The 2014 U20 World Junior Championships will be held in Malmö, Sweden this year from December 26th, 2013 to January 5th, 2014. Entering the tournament, a target will be on the back of the US team as the defending champions. Many of the key players that won the gold medal last year, specifically standout goaltender John Gibson and clutch scorer Johnny Gaudreau, are no longer eligible, and the US will have to turn over the majority of its roster.

PHOTO CREDIT - BladesofTeal.com

Philadelphia - September 21, 2013 - The 2014 U20 World Junior Championships will be held in Malmö, Sweden this year from December 26th, 2013 to January 5th, 2014. Entering the tournament, a target will be on the back of the US team as the defending champions. Many of the key players that won the gold medal last year, specifically standout goaltender John Gibson and clutch scorer Johnny Gaudreau, are no longer eligible, and the US will have to turn over the majority of its roster. Behind the bench will be University of Minnesota coach Don Lucia, replacing last year’s championship winning coach Phil Housley. In a three part series, I will examine the contenders to fill each position. In our first edition, we’ll look at the goaltenders.

The goalie who wins the starting job will have some huge shoes to fill because John Gibson turned in a goaltending performance that hadn’t been seen at the World Juniors in a long time. Even Jack Campbell’s performances in 2010 and 2011 pale in comparison to the tournament that Gibson had. He was named the best goaltender, and most valuable player of the tournament for the gold medal winning Americans. During their Evaluation Camp over the summer, four goalies were invited, and will likely be the four that compete for the three spots on the team. It is possible that another goalie could get a hot start to the season and be invited to the final camp, but it would be a surprise. Here’s a look at those four:

Jon Gillies, Providence College(Hockey East): Gillies is the only returning goaltender from the previous squad. He saw a little bit of game action in last year’s tournament in relief of John Gibson in a blowout win for the Americans over Germany, and Gillies was perfect, not allowing a goal. Drafted by the Flames in the third round of the 2012 draft, Gillies is a big goalie at 6’5”, and is coming off a very impressive freshman season at Providence. Playing in probably the toughest conference in college hockey, Gillies collected a handful of selections to various all-star teams after posting a 17-12-6 record with a 2.08GAA and .931 save percentage. Gillies is the true backbone of the entire Providence team, evidenced by the fact that the team went 0-2-1 when Gillies was away playing in last year’s tournament. Gillies is the frontrunner to win the starting job, and if he is able to replicate or improve on his freshman season, he’ll be the US starter.

Thatcher Demko, Boston College(Hockey East): After taking accelerated high school classes, Demko will actually play his freshman season at BC before he is eligible to be drafted, which he will be, in the 2014 NHL Draft. Demko boasts an impressive resume as the go-to goaltender for the U18 US team for the last year, and is very familiar with USA Hockey, which is not something to be discounted. Demko is penciled into the difficult position of starting goaltender for the BC Eagles, replacing 2x NCAA Champion Parker Milner. Unless he has an incredible start to the season, Demko is not a huge threat to Gillies to win the starting job. He is more likely to grab the third goaltender spot, gaining experience en route to being the starter in the 2015 tournament.

Anthony Stolarz, London Knights(OHL): After not receiving the playing time he wanted at the University of Nebraska Omaha, Stolarz opted for the CHL route and joined the London Knights in time for their run to the Memorial Cup. A second round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, Stolarz is big, and very athletic for his size. He stepped in immediately and supplanted Jake Patterson as the Knights’ starting goalie. With the Knights hosting the Memorial Cup this year, Stolarz will be making his second straight appearance in the CHL’s premier tournament. Despite the fact that Stolarz came from relative anonymity after a strong draft season in the NAHL and has never played internationally for the US, he has a strong chance to win the backup job behind Gillies.

Collin Olson, Ohio State(Big 10): Ohio State is not traditionally known as a hockey powerhouse, but they were able to land Olson as a highly touted recruit after spending the 2011-2012 season as the US’s U18 goalie. In his freshman year, he struggled to establish himself, and posted a 3.09 GAA and a save percentage barely over .900. The biggest thing Olson has going for him is his familiarity with the USNTDP. It appears that he will need a very strong start to his season to be a real threat to supplant Gillies or Stolarz. The US likes to carry one goalie that will be eligible for the next year (usually the third goalie) so they have some experience, and Demko is the only one eligible to return. So given the choice of grooming a future starter or skipping over him for a player that in all likelihood will not play at all, they will likely choose the returnee.