility due to thier time in the CHL. They'll probably have to play in the USHL until they get signed by a minor pro team or go back to Europe.
Thanks for the Info. These guys do not look very good right now.

Ukraine finished poorly in the standings, just avoiding relegation by defeating the Japanese 6-4 (they were losing 3-0 too)