Canada plans to build deep World Junior team
Published
Hockey Canada held practices and a scrimmage as part of the World Junior selection camp at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville, Ont., on Monday.
Team Canada is short some star power as the country aims to win a third straight gold medal at the World Juniors.
Chicago Blackhawks centre Connor Bedard, Columbus Blue Jackets centre Adam Fantilli, Coachella Valley Firebirds centre Shane Wright and Blackhawks defenceman Kevin Korchinski are eligible to play again, but are now logging minutes at the professional level. Ditto for Buffalo Sabres winger Zach Benson and Boston Bruins centre Matthew Poitras, who are eligible to make their World Junior debuts.
"We're missing what we miss and there's nothing we can do about that," said Team Canada head coach Alan Letang, who runs the Sarnia Sting's bench in the Ontario Hockey League. "If we win with four lines or we play hard with the four lines there's nothing wrong with that either. If you don't have the super superstar then everyone gets to contribute and I think Canada's depth is the big advantage for us."
Last year, three NHL players – Wright (Seattle Kraken), sharpshooting winger Dylan Guenther (Arizona Coyotes) and defenceman Brandt Clarke (Los Angeles Kings) – got loaned to Team Canada. Wright served as captain, Clarke logged top-four minutes and Guenther scored the golden goal in the final.
This year, one NHL player – defenceman Tristan Luneau (Anaheim Ducks) – has been loaned to Hockey Canada. Other players do have NHL experience as well. Saskatoon Blades centre Fraser Minten played four games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Wenatchee Wild centre Matthew Savoie also got into a game with the Buffalo Sabres before being reassigned to the Western Hockey League.
"Every year Canada's got a legit shot at the gold and I don't think this year is any different," said Minten. "Maybe not every single guy on the team is going to be a first rounder like previous years, but there's still a ton of guys who play the game really well and obviously the coaches here are great. There's no reason why a gold-medal squad can't get assembled."
Last year, Bedard led the tournament in scoring and was named MVP. This year, it will have to be more of a committee approach.
"The word would be 'depth,'" said Hockey Canada management group lead Peter Anholt, who is the general manager of the Lethbridge Hurricanes. "There's a lot of talent throughout the group. If we play that style where we're relentless, I think we can build a team that's really hard to play against."
Canada only has one player returning from last year's gold-medal team and Peterborough Petes centre Owen Beck, who is a Montreal Canadiens prospect, only played in three games in Halifax as an injury replacement. Meanwhile, the United States have seven returnees while host Sweden projects to have even more.
"It's everybody's first go at the World Juniors so everybody's hungry," Beck stressed. "The roster that makes it through is going to be maintain that drive and that hunger and we're going to be pushing each other the whole time."
And in a hockey-mad country like Canada where the World Juniors are a holiday staple experience may be overrated.
"They all know what they're getting into, right," said Letang. "It's become such a tradition and such a huge tournament across the country that they all know what they're getting into."
---
Beck has the gold medal hanging in his room.
"It's right beside my bed," he said with a big smile. "I take a glance at it every once in a while. The rings we got are so nice, so I take a good look at that every once in a while and just kind of try to relive the memory, relive the moment, and that drives me forward to this year as well."
Letang met with Beck on the first day of the camp and encouraged the 19-year-old to share what it takes to earn such a prize.
"I'm looking to be a leader to all the other guys, try to provide some insight based on my prior experience," Beck said. "I just want to help everybody out."
Canada needed overtime to beat Slovakia in the quarterfinal and Czechia in the final last year. Canada also needed a comeback win to get past the United States in the semifinal.
The tournament started on a low with a loss to Czechia on Boxing Day.
"It was a resilient team last year," Beck said. "They went through ups and downs in the tournament and when they got to the medal round everybody knew they had to be locked in and ready to go every shift, every moment. Everything was huge. Everybody bought in and was willing to play their role and things worked out."
Beck certainly embraced his role. He started the quarterfinal as the 13th forward, but got into a shift midway through the game. He registered a shot on goal and drew a penalty.
"It just proved that it doesn't matter where you're slotted in the lineup," Letang said. "Everyone at some point in the game gets to contribute and gets to potentially be the hero."
---
Bedard's star turn in Halifax was a key moment in a remarkable season, which culminated with him being picked first overall by the Blackhawks. This year, Macklin Celebrini is looking to follow a similar path. The Boston University centre appears to be on track to be the first overall pick in the next NHL draft. The 17-year-old freshman is also on track to crack Canada's World Junior roster.
"We're not really thinking of his age too much right now," said Anholt. "He's a special player, let's be honest. We understand that. But we also understand what the tournament's all about and what it normally is, but he's special."
It's normally a tournament dominated by 19-year-olds.
"I'm not really worried about that," Celebrini said when asked about of his chances of making Team Canada. "I'm worried about tomorrow and the games coming up."
Canada's hopefuls will face a team of USports players on Tuesday and Wednesday before the final cuts are made.
Like Bedard, Celebrini seems unbothered by the pressure associated with this high-stakes season.
"You just got to keep it in perspective," the Vancouver native said. "The reason we're here is to play hockey and do what we love so I feel like it's pretty easy when you just do that."
Celebrini is tied for third in NCAA scoring with 25 points in 15 games.
"Super competitive is a big thing that maybe gets overlooked with his goals and all the skill he possesses," observed Minten, a fellow Vancouver native. "He competes really hard to get into those spots to score."
