Columnist image

SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

| Archive

TSN Hockey Reporter Mark Masters reports on the World Junior Hockey Championship. Team Canada practised in two groups (Red & White) on Wednesday at the Westerner Park Centrium in Red Deer, Alta.

The intensity level at Hockey Canada's World Junior selection camp is rising fast. There were two practices yesterday, another practice this morning and now an intra-squad game tonight. The battle for the final roster spots is, of course, top of mind, but the coaching staff will also be looking to develop chemistry. 

Returning players Dylan Cozens and Connor McMichael played together in the first two scrimmages and looked pretty good for Team White. Tonight they'll have Kirby Dach on their right wing. That trio has the potential to be really special together. McMichael is a gifted finisher who potted 47 goals in 52 games with London last season. Cozens, who racked up 85 points in 51 games with Lethbridge, can absolutely fly and the 6-foot-4, 200-pound Dach is a dynamic blend of size and skill. 

"We've built some good chemistry and we're​ looking forward to showing it tonight, showing Bear [coach Andre Tourigny] that we work well together," said McMichael, who scored five goals in seven World Junior games last year. "Playing with those two, they're both big and strong. Coz generates a lot of speed through the neutral zone ... When he picks up speed in the neutral zone he's one of the fastest skaters I've ever seen."

Dach, who spent last season in the National Hockey League, is coming off an impressive bubble appearance with the Blackhawks. He posted six points in nine playoff games and was second among Chicago forwards in ice time behind only Patrick Kane. 

"The year was full of ups and downs and I learned a lot as a pro and how to prepare for those games," Dach told TSN's James Duthie in an interview on Tuesday. "I'm going to bring a pro mentality to the team and elevate the pace of play for our team and be a trusted player for the coaching staff."​

Dach was dominant in the last camp scrimmage, way back on Nov. 22, when he played centre with Connor Zary and Phil Tomasino on his wings. 

"His hockey sense," said McMichael when asked what stands out about Dach, "how big he is protecting the puck and he's got really good hands so he's just an all-around great player. I'm just happy I get the opportunity to play with him."

---

McMichael, Cozens and Dach will likely see a lot of Team Red defencemen Thomas Harley and Braden Schneider, who have been paired together since the start of camp.

"They're two elite defencemen," said McMichael. "Harls is a really good offensive defenceman and Schneids is a big body and able to shutdown elite forwards so they complement each other well."

Harley made his NHL debut this summer with the Dallas Stars suiting up in a round-robin game. 

"I can give him a little bit longer of a leash to do what he needs to do offensively and what he's good at," said Schneider, a first-round pick by the New York Rangers in October. 

Harley, who recorded 57 points in 59 games with the Mississauga Steelheads last season, and Schneider were among the final cuts at Hockey Canada's selection camp last December.

"We came in with a lot to prove and a little chip [on] our shoulder," Schneider said. "We've been feeding off each other's energy and letting each other do what we do best."

At his best, Schneider is a physical presence. The 6-foot-2, 202-pounder studied Scott Stevens YouTube videos while growing up in order to refine his hitting ability. Schneider, who lists Montreal Canadiens captain Shea Weber as his NHL role model, made it clear he won't hesitate to lay the body in an intra-squad game. 

"Everyone's going 110 per cent out there so if it comes I'm not going to take it easy on them," Schneider said with a smile. "So, if it's there I'll try and finish them as best I can."

Even if there are no big hits available, Schneider will look to make life hard for opposing players by executing Tourigny's defensive-zone system.  

"He wants us to be tight," Schneider revealed. "We have a setup where one guy goes and tries to smother the play and we're working as one unit with five guys on the ice. He wants us to be quick. He wants us to be hard. He wants us to be moving and communicating all the time." 

Despite all the focus on physicality and defensive play, Schneider did boost his point total from 24 to 42 last season in Brandon. And Schneider spent time in the off-season working to improve his offensive game with power skating instructor Jordan Trach in Saskatoon.

"The main thing I wanted to focus on this year is being a little bit more mobile," said Schneider, who turned 19 in September. "Compete level and defensive [play] is a staple in my game, but I wanted to generate a little more offence and take guys one-on-one a little more so I worked on my feet and moving the puck better and moving my body better with it."

---

Hendrix Lapierre started the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League season strong with eight points in five games with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, but the Washington Capitals first rounder got off to a slow start in Red Deer. 

"I wasn't really satisfied with my start to the camp," Lapierre readily admits. "I feel like the two next games are really huge for me. I want to show the whole coaching staff that I can play pretty much every role, that I can win faceoffs, that I can be good defensively, that I can make the little details correctly. We lost two weeks in quarantine, but I feel like everyone's in the same boat right now and we all have only two games to show ourselves." 

Lapierre played only 19 games during an injury-plagued 2019-20 season, but was excellent at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup with 11 points in five games. 

"They've been following us for [years] now so they know what we're capable of and right now it's just about showing consistency and showing that we can play as a group and do pretty much every detail right on the ice," Lapierre said. 

The final cuts are expected after Thursday's intra-squad. There are 25 forwards left with 14 spots available. 

"There's a lot of guys with things to prove and nothing's made so far," said Lapierre. "In our rooms [during quarantine] we really had time to think about that and prepare for now so there's no excuses. Everyone has to be ready and if you're not it's going to be your fault if you get cut." 

Lapierre will start tonight's game on a line with Cole Schwindt and 16-year-old Shane Wright. 

---

 

The USA Hockey camp is underway in Plymouth, Mich., where Jake Sanderson is looking to do something his father, former NHLer Geoff Sanderson, never did.

 

"He told me he got cut from the World Junior team," Sanderson, the fifth overall pick in October's NHL draft, said. "I'm just asking for tips from him and about his experience playing for Team Canada [at the senior World Championships] and he's very excited and supportive of me to be on Team USA." 

 

Sanderson has been paired with Boston College's Drew Helleson so far. 

 

"I was actually playing with him at the last [summer] camp so we have some chemistry building up," Sanderson said. 

 

The Montana native plans to be a two-way force for Team USA and "use my feet to my advantage." 

Those feet have impressed his North Dakota teammate Tyler Kleven, who is also an Ottawa Senators prospect. 

 

"His skating, it’s just so fast and [he's] so strong with the puck and he just makes the right play every time it seems like," Kleven marvelled. "He's not super flashy, but he's just so efficient and brings a lot to the table." 

---

 

Projected lines for Wednesday's Hockey Canada intra-squad game: 

 

Team Red

 

Levi

Lennox

 

Harley - Schneider 

Guhle - Barron

Sebrango - Spence

 

Quinn - Byfield - Krebs 

Perfetti - Bourque - Rees

Beckman - Goncalves - Clarke 

Holloway - Newhook - Pelletier 

Foerster

 

Team White

Brochu

Garand

Gauthier 

 

Byram - Drysdale 

O’Rourke - Cormier

Korczak

 

McMichael - Cozens - Dach 

Zary - Mercer - Tomasino 

Lapierre - Schwindt - Wright

Poulin - Suzuki - Jarvis