The World Junior Championship is now in the books, and two Montreal Canadiens prospects were particularly impressive: Michael Hage and Aatos Koivu. While Canada wasn’t exactly a force in the tournament, Hage showed significant improvement in his game, while Koivu helped Finland win four of its five games.
The fact that Hage was used on the wing shouldn’t worry Canadiens’ fans. Canada's coaching staff had a lot of great centers to choose from, and if Hage makes the tournament, it’s likely as a winger, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a good center.
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On Saturday, in Canada’s last game of the tourney, Hage managed to add another goal to his account. While it was an empty-netter, it showed how much stronger the youngster had become after a year spent in the NCAA with the Michigan Wolverines. Players may not play an enormous number of games in the American circuit, but they have ample time to work in the gym and build muscle.
The forward was glad to find the back of the net, but he wanted to show more than just an ability to score:
"It's obviously nice to get on the score sheet, but I think the biggest thing I just wanted to come here and show is how competitive I am, I think at times, you can't see through video how competitive and how hard a guy is. And I just wanted to come here this week and show that I'm a competitor, and I'll do anything it takes to win. It's obviously a bonus that I was able to help our group win and able to pot a couple."-
It's fair to say that he has accomplished what he set out to do and has put himself in a good position to make the team for this Winter’s tournament. Fans shouldn’t worry about Canada’s poor results this Summer. The returning players were sent home early to allow the organization to get a better look at the hopefuls, meaning the team will be stronger at the main event.
Meanwhile, Koivu had said that missing the tournament last Winter because of Mononucleosis was a source of motivation for him, and it’s easy to see that it worked like a charm. The former Canadiens captain’s son added yet another point yesterday with a power play assist in Finland’s last game of the showcase, a 4-1 win against Sweden.
The center finished his tournament with seven points, six goals, and an assist, and made a last impression on Finland’s coach, Lauri Mikkola. Speaking about Koivu, the boss bench said:
"There's so much skill in that boy and now he's getting out everything here. He's not thinking about too much, how many goals he's going to score. He's just going there and playing the game and doing hard work all the time, and then the points are coming up."-
With such glowing comments, it’s fair to say that it’s mission accomplished for the Finnish youngster as well. Koivu will now head back home, where he will spend the season in the Liiga with TPS Turku. It will be interesting to see if the Canadiens sign both of these prospects to an ELC next offseason. Right now, they certainly look like they are the real deal.
Photo: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
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