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On Frank Nazar’s first shift at the World Junior Championship, he got the puck along the right boards, turned up the middle and slid toward the net, splitting two defenders with a pass and sending Isaac in front of the goal. – Set up Howard. Chance against Norway.
Seven games later, on his final shift of the tournament, Nazar received a pass at the top of the left circle, dragged the puck to his backhand, evaded a charging Swede player, brought the puck to his forehand, and passed it to Howard. . I was skating towards the net. This was another valuable scoring chance.
There was much of the same during Nazar’s tournament bookend play for undefeated and gold medal-winning Team USA. Nazar recorded eight assists, all of which were mainstays, creating even more chances for himself and others. His return to playing at an elite level after hip surgery last season was another positive sign for the Chicago Blackhawks and Nazar.
Based on Nazar’s production and analysis, athletic Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler write: From what I’ve heard from Blackhawks sources, it was a great tournament for Nazar. To understand Nazar’s play even better, I went back to the tournament and watched him play every shift in all seven games. In all, he cut 23 clips from all games. If anything stood out, I cut it out. This time I used 10 pieces.
Nazar’s tournament will be remembered for his playmaking. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t shooting. There are probably some individual scoring opportunities that he would have liked to have returned. He had a few breakaways and other chances, but everything went well except for the finish. By my calculations, he had 16 chances to score in seven games.
Below is one that comes close to the goal.
However, Nazar was more effective as a facilitator. By my count, he set up a quality scoring opportunity for his teammates 22 times. Seven of his eight major assists were off passes. One was born from rebounding.
This may have been his best pass of the tournament. He carried the puck into the zone, curled and sent a perfect backhand pass through the Swiss defense, setting up Gavin Brindley’s goal.
This pass against Switzerland wasn’t too shabby either. Blackhawks sources say they were particularly focused on Nazar’s speed and how he was able to generate rushes. On this play, his pass to him along the left side wasn’t perfect, but he took the pass off the boards and didn’t slow down as he entered the zone, hitting Brindley as he charged toward the net. .
This play was notable because it was fellow Blackhawks prospect Oliver Moore who fed Nazar off the wall and forced him to rush. Nazar and Brindley almost scored another goal.
Nazar, like many players on Team USA, did a lot of offensive damage in some of Team USA’s lopsided wins, but he also stood out in the big games. Although he didn’t have many scoring chances against the Czech Republic, Finland and Sweden, he still managed to score at least a few goals each game and also found other ways to influence the result. First, he had received a penalty. He may have played his best overall game against the Czech Republic. He did the forecheck and backcheck. He’s also created some chances.
On this play, he caused a turnover in the neutral zone.
On the same shift, he stole another puck while backchecking. That led to Nazar entering the offensive zone again. It was notable how much he played in the midfield in the tournament. With Connor Bedard set to be the No. 1 center in the future, Nazar will probably be the top candidate to be the No. 2 center.
Nazar is not the most physically gifted player, but he chooses his position. On this play, he stepped on the Czech puck carrier and forced a turnover in the neutral zone. Later in the shift, he retrieved the puck and nearly connected with a teammate at the net, but it fell to the ice.
Nazar also scored Team USA’s first goal against the Czech Republic. It starts with Nazar playing defense behind the net. Shortly after, he got the puck in transition and set up a goal on the move.
In the semi-final against Finland, Nazar fed Brindley for another chance off the rush. This one didn’t fit.
As mentioned earlier, Nazar’s final shift in the gold medal game against Sweden was: Although the play did not result in a goal, it was a good end to a positive tournament for Nazar. If he can continue to play like this late in the season at Michigan, you should think he’ll turn pro.
(Photo: Björn Larsson Rosvall/Getty Images)
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