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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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Canada's World Junior hopefuls practised in two groups at the WinSport Arena in Calgary on Thursday. 

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Sudbury's Jack Thompson, a Tampa Bay Lightning prospect, will not be able to attend Hockey Canada's selection camp due to COVID protocols. As a result, the right-shot defenceman has been ruled out as an option for the World Junior team. That leaves just one right-shot candidate (Brandon's Vincent Iorio) on the blueline.

Why is Hockey Canada comfortable with that situation? 

"No choice," said head coach Dave Cameron bluntly. "You know, that's the reality. I was watching some of the games from last year's tournament, and I think the Russian team had one right-hand shot. You'd like, probably, the left-right combination, but at the end of the day we're going to take the best players and, because they're the best players, they'll be able to adapt."

At last year's event inside the Edmonton bubble, Team Canada had five right-shot defencemen and three lefties. 

"The reality is we're deep on the left side," said Alan Millar, Hockey Canada's director of player personnel. "Jack was going to be a good option for us on the right side, but unfortunately he's not available to be at the camp. I talked to the young man [on Wednesday] and he handled it like a pro."

"We felt Jack needed to be at camp in order to make this team," said Scott Salmond, Hockey Canada's senior vice-president of hockey operations.

Moving forward, Hockey Canada feels like they have plenty of players who can shift to their off side.

Everett's Olen Zellweger was listed on the right on Thursday's depth chart. Ronan Seeley has also played on the right at times in Everett. Charlottetown's Lukas Cormier, who missed Thursday's practice due to a delayed flight, is another solid option. Millar believes Michigan's Owen Power, the first-overall pick in the 2021 NHL draft, is also capable of making the switch. 

"We're talking the top eight, nine, 10 defencemen in the country. We feel that skill-wise, hockey-sense wise, we have guys that can play on their off side," Millar stressed. "It's not something that's sprung up on us. It's not something where we're building the team going, 'Oh no, we don't have a lot of right-shot defencemen!' It's something we've prepared for and talked a lot about."

There are 10 defencemen remaining at camp with two more cuts to be made.

Montreal Canadiens prospect Kaiden Guhle, the only returning player on the back end, was paired with Zellweger on Thursday. 

"In Prince Albert I played the whole year there with someone on their off side [Remy Aquilon] so I'm not too worried about it," Guhle said. "We got a lot of skilled players that can play either side, so I don't think it's too big of a deal."

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Kent Johnson will miss Canada's selection camp due to COVID protocols but, unlike Thompson, the Michigan forward is considered a lock to make the team and will be allowed to join the group next week during a training camp in Banff. 

"Three things separate him and put him in a position to be a lock," Millar said. "One, he's an elite skater and has great speed. Two, real good hockey sense in terms of the way he sees the ice and makes plays. And then he has tremendous puck skills. He utilizes his speed in the right way. He goes hard to the net with the puck on both his forehand and his backhand, and he combines all that with an outstanding skill set. He certainly looks to be a guy who will be an offensive catalyst for us."

Johnson has 23 points in 17 games this season. The sophomore is up to 50 points in 43 NCAA games. He's the fastest Wolverine to reach 50 points since Kyle Connor. 

With Johnson absent, there are 20 forwards at the selection camp with seven cuts to be made. 

"When you look at our top nine, in particular, it's going to be deep and able to produce offence and we see Kent as a staple in that group," Millar said. 

The players will take part in another practice on Friday before facing U Sports players in games on Saturday and Sunday. Cameron says the plan is to keep all the players in camp until after the second U Sports game. 

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Peterborough Petes centre Mason McTavish missed the first on-ice session of camp after returning an inconclusive COVID test. Per the depth chart distributed by Hockey Canada, the plan was for McTavish to skate on a line with Jets prospect Cole Perfetti, the only returning forward, and Coyotes prospect Dylan Guenther.

Assuming he returns a negative test result, McTavish will join the group on Friday. 

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Joshua Roy, a fifth-round draft pick by the Montreal Canadiens in July, wasn't invited to Canada's summer camp, but forced his way onto the radar with a scintillating start with Sherbrooke. 

"I was surprised when I received the call," he said of being invited to the final selection camp. "I was talking to my parents, and it was unbelievable for me. I was so excited." 

Roy leads the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in scoring with 45 points in 25 games. 

"When I didn't get an invite in the summer I was like, 'Okay, I got to work harder,'" Roy said. "It's my conditioning. I worked a lot on it this summer. Now, in my game, I'm more implicated in everything: d-zone and offensive zone."

Roy also overhauled his diet. 

"I had a little bit less," he said. "Just eating better. Just healthier."

Roy is still facing an uphill battle to crack Canada's roster. What does he want to show the management and coaches this week? 

"Just that I changed a lot my style of game," he said. "I can work very hard." 

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Hockey Canada hasn't given up hope that they will get some help from the National Hockey League. Salmond said on Thursday that the door isn't entirely shut on Carolina's Seth Jarvis and Columbus' Cole Sillinger.

"The door is never closed until the last possible moment," said TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie. "NHL teams want to see how the player is playing at the time. They want to see what the injury situation is on their team. There's a whole host of factors that go into whether or not they're going to be released. In the past week or so, if you were going to put those teams' feet to the fire they'd say, 'No, we're not going to release those players.' But next week maybe the situation will be a little bit different. The roster must be declared by Dec. 15 because that's when teams go into quarantine."

Jarvis has four goals and six assists in 18 games with the Hurricanes. He's averaging 13 minutes and 43 seconds of ice time per game. 

Sillinger has five goals and five assists in 25 games with the Blue Jackets. He's averaging 13 minutes and 51 seconds of ice time per game. 

"He's unbelievable," Jackets forward Max Domi said earlier this week. "He's a very, very mature kid. That's one thing as a hockey player, but as a human being too. I mean, you watch how he interacts with his teammates, how he prepares for games and practises, how he handles himself day-to-day and he's a true pro. Not great for the World Junior team [that he's here], but they got a couple studs that I'm sure can fill that spot." 

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Winnipeg defenceman Carson Lambos skated in a non-contact sweater on Thursday. 

"He's real close to being full contact," said Cameron. "It's more precautionary."

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Hockey Canada lines on Thursday: 

GROUP 1

Perfetti - McTavish - Guenther 

Cuylle - Wright - Bourgault

Dean - Desnoyers - Stankoven 

Tverberg (RW)

 

Guhle - Zellweger 

Hunt 

Sebrango

O'Rourke

 

Cossa 

Garand 

Brochu

 

GROUP 2

Neighbours - Greig - Sourdif

Roy - Bourque - Evangelista

       - Lapierre - Bedard 

       - Finley - Dufour 

 

Power - Iorio 

Cormier 

Seeley 

Lambos

 

Cossa 

Garand 

Brochu