Back in December, the Carolina Hurricanes had an impressive 10 prospects attend the World Juniors, representing six different countries. The tournament was suspended after just a handful of games due to COVID issues, and now, the rescheduled tournament just ended nearly eight months later than it was supposed to. There wasn’t nearly as much hype surrounding the tournament as there normally is when the World Juniors are held in December, and the attendance reflected that.
With Hockey Canada under investigation for a whole mess of things, a lot of players opting out of the tournament and the fact that hockey doesn’t really draw in August, the tournament felt a little less important than normal.