World Juniors Update: Campbell, Nemeth Lead Teams Into Semis

First off, Happy New Years to all of you fine folks. Hope 2011 is off to a good start.

While you all were out either partying, watching the Stars' disappointing defeat to the Canucks or even keeping up with the Texas Stars' win yesterday, the World Junior Championships continued in exciting fashion last night. As the tournament progresses, it seems, the Dallas Stars prospects continue to find more and more success. 

Let's start with Jack Campbell, the highly touted 11th overall pick by the Stars in last year's draft. Campbell's USA squad took on Switzerland last night, and the young netminder was once again spectacular. Campbell's 25 saves led the way to a USA 2-1 victory, giving the Americans a first place finish in Pool A and a spot in the semifinal game on Monday. The Americans went undefeated in the preliminary round and will face the winner of Canada/Switzerland game on Sunday. 

The game was a close one, and Campbell made two outstanding saves late in the third period for his team. After making a great left pad save on Reto Schappi, Campbell made a fantastic stop with 4 minutes left in the game to win the game for the US. (You can see that save at the 20:30 minute mark here.) Campbell leads the tournament with a 1.04 GAA and a .954 SV%. It's been quite the coming out party for Jack so far. 

Meanwhile, two other Stars prospects took the ice last night, as Sweden shocked Canada in a 6-5 shootout win that sends Sweden to the semifinals as well. Stars defensive prospect Patrik Nemeth recorded an assist in the win, and John Klingberg also looked impressive with his puck movement last night. Klingberg has a goal and an assist and is +2, and Nemeth has two assists and is +3 so far in the tournament. Sweden will play at 2:30 pm CT on Monday, and the Americans will play at 6:30 pm central. Both games should be shown on NHL Network.