CALGARY – Dylan Strome did not think highly of Mitch Marner when they played against each other in the Greater Toronto Hockey League.

"I thought he was a little rat," said Strome, who played for the Toronto Marlboros. "I didn't like him very much."

Marner gets it.

"Back then I was a little shorter and I just wheeled around the ice and tried to annoy him and get him off his game as much as possible," Marner, who suited up for the Vaughan Kings, admits. "I'm happy that he said that, because that means I was doing my job back in minor hockey."

Over the years, Team Canada has had some incredible dynamic duos at the World Junior Hockey Championship. Last year, Max Domi and Anthony Duclair were electric together on a line with Sam Reinhart. There is a belief that this Christmas it may be Strome and Marner who become the nation's top one-two punch.

It has been an unlikely alliance. A heated rivalry that has transformed into an incredibly close friendship. How did it happen? Well, it all started when they played on Team Ontario at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

"We were playing the first couple games of the U17 and we weren't on the same line," Strome explained. "We were down 4-1 against Russia going to the third period and the coach tried to switch things up a bit and threw Mitch on my line with Graham Knott and he ended up getting a hat trick in the third period. We just bonded from there."

"When we got put on a line together the chemistry just blew up," Marner said. "He was so good against Russia and ever since then we talk a lot. We talk in the season, in the off-season and we're just great friends."

When it comes to Hockey Canada the pair have been joined at the hip ever since, including a stint together at the under-18 championship. And that trend continued last week in Calgary at the Summer Showcase for world-junior hopefuls.

"We were both happy," Marner said. "That's what we wanted. We want to be on the same line when we're on the same team. Our chemistry is unbelievable."

Strome agreed, "It's kind of a good feeling that Hockey Canada likes us together."

In the final exhibition game of the event, Strome scored two goals against the Czech Republic with Marner assisting on both.

"We build off each other and when one of us goes the other one goes with him," Marner said. "We just move the puck so well. It's like we know where each other are at all times. It's a special relationship."

Marner's rat-like tendencies, which used to infuriate Strome now make him smile.

"We have a special bond off the ice," Strome said. "We're pretty close. We get along. We make each other laugh. He's a bit of a goofball sometimes, but he keeps me honest and makes me laugh."

"I still like to try and get under his skin as much as possible," Marner says with a mischievous grin. "The best part of these games is sitting next to him in the dressing room and I can kind of play with him a little bit and give it to him. Whenever I get a chance to make jokes about him or to him I do it. I make sure that he hears it so (pause) he gets a little sensitive about it."

But don't be fooled. A rivalry between the two definitely still exists. They were battling for the OHL scoring championship last season with Strome, an Erie Otter, passing Marner, a London Knight, on the final day of the regular season. They also battled to go higher in the NHL draft with Strome getting picked by the Arizona Coyotes at No. 3 overall one spot ahead of Marner, who was scooped up by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

You even see it in drills in practice. Neither guy wants the other one to have bragging rights. But someone has to be in front, right? So, who is it now?

"I don't know," said Strome as Marner stops by the interview and listens intently. "I think that's me right now. I'm usually winning cards or whatever we play."

After Strome leaves to do his next interview, Marner gets his chance to weigh-in.

"I'll let him stay on his high horse," Marner said still wearing a wide grin. "I want him to be happy. That's what a good friend does. He doesn't put down the other one. He makes him stay on his high horse."