Where are they now? – Three forgotten WJC stars
Whenever you come across a story entitled “where are they now”, it is usually a foregone conclusion that the story will feature individuals who at one time performed great only to later have faded into oblivion. While this articled did begin with an idea not too far removed from this concept, it quickly evolved into something different. After all, when dealing with prospects that still haven’t reached their mid-20s it’s decidedly difficult to assess their careers, not to mention labeling that same career a success or a failure.
Becoming an NHL regular isn’t the only marker of success for a young hockey player, even one who managed to get selected in the NHL Entry Draft. Nor should it be. For every “sure thing” like Connor McDavid or “hidden gem” like Henrik Zetterberg or Pavel Datsyuk, there are thousands of former draft picks out there who have gone on to have long, successful careers as professional hockey players… just not at the NHL level.
At the start of many of these successful careers is the tournament known as the World Junior Championship, WJC for short. Looking at players that have excelled in the past ten or so tournaments – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Patrik Laine, Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to name a few – many have gone on to apply their craft at the NHL level. Not all though. While scrolling through the lists of noticeable statistical achievements in these tournaments, there are a few names that stand out. Names that haven’t been printed on the back of an NHL jersey, at least not yet. Names that could potentially be considered fitting for a story entitled “Where are they now”.
However, as we’ve established, being featured in such a story doesn’t necessarily mean failure. It just means these players’ road to professional hockey took on a slightly different direction than their peers.
This is a brief look at three players who all – at some point – led their respective national teams to a medal in the WJC and are currently in the midst of successful careers as professional hockey players. Just not in the NHL.
Max Friberg, Sweden
The oldest of the three players featured, the 92-born Friberg played a crucial role in Team Sweden winning the gold at the 2012 WJCs. While many still remember the beautiful overtime game-winning goal by Mika Zibanejad in the finals versus Russia, Friberg was actually the leading scorer for the Swedish team with nine goals and two assists in six games. His 11 points was second only to Kuznetsovs’ 13 and he was the only Swedish player to feature in the Top 10 while Canada and Russia had three skaters each. After the 2012 WJC, Friberg played a full season with Timrå in the SHL before leaving for North America. For the next four years he played a total of six NHL games, but managed to put up 148 points in 276 AHL games – even being named captain in what would turn out to be his last season for the St. John’s IceCaps. Now back home in Sweden, Friberg is playing for top SHL team Frölunda HC where he has contributed 11 points in 25 games.
Saku Mäenalanen, Finland
Many remember Teuvo Teräväinens amazing performance in the 2014 WJCs, scoring two goals while adding an astonishing 13 assists to win the point-scoring title. What many don’t remember is who actually hammered a lot of Teräväinens passes into the net. That’s right, it was Saku Mäenalanen. With seven goals and four assists, he ended up tying Anthony Mantha for 3rd place in the scoring race. After winning the 2014 gold medal with Finland, Mäenalanen went back home to continue playing for Kärpät – the team he had belonged to since the age of 15.
Currently in the midst of his fifth season in Finnish Liiga, Mäenalanen is averaging nearly a point per game.
Martin Réway, Slovakia
The youngest of the three, this slick Slovak has actually been a prominent member of two separate editions of the Slovakian WJC team. In 2014 he managed ten points in five games while in 2015, he ended up with nine points in seven games. On the 2015 squad, Réway was actually named captain and while his nine points weren’t as good of a total as the previous tournament, he managed to lead his team to a surprising bronze medal – defeating Sweden by a score of 4-2 in the deciding game. After completing two seasons with HC Sparta Praha in the Czech league, he was poised to fight for a spot on the Montréal Canadiens roster when disaster struck. Reway came down with an illness that affected his heart and he was forced to miss the entire 2016-2017 season. When he finally came back before the start of this season, the Canadiens sent him down to the AHL where things didn’t work out for either party. As of November 2017, Réway terminated his contract with Montreal and instead signed a deal with Slovak KHL team HC Slovan Bratislava.