Leafs at the World Juniors: Korbinian Holzer, 2007

Canada plays Germany tonight at the World Juniors, and is not exactly known as a traditional powerhouse. But at the 2007 tournament, Germany gave Canada a scare with a 3-1 loss in the preliminary round in a game that was tied 1-1 until nearly the 35 minute mark. 

Not known for being a scorer, Holzer had 0 points in 6 games. He did take four minor penalties.

Despite beating the USA 2-1 in overtime and beating Slovakia 4-2 in the round robin, Germany managed just five points and finished fourth in their group. Germany then lost their two games in the relegation round, and was ultimately demoted from the top level at the WJC.

Besides Marcel Mueller, who played three games with the Leafs in 2010-11 and two years with the Marlies, I haven’t heard of a single one of Holzer’s teammates. Felix Schutz had eight points in the tournament, but never played higher than the AHL and KHL.

Eliteprospects.com describes Holzer as “a big defensive defenseman who plays a gritty game. Likes to hit and punish opponents physically. Also has decent offensive ability.”  The first part sounds accurate, but it doesn’t look like Holzer will ever develop into any kind of offensive defenceman, with just seven points in his 36 NHL games. It looks like Holzer’s destined to be used mainly as a fringe NHLer, mostly used in emergency callup situations. Drafted 111th in 2006 by the Leafs, Holzer’s running out of chances to make it as a full-time NHL defenceman.