Best Dirty Dangles From 2014

A new year is upon us and it's time to reflect on those special moments that made us get out of our seats and shake our heads in disbelief. No, we're not talking about Dion Phaneuf turnovers, we're talking about dirty dangles!

Here are our Top 5 Dirty Dangle goals from 2014:

Honourable Mention: Iguchi Aito

This 11-year-old Japanese dangler made the internet rounds a few months ago with his slick hands and we're very interested to see what his future holds as he looks like an instructor dangling kids at a hockey camp in this highlight pack:

#5: Brian Gibbons plays keep away

This was a Game 7 goal and featured Gibbons beating 4 skaters with quick hands before a nifty dangle on Niklas Svedberg:

#4: Bobby Ryan turns Alec Martinez inside-out.

We know Ryan has some nice mitts and he showed them off against the Kings as he goes through Alec Martinez before finishing on Jonathan Quick:

#3: Kasperi Kapanen goes between his legs in OT

This video sucks, but the goal is spectacular. Give it to 10 seconds and you see the Son of Sami throw a big hit before carrying the puck up the ice on a 1-on-3. He splits the D and proceeds to score between his legs to win the bronze medal of Finland's U-18 league in OT:

# 2: Vladimir Tarasenko does the "Nilsson"

This goal could easily be a co-winner as Tarasenko embarrasses the Rangers penalty kill at the blueline before beating King Henrik with the one-handed move:

#1: Alex Ovechkin splits the D and goes backhand shelf

The move to split the Devils defence is old-school Ovechkin and the finish is even prettier as he goes backhand roof while falling down. It's a shame that water bottles are strapped-in now because that bottle would have been popped into the 10th row:

2015 World Junior Hockey Pool

Exhibition games and selection camps are all wrapped up and the 2015 World Junior Hockey Championship is set to begin on December 26th. This means it's time for you to pick your squad for the 5th edition of the Dirty Dangle World Junior Hockey Pool! With lots of top talent staying in the NHL this year, the tournament is wide open to see which country has the best team of teenagers. The tourney is a popular one so why not add a fantasy hockey aspect to it and join us for the 2015 Dirty Dangle World Junior Hockey Pool!

The rules are simple:

• Pick one player from each box for a team of 10 skaters and 2 goaltenders.
• Goal or Assist = 1 point
• Win = 1 point
• Shutout = 2 points
• All stats are taken from the official IIHF World Junior website.
• Deadline to enter is December 26th at 1:00PM ET before the first tournament game.

There are a few ways to enter:

• E-mail your team to dirtydangle@hotmail.ca
• Tweet your roster to us @dirtydangle 
• Like us on Facebook and either send us a message or comment on our wall. 

The Prizes:

• 1st place: A Dirty Dangle hoodie
• 2nd place: A Dirty Dangle t-shirt
• 3rd place: A copy of Don't Call Me Goon: Hockey's Greatest Enforcers, Gunslingers, and Bad Boys

Make sure you follow us on Twitter and Facebook for daily pool updates following the games played that day.

Here are the boxes of players to choose from. Pick one guy from each box and send your roster in. Feel free to make any roster changes up until the 1:00pm ET, December 26th deadline!

Forwards Box 1	Forwards Box 2	Forwards Box 3	Forwards Box 4
Connor McDavid (CAN)	Willam Nylander  (SWE)	Dylan Larkin (USA)	Nicolas Petan (CAN)
Jack Eichel (USA)	Sonny Milano (USA)	Curtis Lazar (CAN)	J.T. Compher (USA)
Nikolay Goldobin (RUS)	Sam Reinhart (CAN)	Jacob de la Rose (SWE)	David Pastrnak (CZE)
Lucas Wallmark (SWE)	Pavel Buchnevich (RUS)	Kasperi Kapanen (FIN)	Kevin Fiala (SUI)
Arrturi Lehkonen (FIN)	Julius Vahatalo (FIN)	Ivan Barbashev (RUS)	Vladislav Kamenev (RUS)
Forwards Box 5	Forwards Box 6	Defencemen Box 7	Defencemen Box 8
Max Domi (CAN)	Sergei Tolchinski (RUS)	Madison Bowey (CAN)	Ian McCoshen (USA)
Nick Schmaltz (USA)	Anthony Duclair (CAN)	Robert Hagg (SWE)	Josh Morrissey (CAN)
Adrian Kempe (SWE)	Alex Tuch (USA)	Anthony DeAngelo (USA)	Mirco Mueller (SWI)
Martin Reway (SVK)	Peter Cehlark (SVK)	Shea Theodore (CAN)	Rinat Valiev (RUS)
Jakub Vrana (CZE)	Nikolaj Ehlers (DEN)	Julius Honka (FIN)	Dominik Masin (CZE)
Goalies Box 9	Goalies Box 10	Young Guns Box 11	Basement Battle Box 12
Thatcher Demko (USA)	Zach Fucale (CAN)	Ivan Provorov (RUS)	Noah Rod (SWI)
Eric Comrie (CAN)	Linus Soderstrom (SWE)	Lawson Crouse (CAN)	Markus Eisenschmid (GER)
Samuel Ward (SWE)	Denis Godla (SVK)	Auston Mattews (USA)	Oliver Bjorkstrand (DEN)
llya Sorokin (RUS)	Brandon Halverson (USA)	Noah Hanifin (USA)	Frederik Tiffels (GER)
Vitek Vanecek (CZE)	Juuse Saros (FIN)	Pavel Zacha (CZE)	Mads Eller (DEN)

Players You Won't Be Seeing At The 2015 World Juniors

World Junior fans often wait in anticipation (OK, mostly just Canadians) to see if any U20 NHLers will be loaned to their respective countries for the two week tournament. Canada's been fortunate to receive Curtis Lazar from Ottawa and Anthony Duclair from the Rangers, but we've also seen Mirco Mueller loaned to the Swiss from San Jose and David Pastrnak for the Czechs from Boston. Not the big name talent we've seen loaned in previous years, but for these kids to go from playing pro with men to a tournament with their peers is a big boost for their countries medal hopes. Often a lot of the talk is about "who could be there" and there's 9 standout U20's we won't get to see tear up the juniors this year as their sticking with their NHL clubs for the holidays.