Finland vs. Czech Republic

The 2018 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament will begin on Feb. 13 with a game between Czech Republic and Finland at 3:30 p.m. ET at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan.

Both teams feature players who participated in the Fall 2017 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament in Hämeenlinna, Finland in November, where Team Finland earned gold. Multiple players from both teams were recently included on the NHL Central Scouting “Players to Watch” List. These players are indicated by their grade, where (A) - first round talent, (B) - second and third round talent and (C) - fourth through seventh round talent.

Returning players for Team Finland include: goaltender Justus Annunen (B); forwards Kim Nousiainen, Konsta Hirvonen, Ville Petman, Jesse Moilanen, Kristian Tanus (C), Arttu Nevasaari (C), Lenni Killinen (B) and Patrik Siikanen (C); and defenseman Lassi Thomson, Juuso Ketola (C), Anttoni Honka, Mikko Kokkonen, Peetro Seppälä, and Toni Utunen (C).

Returners from Czech Republic are: goaltender Lukas Dostal (C); forwards Jan Matiasek, Vojtěch Kropáček, Jakub Lauko (C), Karel Plášek (C), Dominik Sklenář, Petr Čajka, Michal Kvasnica (C) and Vojtěch Střondala; and defensemen Vojtěch Doktor, Jakub Adámek (C), František Klejna and Jan Dluhoš.


The two teams met on Nov. 8 of 2017 during the second game of the 2017 Five Nations Tournament in Finland, where both teams scored two goals each during regulation to force an overtime period. Team Czech Republic secured the win with a overtime-goal, with assists going to current forward Karel Plášek and defenseman Vojtěch Doktor. The game was Team Finland’s only loss in the tournament.

USA vs. Sweden

In the NHL’s 2018 Draft Prospect Rankings, five of the Top-25 skaters from North America hail from Team USA. Oliver Wahlstrom (A) comes in at No. 7, followed by Joel Farabee at No.11, Mattias Samuelsson (A) at No. 17, Patrick Giles (C) at No. 19 and Bode Wilde (A) at No. 22. Fourteen of Team USA’s 21-man roster are featured in the NHL Central Scouting “Players to Watch” List.

Team Sweden took second at the Fall 2017 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament, and is bringing 16 returners to USA Hockey Arena. Those included are goaltender Olof Lindbom (B); forwards Oskar Bäck (B), Filip Hållander (B), Nils Höglander, Samuel Fagemo (C), Jonatan Berggren (C), Linus Nässén (C), Lukas Wernblom (B) and Carl Jakobsson(C); and defensemen Fredrik Granberg (B), Filip Johansson (B), Axel Andersson (B), Nils Lundkvist (C), Simon Lundmark, Adam Ginning (B) and Linus Pettersson.

In their last meeting, Team Sweden tallied a 2-0 win over Team USA at the 2017 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament on Nov. 11. Two of Sweden’s returners, forward Jonatan Berggren and defenseman Simon Lundmark, were ranked as Top-10 players of the tournament at fourth and seventh, respectively. Team USA forwards Joel Farabee and Oliver Wahlstrom were ranked eighth and ninth, respectively.