After avoiding several of the big dragons (Canada, USA, and Finland) in the group stage, Junior Crowns are big favorites to take home group B in the Junior World Championship.
But the premiere match against Slovakia did not start particularly well.
Svenskbekantingen Dalibor Dvorsky dealt out the first blow when he scored in power play. The Slovak giant talent has a past in several Swedish clubs, including AIK where he excelled the most.
The team captain showed the way
But then Axel Sandin Pellikka stepped into action. First, he played forward to his close friend Rasmus Bergqvist at the equalizing moment.
We are best buddies outside the ice, so it was extra fun to see him score a goal too, says Sandin Pellikka about Bergqvist to SVT.
And then he took matters into his own hands for a hat-trick. The three subsequent goals were all made by the Swedish team captain.
It's clear that you get happy, it's nice, he continues.
Dream start
The 19-year-old is one of the championship's biggest stars, and showed it directly when he led Junior Crowns to a dream start of the Junior World Championship tournament in Canada. The final score was 5–2 to Sweden after a concluding goal by Linus Eriksson.
But there will likely be no further celebration for the Skellefteå boy and his teammates. Already on Friday, the next match awaits, and then it's Kazakhstan that stands for opposition. Face-off is at 23.00 Swedish time.
+ The Junior World Championship is played 26 December-6 January in Ottawa, Canada
+ Group A: Canada, USA, Finland, Latvia, Germany
+ Group B: Sweden, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Switzerland
+ The four best teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals
+ Sweden's matches:
26 December 18.00 - Slovakia (5–2 to Sweden)
27 December 23.00 - Kazakhstan
29 December 18.00 - Switzerland
31 December 23.00 - Czech Republic