"I love it," Celebrini said of the college game. "It's always a challenge. You never play an easy game ... It's helped me mature. It's a high pace, very structured brand of hockey. It helped me smooth out some areas that I wasn't too good at and mature my game."
Such as?
"Just make sure to do all the details right," he said. "Puck battles, make sure you bear down defensively."
Making the performance against bigger and older players all the more impressive, Celebrini spent the entire off-season rehabbing from shoulder injury.
"It was something in the back of my mind during the summer was making sure I was strong and ready for that physicality," he said. "There are some bigger guys and they can push you around if you're not ready for them so that was a big part of the summer."
Celebrini's rehab was overseen by dad Rick Celebrini, who is the director of sports medicine and performance for the Golden State Warriors.
"He was awesome. That's the reason why I am where I am today. Like, without him I don't know where I'd be."
---
London Knights winger Denver Barkey is playing at Canada's camp with a heavy heart following the death of grandfather Randy Legge, who passed away on Monday.
"It's a tough moment for me and my family," the 18-year-old said. "It sucks I can't be with them right now. I got the news about a week ago that he didn't have many more days so I got to go say goodbye to him before I came here."
As part of a lengthy career in professional hockey, Legge played 12 games with the New York Rangers during the 1972-73 season.
"He played pro for just under 20 years," said Barkey. "Really close with him, looked up to him and hopefully I can make him proud."
What's the biggest thing he learned from his grandfather?
"He just told me to enjoy every moment," Barkey said. "It's a long road. There's ups and downs. He just said, 'Enjoy it. Take it all in and just have fun.' I got to go see him at the hospital and I got to tell him I got invited here. He was so happy for me. He's always been so happy and proud and supportive of me. He just told me, once again, to go and enjoy it, take it all in, and show them what you can do."
Barkey wasn't included in Hockey Canada's virtual summer meetings for World Junior hopefuls, but started the season strong with 41 points in 28 games.
"You play him in London and he's passionate about winning, does a lot of the little things that it takes to win," said Letang. "I had him at the Hlinka in Red Deer and he came in as kind of that extra forward and no one really knew much about him and he bought into a role we needed him to play. He played on the fourth line and ended up being one of our best penalty killers. I see him as a Swiss Army knife and you need some of those guys."
Barkey ended up being named player of the game in the finals as Canada claimed gold at the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. The 5-foot-9, 154-pounder plays much bigger than his size.
"He's really strong," noted London teammate Easton Cowan, who is also at Canada's camp. "He's kind of like a pitbull, I guess. Really wide and really strong on his feet. His edges are incredible. Yesterday, we're doing the 3-on-3 drill and I had to go up against him and it wasn't too fun."
"I've always been a smaller guy," Barkey said. "I've had to find ways to be successful given my height and I think that's always come through my work ethic, compete, and just willingness to get in the corners and go to the dirty areas and win puck battles. I win those battles and then use my IQ and vision to make small little plays."
---
Minten lived with John Tavares at the start of the season and made a big impression on the Leafs captain's young sons, who are now excited to see him play at the World Juniors.
"A little pressure on Fraser because my kids are expecting him to be there," Tavares told reporters last week. "They really want to watch him. They've kind gone into the World Junior bug a little bit, which is cool."
"That's pretty funny," Minten said. "His kids are great. Hopefully they can cheer me on."
Minten learned a lot about the NHL from being at the rink with the Leafs, but also being around the Tavares family.
"You just think it's sick they get to play the sport, but it's a career for them and it provides the food for their kids and a house and opportunities for their children and that goes for everybody not just John," Minten said. "Getting to be a part of his family there, it's eyeopening to see, like, these guys have a lot more going on than just the games."
---
Like at Leafs training camp, Minten and Cowan are rooming together at Canada's camp.
"He doesn't snore too loud," Cowan said with a smile. "And he's a pro so that helps me out."
Cowan, like London running mate Barkey, is making a push for a roster spot despite not being included in Canada's summer meetings.
"I just got to go out there and show I can play any role they need me to play whether that's top six, bottom six, PK or power play," the feisty forward said. "So, just go out there and work hard and have that dog-on-a-bone mentality."
That was the advice he received from Knights coach Dale Hunter, who led Canada to a gold medal the last time the World Juniors were played in Europe in 2020.
"He said, 'Dog-on-a-bone mentality' and 'hound pucks' so I took that with me."
Work ethic is what got Cowan on the radar.
"They call him cowboy for a reason because he is one," noted Anholt. "He plays hard. He has a high IQ, but his compete level is elite, elite."
---
Monday's scrimmage included 3-on-3 reps.
"It becomes pretty important as you get down to it so we can introduce it a little bit early and continue to work on it," Letang said. "It will be a big part of the tournament."
The last two gold medals were decided in 3-on-3 overtime.
---
Saskatoon Blades defenceman Tanner Molendyk skated on his own, but did not hit the ice with teammates. He's listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
---
Lines at Monday's practices and scrimmages:
Team White
Wood - Geekie - Firkus
Allard - Minten - Danielson
Barkey - Vidicek
Mateychuk - Bonk
Donovan - Warren
Nelson
DiVincentiis
Samuel St-Hilaire
Team Red
Rehkopf - Celebrini - Dumais
Cowan - Beck - Yager
Ludwinski - Savoie
Buchinger - Luneau
Furlong - Lamoureux
Rousseau
Ratzlaff