World Juniors aka "The Charlie Coyle Show"

I know it's been awhile, but I thought I would catch you guys up on the WJC going on right now in Buffalo, NY. If you are unfamiliar with the WJC (World Junior Championship), here's the basic idea: there are two "pools" of teams, split up evenly according to their finish in the prior WJC. Each pool has 5 teams, and the teams play a round robin format within their pools for the first 4 games. The top 3 teams from each pool following the round robin play move onto the quarterfinals, with the top teams in each pool getting a bye (therefore moving directly to the semifinals). The individual teams represent their home countries (USA, Canada, etc), and the players must be under 20 in order to participate. 

Currently, team USA has completed 3 of the 4 round robin games, winning two in regular time and the third in overtime, thereby securing a spot in the next round. They play their final round robin game tomorrow night against Switzerland, looking to secure a next round bye with a victory. USA beat Germany 4-0 tonight, paced by a goal and an assist from Charlie Coyle, Team USA's official player of the game. Coyle leads the US team in scoring with a 2-3-5 line in 3 games, and is tied for 3rd in scoring amongst all players. He picked up his other 3 points on Tuesday, in USA's 6-1 demolishing of Slovakia. He assisted on team USA's first two goals of the game before punching in one of his own on an impressive top shelf shot from just outside the left post. 

While BU could undoubtedly use Coyle in their upcoming games, one has to hope that the experience and confidence he gains while representing his country on a major level will turn into points for BU in the rest of the second half. He has been playing on a line with Kyle Palmieri (currently playing in the Ducks system) and Chris Kreider (one of BC's best forwards), and at many times has looked like the best player on the line. Coyle has certainly impressed a lot of people with his play, and there can be little doubt that no one would be better to represent BU than him.

If you want to see Charlie and the rest of Team USA play, catch all their WJC games on NHL network or follow their live blog over at usahockey.com.