World Juniors bragging rights at stake in Chicago Blackhawks locker room: ‘We always got chirping going on’

Ask some of the Chicago Blackhawks players about the IIHF World Junior Championship, and you’ll hear talk of national pride, rooting for their country and old memories from their tournament days.

That’s all well and good, but which country’s players are the most obnoxious about it?

“Oh, yeah, Canadians, definitely,” laughed Philipp Kurashev, a Swiss.

“I feel like the Canadians,” Wilmette native Alex Vlasic said. “They have bragging rights. I think they’ve won it the most times (28)”, and have won gold two of the last three years.

“So it’s kind of annoying for us (Americans) because we’ve got to step up and do our part and hopefully these guys can pull through this year.”

Even Brett Seney, a Canadian who was called up from the IceHogs on Monday, said: “I don’t know, the Americans and the Canadians are usually pretty outgoing when they cheer.

“But we got a couple of Czech guys (in Rockford). I know the Czech team’s not doing too bad this year, I think they’re pretty pumped up.”

Last week in Dallas, some of the younger players stood in front of a TV while a tournament game was on. Kevin Korchinski’s eyes were glued to the screen — the U.S. was on its way to beating Czechia 4-3 — as former Canadian teammate Connor Bedard stood beside him.

“Yeah, I watch as much as I can,” said Bedard, who won gold last year with Korchinski and Hawks prospects Ethan del Mastro and Nolan Allan. “I know me and Kev are talking about it every day, so a lot of guys are pretty into it. And we were watching this game pretty close.

“So it’s a lot of fun. I mean the tournament is such a storied tournament, and no matter how old you get or how long you played in it, it’s pretty fun to watch.”

“I love this time of the year,” said Philipp Kurashev, who played for the Swiss in 2018 and ‘19. “Even when it’s the soccer world championship or whatever, it’s kind of country-against-country, right?

“So it’s really fun. We enjoy it. We always watch the games in the locker room or in the meal rooms.”

Nick Foligno, a Buffalo, N.Y., native who has dual Canadian American citizenship, said the World Juniors is a great way to highlight hockey.

“You got the best kids of that age playing against each other,” he said. “It really brings young and old together.”

The banter

Before the trip, when the Blackhawks were practicing in Chicago, MacKenzie Entwistle’s face lit up when he started talking about the hell they were giving Kurashev.

“Switzerland ended up playing before we went on the ice,” Entwistle said at the time. “I don’t know what the final score ended up being, but we were giving it to Kurshy a little bit, just because they were losing. I think when we went on the ice it was 3-1, so we were just giving it to him a little bit.”

The Americans crushed the Swiss 11-3.

Just as Entwistle was wrapping up his story, Kurashev walked by.

“Switzerland lost, eh, Kursh?”

Kurashev didn’t acknowledge him.

Later, on the road, Kurashev cracked a smile when the subject of the World Juniors was brought up. He knew what was coming.

“We always got chirping going on,” he said.

Added Bedard: “Yeah, a little bit for sure. Everyone’s pulling for that country and it’s fun banter.”

Arvid Söderblom, who’s generally as chill as you can be and still maintain a pulse, roots for Sweden, but he hasn’t gotten caught up in the locker-room crossfire.

“Some of the younger guys here, Canadian guys who played maybe last year, they’re a little bit more into it. But I’m not that die-hard fan,” said Söderblom, whose hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden, is hosting the tournament. “It’s just fun to see Sweden play, whatever it is, if it’s soccer or hockey or whatever, you always want your home country to do well.

“So I’m not I’m not that into it like some of the other guys.”

He’s just glad “we don’t have any Finns on this team. Finland is the only one that has beat us so far.”

When asked about the rivalries, Foligno said, “I don’t care. I got cut both years, so I couldn’t care less about World Juniors. Stupid tournament. Nah, I’m joking.”

Foligno then recalled an anecdote about fellow American Connor Murphy, who did make the cut.

“You know, it was funny, we were all talking about it, then somebody asked Murph quietly, ‘Did you play? He’s like, ‘Yeah, I won.’ "

It was 2013.

The back stories

Foligno noted how some players still have teammates on those rosters.

“Especially Bedsy, who’s not far removed; Korch as well,” Foligno said. “There’s some guys that are still invested, they know some of the guys on the team. It’s funny to hear their stories and things about the teams.

Said Bedard: “I know a good amount of guys on the team, pretty close to some of them.”

He plans to watch their games religiously,

“Getting to put that sweater on is pretty special,” Bedard said. “I’m really excited to watch, see some of my close friends and just watch Canada. No matter how many times, you never get sick of it.”

[ [Don't miss] Gabe Perreault and his dad, Yanic, a Chicago Blackhawks coach, make the World Juniors a family affair ]

Vlasic’s memories aren’t as fresh and are a little more bittersweet.

In December 2020, he, Hawks goalie prospect Drew Commesso and forward Robert Mastrosimone were placed in the COVID-19 protocol, ending their 2021 tournament hopes.

“Definitely a little unfortunate,” Vlasic said. “A couple of us BU (Boston University) guys got COVID right before we’re supposed to go. That was kind of brutal, just being in COVID protocol and quarantined for 10 days, and you’re just sitting there thinking about how you could have been going to the World Juniors.

“But they won gold, so I’m happy for all those guys.”

The building blocks

The Hawks have four prospects in the tournament, but right now it’s all about Frank Nazar III. Heading into Tuesday’s quarterfinal matchup against Latvia, he leads all players with eight assists.

“I haven’t been not watching too many games but every time I check up on the reports or whose stats stood out, everybody’s saying that he’s been playing unreal,” Vlasic said. “I watched maybe a couple minutes of each game here and there. But every time I see him play, he’s looking good, he’s fast, he can see the ice pretty well. So I’m excited for him.”

All the Hawks prospects just give Vlasic added incentive: “I want them to win gold. So I’m cheering for those guys.”

Hawks coach Luke Richardson caught a little bit of Nazar on TV before a recent morning skate.

“He’s an exciting player,” Richardson said. “I haven’t seen (the prospects) play a lot of hockey, so this is really nice to see what they can do in a real game.

“He’s another creative guy that’s playing on the power play in World Juniors, so it’s exciting to think about what he’ll bring when it’s his time here.”

Bragging rights

Kurashev got a little payback.

Switzerland beat Norway, so they’ll face Söderblom’s Sweden in a quarterfinal Tuesday.

“So you never know. We’ve just got to win the quarterfinals,” he said. “It’s hard to say of course, it depends on every year because there’s always new players, so I hope they can surprise some people.”

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Söderblom’s not worried about his Swedes, even with the added pressure of being the host team.

“Sweden always has a good team, they always want to play for the medals,” he said. “So that’s always the goal — to get a medal — and hopefully we can get a gold on home ice. That would be unreal for the players and for the fans back home.”

Foligno has seen the lift a home country’s strong performance can have on a player’s morale.

“A lot of times these (tournaments) are the big main proponents of the country,” he said. “They’re so proud when their kids do well, especially Reichs (Lukas Reichel) seeing what the Germany team did, he was pretty pumped that day.

“And then you got Czechs and Petr Mrázek happy about his team. So it’s really cool how it brings everyone together.”

Foligno claims dual citizenship, “so I get to cheer for whoever wins.

“It’s kind of nice, you know. If USA wins, it’s great. If Canada wins, great.”