A Winning Habit
Fansided

Montreal Canadiens: Top Three World Juniors Performances By Current Habs

By Tyler Major-Mcnicol

EDMONTON, AB - JANUARY 05: Cole Caufield #13 of the United States celebrates victory over Canada during the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship gold medal game at Rogers Place on January 5, 2021 in Edmonton, Canada. (Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)
EDMONTON, AB - JANUARY 05: Cole Caufield #13 of the United States celebrates victory over Canada during the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship gold medal game at Rogers Place on January 5, 2021 in Edmonton, Canada. (Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next

While not every Montreal Canadiens prospect gets invited to represent their country at the World Juniors, it’s a fair bet that each respective roster has many that have.

The World Juniors, aside from the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup and the World Under-18s, are really a big opportunity for fans and scouts to get a view of the future. There is no direct correlation between a tremendous world juniors performance leading to a successful NHL career, but some great NHL talents got started there.

For the Canadiens, their roster from 2022-23 featured a zest of players from all over the world. Mainly headlined by Canadiens and Americans, some other countries are represented on the Canadiens roster. Some of them had better performances at the U20s than others.

But we’re here to see the top three player performances at the world juniors from current Habs. So let’s dive in.

Brendan Gallagher – 2011-12

The same hard-nosed, in-your-face-and-drive goaltender’s crazy style that Gallagher displays with the Canadiens on a nightly basis, is what endeared him to the team Canada roster builders. Prior to Gallagher playing in the world junior championships, he was working towards an eventual 54-game season with 41-36-77 point totals. He also added in 79 penalty minutes, showing glimpses of his dogged determination, that still never wavers.

Gallagher’s offensive touch came out during the World Juniors, as the 5’9″ right winger performed at a point-per-game pace, with 3-3-6 totals through six games. Gallagher was one of the most important pieces on a roster featuring the likes of Mark Scheifele, Jonathan Huberdeau and Mark Stone. On the blue line, there was former Canadien Nathan Beaulieu, and number one defenseman Dougie Hamilton.

Gallagher and Team Canada had a very strong tournament, although it ended in a disappointing fashion. The Canadiens blew a three-goal lead in the third period and lost 5-3 to the Russians. Russia came out on top as champions, but Gallagher was a large reason why the Canadians end up competing for gold.

Home/Habs News