Calgary Flames prospects at World Juniors 2018 – Quarterfinals

All six Calgary Flames prospects made it to the quarterfinals at the 2018 World Juniors. But not all of them made it out. Let’s check out what went down.

The Calgary Flames scouts are probably patting themselves on the back right now. All six of the Calgary Flames prospects that participated in the World Juniors made it to the quarterfinals as well.

The first prospects were captain Juuso Valimaki for Team Finland and Eetu Tuulola vs. Team Czech Republic. Finland, unfortunately, came incredibly close, but couldn’t pull the trigger. It went to a shootout. Throughout the game, it seemed like Finland was depending more on the defensive duo of Olli Juolevi and Henri Jokiharju instead of Miro Heiskanen and Juuso Valimaki. However, Valimaki still led all Finns in ice-time with 25:35. He had two shots in the meeting and was a -1.

Tuulola had three shots and was a -3. Valimaki had one goal and four points in his five games at the tournament and Tuulola didn’t get on the scoresheet in his three games. Team Czech Republic has advanced to the semifinals. And Valimaki was quite upset about it.

Related Story: Flames prospects at World Juniors 2018 - Day six

Warning: Only watch this if you want to cry.

The next game for Calgary Flames prospects was Dillon Dube, captain of Team Canada vs Team Switzerland. And Switzerland’s coach wasn’t exactly… ecstatic about their opponents.

And with rightful reason. Canada won 8-2 putting 50 shots on net compared to the Swiss’ 15 shots. Dillon Dube had a goal that came on the powerplay and put up seven shots on goal – the most out of all the Canadians. He was also on the ice for another one of Canada’s goals. With this win, Canada will play the Czech Republic in the semis.

The next game for prospects was Adam Ruzicka of Team Slovakia vs. Linus Lindstrom of Team Sweden. Sweden won this game 3-2 to head on to the semifinals. Lindstrom didn’t have any points in the game, but he had three shots and put up 20:15 minutes of ice-time – the highest among Swedish forwards. Adam Ruzicka finished the tournament with two points in five games. And while he didn’t show up on the scoresheet a lot, he along with his line were always dependable.

The final game for Flames prospects Adam Fox for Team USA vs. Team Russia. The USA won this one 4-2 with a late-game empty net goal. Adam Fox had one assist early in the game that came on the powerplay. Fox also had eight shots on goal, the highest among American players which was a fifth of the total shots from the States. Six of his shots came in the first period alone. He put up 20:55 minutes of ice-time and now has five points in five games for the States. They’ll go on to play Team Sweden in the semis.

This was also a pretty cool thing to happen:

And now the games are set! Three Calgary Flames prospects have advanced to the semifinals. Dillon Dube of Team Canada will play Team Czech Republic. And we’ll have Linus Lindstrom of Team Sweden facing off against Adam Fox of Team USA.

Next: Five New Years resolutions for 2018

Will the gold medal game result in another heartbreak for the Canadians? We’ll have to wait and see.