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IIHF World Junior Championship Include Calgary Flames Prospects McDonald, Hickey, Ollas-Mattsson

The WJC is taking place in Helsinki, Finland from December 26, 2015 to January 5, 2016. Here are some basics about the Flames prospects that you may want to know.

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It's another year and that means hockey fans can rejoice in the IIHF World Junior Hockey Tournament. This year the international teams are in Helsinki, Finland from December 26th at the start of the tournament until the final gold medal game on January 5th. Here's a refresher on the basics of the World Junior Championship.

Teams are as follows;

Group A
Canada
Denmark
Sweden
Switzerland
USA

Group B
Russia
Czech Republic
Finland
Slovakia
Belarus

Among those teams, three Calgary Flames prospects are taking part.

Mason McDonald was a 2nd round pick for the Flames in the 2014 draft who plays for the Charlottetown Islanders of the QJMHL. This 19 year old goalie from Halifax, Nova Scotia, is 6’4″ and 200lbs. In 19 games this season for the Islanders, McDonald has a save percentage of .893 and 3.47 GAA. For being such a big body in net, McDonald touts good reflexes and a calm demeanour. Mason McDonald is the starting goalie for Team Canada this season. In his first game, earlier today, McDonald stopped 21 of 25 shots on net and finished with .840 save percentage.

Brandon Hickey, the 19 year old defenseman from Leduc, Alberta now plays for Boston University and was a 3rd round pick for the Flames in the 2014 draft. At 6’2″ and 190lbs, Hickey is a strong skater and skilled 2-way defenseman who has earned 5 goals and 2 assists in 16 games with BU. He also plays for Team Canada.

One last prospect to keep your eye on is Adam Ollas-Mattsson of Team Sweden. This 19 year old defenseman from Stockholm, Sweden was a 6th round pick for Calgary in the 2014 draft and plays for the Djurgardens IF of the Swedish Hockey League. He's 6'3" and 216lbs. In 22 games, he's notched 1 goal and 3 assists while maintaining a +3 rating. Ollas-Mattsson plays smart hockey, making good defensive decisions while blocking shots and intimidating opponents with his size. This morning, in his first game with Team Sweden, Ollas-Mattsson notched a goal against Switzerland.

We at MatchsticksAndGasoline.com will be covering all the Team Canada games as well as updating on Team Sweden during the World Junior Hockey Tournament so check back often for updates!

*all player stats c/o www.hockeydb.com

by Traci Kay