As the last day of the World Junior Round Robin wraps up, here are the OHL Three Stars for the last day of 2023.
Today marked the final day of round robin games at the 2024 World Juniors, as 2023 comes to an end. The scores were as follows:
10-2 USA beats Slovakia.
5-4 Finland beats Sweden (SO).
4-2 Czechia beats Switzerland.
6-3 Canada beats Germany.
Three Stars on December 31st, 2023:
Kasper Halttunen, Finland (London Knights, OHL)
Kasper Halttunen played a huge part in Finland's meaningful win over Sweden. Along with putting up three points, he generated loads of offence with his shot. He scored just once in this game, but he was creating offence for others with his shot.
Finland hands Sweden their first loss of the tournament, and breaks their "zero goals against" streak. Halttunen and his team's performance will give them a lot of confidence heading into the knockout rounds, after a rough start to the tournament.
The San Jose Sharks prospect has been a consistent contributing factor for the Finns, and we should expect no different from him in the quarter finals and beyond.
Tomas Hamara, Czechia (Brantford Bulldogs, OHL)
Czechia didn't beat the Swiss by as much as they would have liked, but they still had a positive performance. Brantford Bulldogs defender Tomas Hamara got his hands on the scoresheet, with a goal and an assist.
The smart, puck moving, two way defenceman has been one of Czechia's most relied upon defenders. He has been relied upon to quarterback the powerplay, and play lots of minutes in all game situations.
The Senators prospect has had an all-round positive performance at this tournament, and it resolidifies himself as one of Ottawa's top defensive prospects. He plays in Brantford alongside fellow Sens prospect Jorian Donovan — who is playing for team Canada at this tournament. The Czechs will face Canada in the quarter finals.
Carson Rehkopf, Canada (Kitchener Rangers, OHL)
Though the Canadian sniper didn't put one in the back of the net himself, Rehkopf was all over the puck against Germany. He was certainly one of Canada's bright spots in this game, and generated a lot of offence that he just couldn't capitalize on. He concluded the game with two assists in the 6-3 win.
Rehkopf had countless opportunities to score in-and-around the net, but it just wasn't happening for the OHL's leading scorer. If Rehkopf keeps shooting and getting these chances, they will eventually go in for him.
The Seattle Kraken draft pick will play a significant part in the knockout rounds for Canada —and hopefully for his sake — he can put a few in the net.