International Ice Hockey Federation

Who is MVP of Ufa 2013?

Who is MVP of Ufa 2013?

Plenty of choices as tournament reaches climax

Published 27.02.2013 23:07 GMT+6 | Author Andrew Podnieks
Who is MVP of Ufa 2013?
Russia's Nikita Kucherov scores the shoot-out game-winning goal in the quarter-final against Switzerland. Photo: Andre Ringuette / HHOF-IIHF Images
The final four teams are ready to do battle on Saturday to determine the medal winners, and there are several big names who have distinguished themselves this year.

Here are the top prospects to claim the title of most valuable player for the tournament.

By definition the MVP has to come from a team that has done well, so that eliminates the Relegation Round teams. As well, it’s pretty tough to consider an MVP coming from a team that was eliminated in the quarter-finals, leaving the semi-finalists to provide the top candidates.

Here they are, in alphabetical order:

Sebastian Collberg (SWE): He leads his team in goals (4) and is tied for most points (6). Collberg scored the first goal of the tournament to get the Swedes on a roll against the Czech Republic and scored in the first three games. He also had the shootout winner against the Russians in the quarters.

John Gaudreau (USA): Small but dangerous around the net, Gaudreau has scored in batches at the right time. He had two goals in a 9-3 win over Slovakia, a hat trick of power-play goals against the Czechs, and two more against Canada.

John Gibson (USA): The American goalie has played all but one period this year, allowing only eight goals with a 1.42 GAA. He was steady when he had to be, the best player in the team’s two losses, and the best player in its biggest win, against Canada in the semi-final. A certain lock for Directorate Best Goalie looking to become the first non-Canadian goalie to win MVP as well.

Mikhail Grigorenko (RUS): Talented in every aspect of the offensive side of the game, Grigorenko is big, fast, strong, loaded with all the skills needed to put the puck in the net. He has two goals and six points and is a +5 on the team.

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Nikita Kucherov (RUS): Dangerous whenever he’s on the ice, Kucherov has made his mark in Ufa, scoring five goals. He had the opener against Slovakia in the first game, scored the team’s only goal against Canada, and added two more against the Swiss, first near the end of the game to send it to extra time, and then the shootout winner.

Niklas Lundström (SWE): The Swedish goalie made a dramatic entrance to U20 2013 by asking his coach to go in for the shootout against the Swiss. He stopped all three shooters and won the game, and then played the next game, a 5-1 win over Latvia. He then came on in relief to guide the team to a big win over Finland. Lundström also starred in Sweden’s 3-2 win over Russia, again stoning all three shooters in the shootout to advance the Swedes to the gold-medal game. He has allowed just four goals in three games and has a 1.45 GAA.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (CAN): The captain played four excellent games before having a bad night in the semi-finals against the U.S., but he still showed superior skills with the puck, handling it with patience and calm under pressure and leading the team to the bye after the preliminary round. He leads the tournament in assists (8) and points (11) and helped inspire the team to key wins over the Americans and Russians in the first round.

 

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