Ducks Prospects Win Gold At World Junior Championship
Jan 6, 2021By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The Anaheim Ducks organization made waves at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championships.
The annual tournament saw Ducks prospects capture both gold and silver medals, while all six participants helped their teams reach the quarterfinal round.
Last night’s gold medal game – a 2-0 shutout win for Team USA over Team Canada – featured five of those six prospects. Anaheim’s National Hockey League-leading four American skaters – Trevor Zegras, Jackson LaCombe, Sam Colangelo and Henry Thrun – bested the Ducks 2020 first-round selection, Jamie Drysdale, and Team Canada.
Trevor Zegras, Anaheim’s ninth overall selection in the 2019 NHL Draft, recorded two points (1g/1a) as Team USA grabbed its fifth gold medal in the tournament. The Americans medaled in the event for the fifth time in the last six years, the best stretch in the team’s history. The gold medal game capped an impressive tournament for Zegras, who became the fifth American player to grab Most Valuable Player honors.
The Ducks are the only organization in the NHL to have two American MVPs, with Zegras joining former Gulls netminder John Gibson (2013).
Zegras recorded a tournament-leading 18 points and 11 assists. He tied the all-time Team USA World Junior Championship record for both points and assists (7-20=27). Both marks were held by Jordan Schroeder, who did so over three tournaments and 19 games (Zegras completed his second tournament and 12th career game).
Zegras also finished his World Junior career with the second-highest points-per-game total in U.S. history, with 2.25 points per game (Doug Weight, 2.71 per game). He also finished second in all-time assists with 1.67 per game (Weight, 2.0 per game).
Among all-time U.S. leaders in a single tournament, Zegras ranked second in points, assists and tied for third in goals (7-11=18).
Drysdale grabbed a silver medal, finishing with two assists and a plus-11 rating in the tournament. Swedish center Albin Sundsvik recorded three points (1g/2a) and a plus-1 rating.