Victor Hedman, the towering Swedish defenseman chosen by Illegal Curve to go #1 overall next year, is strutting his stuff at the USA Hockey tourney in Lake Placid. However, its not the stuff he was hoping to show.
Team Sweden star Victor Hedman did not make the impression he hoped for Tuesday night in his first appearance at the 2008 USA Hockey Junior Evaluation Camp Tournament.
Hedman was good in Sweden’s 3-2 victory against Team Blue in Tuesday’s nightcap, but he was not great. Good is usually good enough – especially in the middle of summer – but not when, like Hedman, you are trying to unseat Canadian wunderkind John Tavares as the consensus No. 1 pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
Hedman took a couple penalties trying to contain Team USA’s most effective forwards – James vanRiemsdyk and the speedy Kyle Palmieri – and he did not dominate on the offensive side of the puck.
Though this may be just a summer tourney, a bad impression like this can really hurt your draft status unless you follow it up with a stellar season.
