Every year, the hockey world shifts its focus to the World Juniors as the best players from the U20 circuit descend upon a city or two to represent their country during the holidays. 

In the lead up to the tournament, talking heads try to divine who among the clear favourites will walk away with the gold and which players will take home tournament MVP, and so on. And every year there is a surprise or six that end up stealing the show.

Below are a handful of prognostications that go against the grain to reflect that. Are any of these predictions likely to occur? No. No, they are not. Are they plausible? You bet! By design they are bold and they challenge the status quo. I'd just ask that you exercise a little discretion before betting your mortgage payment on these coming to fruition, even as awesome as it would be if they did.