EA Sports predicts World Juniors winner using NHL 22 simulator.
No surprises here.
Hockey fans haven't had a whole lot to look forward to as of late with the National Hockey League shutting down over the holidays following a huge outbreak in Covid cases around the league, but on Sunday fans will be treated to some excellent international hockey when the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Junior Championship tournament officially gets under way.
Many experts and pundits have already made their predictions for the tournament, but the latest to throw their hat into that ring is none other than EA Sports, the creators of the popular series of NHL video games. The prediction from EA Sports is rather unique though given that they have run a simulation in order to reach the result, a simulation that was powered by the game engine for their latest installment in the franchise, NHL 22.
Here's how their results broke down:
Quarter Finals:
There were no surprises through the first round of the tournament and that will be a theme throughout this simulation it seems.
Canada triumphed over Slovakia, not a surprising result in the least.
The United States of America defeated Czechia, formerly known as the Czech Republic.
Finland managed to get past Sweden to advance.
Last but not least the Russians advance after defeating Germany.
Semi Finals:
Once again it was the favorites advancing onto the next round in this bracket.
Top seeded Canada advanced over the 4th seeded Russians.
The United States of America, the 2nd seed in this round, also advance past 3rd seeded Finland.
Final:
This left us with an all North American final, something that would be very exciting if it did indeed happen, as Canada and the United States of America faced off in the final. Once again the favorite walks away with the victory here, as Canada defeats the Americans to take home the gold, at least according to the EA Sports simulator.
This in no way means any of the games today, or at any point in this tournament, are forgone conclusions. If anything it should be a little extra fun to see how accurate EA's simulation proves to be as the tournament plays out.
