The 2016 World Juniors Are Officially Underway

And with this goal from the Czech Republic’s Michael Spacek on the penalty shot, the 2016 World Junor Championships are officially underway. Happy Boxing Day to all you bastards up north and happy World Juniors day to all. The Czech’s currently have a 1-0 lead over the Russians to start off the tournament and later today we’ll see William Nylander and Team Sweden take on the Swiss at 9:30. And then of course we have USA vs Canada at 1 pm (EST). A game which will feature the top 5 point scorers currently in the OHL (USA – Dvorak, DeBrincat, Tkachuk. CAN – Marner, Strome). We’ve got a great day of hockey ahead of us and it’s just getting started.

Spacek, 4th round draft pick to Winnipeg in 2015, thought he had scored the first goal of the tournament just a minute earlier as the Czechs were on the powerplay but the goal was called off as David Kase got whistled for goaltender interference. But as the old saying goes, “puck don’t lie”

Follow along for World Juniors coverage all week at @BarstoolJordie

P.S. – Here are the top 5 players to watch in this year’s tournament.

UPDATE: Holy shit Willie Nylander just got clobbered at center ice against Switzerland. Nylander got caught not looking but the initial contact was still to the head here. Gotta hope Nylander doesn’t miss too much time here because he’s quite possibly the best player in the tournament this year.