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Garth McLennan
sports@theotherpress.ca

Filatov sure to

| "Be hockey world

| is looking at all the

| phenomenal Canadian
players who lit up the

| recent World Junior

# _______| Championships in

Ottawa, but one forward who solidified himself as one

of hockey’s best up-and-coming young players was

Team Russia captain Nikita Filatov.

While the focus of the tournament has been
on Canada, Filatov was the driving force behind
Russia’s bronze medal finish. He was by far the
most offensively dynamic and exciting player in the
tournament, and he had an interesting route to get
there.

A native of Moscow, Filatov was selected sixth
overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2008
NHL Entry Draft. He was heralded as one of the
draft’s most talented and gifted players, a reputation
based on his tremendous statistics with CSKA-2
Moscow of the Russian Junior League. In 34 games
last season, Filatov put up 32 goals, 34 assists and
66 points while also displaying a gritty side with 90
penalty minutes. In the junior league playoffs, he
scored an incredible 14 goals and 23 points in 11
games.

Columbus quickly snapped him up and he made
their team directly out of training camp this year.
The problem was that he was already under contract
with a Russian KHL team. Displaying the brashness
of a future star and leader, Filatov proclaimed that
he wanted to play in the best league in the-world, so
he left Russia and came to Ohio, causing the entire
Russian super league to go berserk in protest.

Filatov started off with a bang, scoring his first

   
 

 

McLennan
sports editor

be top prospect

goal in his first game off of his first shot against the
Nashville Predators. He only lasted four games before
being sent to the Syracuse Crunch for seasoning, but
he’s scored up a storm down in the AHL since.

In a surprising move, Columbus released
Filatov—who is only 18—to play for Russia at the
WJC’s. Most NHL clubs point-blank refuse to allow
their junior-aged prospects to play in the World
Juniors if they have already gone professional.

So Filatov went to play for Russia, and it was a
good thing he did. Along with winning bronze, Filatov
tied for the tournament lead in goals with eight while
also adding three assists for 11 points in seven games.
He was an absolute whirlwind on the ice, and as a
wizard with the puck. Very few players could match
his breathtaking end-to-end rushes and electric goals
where he would often pick the corners.

Filatov was a true sniper in Ottawa and almost
knocked Canada out in the semi-final game on his
own. Columbus received solid proof that they have a
top-flight, all-offence future star in their system.

 

 
  
   

| ea
| .. an oF iis World Junior
sports editor | tournament may have
| been about Canada’s

| five-straight gold medal
| wins, the evolution of
——~ John Tavares or the
emergence of Cody Hodgson, but for Evander Kane, it
was all about the experience.

Kane, 17, plays for the Vancouver Giants of the
WHL during the season. Along with goalie Tyson
Sexsmith, Kane was invited to Team Canada’s training
camp and the two of them were among the team’s final
cuts. However, when forward Dana Tyrell went down
with a season-ending knee injury, Kane was called
back and informed that he was coming to Ottawa with
the rest of Team Canada U-20 squad.

Kane has been dynamite for the Giants this year,
which is also his draft season. Heading into the World
Juniors, Kane was sixth in WHL scoring with 22
goals and 26 assists for 48 points in 28 games with
45 penalty minutes. To open the season, he notched at
least a point in the first 21 games before going down
with a knee injury for a few games.

In Ottawa, Kane had to adjust his role. With a
team loaded in the firepower department, Kane skated
on the team’s fourth line and excelled in a checking,
shutdown role. He killed crucial penalties throughout
the tournament and finished with a pair of goals and

 

Giant experience for Kane

four assists.

Kane is ranked eighth in the NHL’s 2009 Entry
Draft and could possibly crack the top five. His
development with the Giants has been rapid over the
past three years and he’s arguably the best forward
available from the WHL for his draft class.

These recent World Junior games are extremely
valuable for the development of young players and
for where they’ll fall in the draft. No event is scouted
more heavily than the World Junior Championships
and Kane without a doubt boosted his stock. In
limited ice time he managed to score six points and
help shut down the other team’s top lines. That proves
to scouts and GM’s in attendance that he has the
diversity to be successful as both a strong scoring and
checking forward.

Kane is eligible for the next two WJC events
and if he plays in both he’ll definitely be thrust
into a much more glamorous and prominent role.
With Tavares, Hodgson and possibly Jordan Eberle
all playing pro, and therefore likely missing the
tournament, Evander Kane could be the guy that
Team Canada’s brass turns to in order to fill the void.