U-18 Men’s World Championship: Who stood out on Day 5

Apr 29, 2024

U-18 Men’s World Championship: Who stood out on Day 5

Credit: Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff

ESPOO, Fin. – What a day.

It was a wild day at the U-18 World Championship, even without some of the tournament’s top teams. It all got started in Vantaa when Kazakhstan pulled off a massive upset, beating Czechia 4-3 in overtime to win their first game in a top-division outing ever.

Czechia’s round-robin is over, sitting at six points through four games. Sweden can take second place with a regulation win over Switzerland tomorrow. The Swiss will hold the fourth and final playoff spot in Group B as long as Kazakhstan doesn’t win in any fashion against Canada.

Kazakhstan, meanwhile, has a path to the quarterfinal if Switzerland doesn’t get a point against the Swedes and manages to beat Canada.

In the game in Espoo, Norway won their first game of the tournament, beating Latvia by a score 5-3. But that opens up an interesting wrinkle, with both of those teams winning one game apiece, and both doing so 5-3. If Slovakia wins in regulation over Norway, that will create a three-way tie. If it’s a 5-3 win, that means all of them have the same goal-differential in the subgroup. Then, the tiebreaker goes to see how every team did against the second-place team in Group A, which will be decided in the USA/Finland game later Tuesday night.

So buckle up, folks – the final day of the U-18 World Championship round-robin is going to be interesting.

Czechia

#19 Adam Jecho, RW: Jecho was one of Czechia’s best players, and it was easy to pinpoint why. The 6-foot-5 forward scored his second goal of the tourney after a nice pass from Adam Titlbach, putting some good muscle behind his release. Jecho displayed solid decision making elite puck protection and was effective on the forecheck and the cycle. Jecho was dangerous on the puck and had good tape-to-tape passes to help create scoring chances with Benak and Titlbach.

#9 Adam Benak, C (2025): Talk about a player with a high motor. Benak excelled at both ends of the ice today and found his name on the scoresheet when he fired home a goal in the first to make it 2-0. Benak’s speed was on full display as the small forward was constantly moving his feet and on the prowl to strip pucks away. With how creative he is, he uses a variety of pathways to get himself to the net. Benak had a chance in overtime to close out the game but was denied, but it was another good game for the small, but skilled forward.

#17 Adam Titlbach, C: Ah yes, the three Adam’s! Titlbach has tallied two assists in four games so far. Titlbach is a quick and skilled forward who uses his playmaking abilities along with his shot to be a dual threat on the ice. Titlbach displayed great speed and was one of the faster skaters outside of Benak.

Kazakhstan

#4 Roman Bolshedvorsky, D: Talk about a big game from Bolshedvorsky, someone who could earn some NHL Draft attention after the tournament. Bolshedvorsky found the back of the net after coming down the right flank, walking into the faceoff circle and snapping home a shot past Milota. Bolshedvorsky then picked up an assist on Korneyev’s powerplay marker to tie the game. The 6-foot-3 defender was poised throughout the night, playing a big role in shutting down Czech’s offense, if only he was a bit faster.

#1 Abylaikhan Toleubay, G: Toleubay came into this game with a chip on his shoulder after sitting as the third-string goalie. He quickly impressed and showed why he recently captured Kazhakstan’s junior hockey goalie of the month award; he went 21-6 with a 2.10 GAA. He made 28 saves in the country’s first-ever win and came up with a sprawling glove save that showed shades of Marc-Andre Fleury. After tonight’s performance, the lightweight goaltender may have just won the starter’s crease.

By Colton Davies

Norway

#5 Ludvig Lafton, D: Another solid defensive game from Lafton. He scored, which got the scouts in the building talking. He also had a few nice blocks and was aggressive along the boards. I don’t know if he’ll ever be an NHLer but I can see him getting drafted late.

#17 Mathias Dehli, RW: Dehli was once again on his game for Norway, scoring twice to help build up the lead. He was buzzing around at both 5-on-5 and with the man advantage, moving the puck well and converting in space. At 6-foot-2 and 192 pounds, he has good size for a bottom-six forward, and while he doesn’t have a ton of points, it’s been good to see him have a good showing against his own age group after spending most of the season against men.

#25 Markus Walberg, G: The Norge needed Walberg to be great today and he delivered. He allowed a power-play goal against two minutes into the second, but made 11 stops to keep Norway in the lead. There wasn’t much more he could have done in the third period as Latvia started to pile it on, but he still held on for the win.

Latvia

#25 Darels Uljanskis, D: Uljanskis was a big reason for Latvia’s late-game comeback effort, assisting on the second goal and then scoring the third. He was playing crucial minutes for Latvia, especially late, in what’s been a decent tournament for the defender.

#26 Bruno Osmanis, RW: Osmanis was a man on a mission today, registering five shots in the first period alone. He wasn’t rewarded for it, but as the Latvians started off slow, he was one of the few who seemed to give the team some life. I also appreciated how the small forward attacked on the forecheck, and he had good speed, to boot.

#24 Daniels Serkins, LW (2025): Serkins scored Latvia’s first goal of the game, and that seemed to earn him more ice time the rest of the way. He was deployed often in the offensive zone and had a couple of other good looks later in that same frame. I thought he had a ncie two-way game while bringing some solid energy out there.

By Steven Ellis

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Czechia

Kazakhstan

Norway

Latvia

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