College kids Celebrini, Wood star in Canada's win over USports

Canada's World Junior hopefuls defeated the USports All-Stars 4-2 on Tuesday at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville, Ont. The non-playing group practised in the morning.

The two NCAA players at selection camp – Boston University freshman Macklin Celebrini and University of Connecticut sophomore Matthew Wood – led Hockey Canada's World Junior hopefuls to a 4-2 victory over a team of USports All-Stars on Tuesday afternoon. 

Wood picked up a goal and an assist during regulation. The 18-year-old winger from Lethbridge, Alta. then notched the deciding goal in the shootout competition. 

"He just scores goals," said Team Canada head coach Alan Letang. "Like, you give him a chance inside the hashmarks, around there, and he overpowers the goalie. It's just what he does so get him the puck inside the dots."

Wood, a Nashville Predators first round pick earlier this year, beat North Bay Battalion goalie Domenic DiVincentiis with a beautiful short-side snipe to open the scoring in the first period. 

"I saw a little bit of room upstairs so tried to give it my best effort and it went in," he said. 

Wood's second tally deflected in off linemate Denver Barkey. 

"He's a really talented player," the London Knights forward said. "Obviously, he can shoot the puck so my goal was just to get it to him in the slot there and hope he would bury it."

Wood, who stands 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, then beat Sherbrooke Phoenix goalie Samuel St-Hilaire with a blocker-side shot in the shootout. He took notice when Moose Jaw's Brayden Yager opened the shootout with a similar goal. 

"I saw the way that he played Yager's shot and thought there might be a bit of room on the blocker side if I came in from that angle and it worked out," he said. 

Wood declared that he's "pretty comfortable" in one-on-one situations with goalies, but wouldn't reveal how many moves he has in his rotation. 

"I have a couple tricks up my sleeve and I have a lot of fun doing it," he said with a smile.

Canada won the shootout 2-1, but lost the 3-on-3 overtime session 1-0. 

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A natural centre, Celebrini played left wing on Canada's top line beside the Halifax Mooseheads duo of centre Marcus Vidicek and right winger Jordan Dumais. 

"Just moving him around and seeing where he could fit," Letang explained. "It's that same old story, you come to play for Canada and you might have to play a position you're not comfortable with, so we get this opportunity to move guys around."

Celebrini, the youngest player in the game at 17, looked comfortable from the drop of the puck despite the position switch.  

"The puck finds him and he had lots of confidence with the puck," Letang noted. "I think he makes great decisions. I heard lots about him, this is the first time I've seen him live and he comes as advertised. He has a spot to fit right in here if he plays with that kind of confidence."

Celebrini is projected to follow in the footsteps of fellow Vancouver native Connor Bedard and be selected first in the NHL draft. 

"He's really good at everything," gushed Barkey. "Kind of gives you shades of Bedard. Really talented. He can make plays. He can shoot the puck. He can kind of do it all."

Celebrini picked up a primary assist with a beautiful no-look feed through the legs of a defender, which landed right on the stick of Mooseheads defenceman Jake Furlong, who buried a shot into a gaping cage. 

"He's got the speed, vision, his hands are great," said Furlong, who added an empty-net goal to seal the win for Canada. "He tries stuff. I think that's the biggest thing. He's creative and that goes a long way when you're playing with him. He always finds lanes and he's a great player."

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Barkey picked up a goal when Wood's shot deflected in off his leg in the second period. 

"We have a little faceoff play there and I won the draw back and my goal was to get to the net," Barkey said. "I got there and fortunate enough it banked off my shin pad. I keep on telling him, 'I can't remember the last time I got a goal like that,' so lucky bounce."

Barkey tends to earn those type of breaks with a determined style of play.  

"He gives you everything on the ice," said Letang, who coaches the Sarnia Sting in the OHL. "He played with some pace. He made some real good plays to the trailers off the rush. He was exactly what we expected."

The 5-foot-9 Barkey is the lightest player at Canada's camp weighing in at 154 pounds. 

"He definitely doesn't play his size," said Wood. "He plays a lot bigger and he showed that against older, bigger, stronger competition. Really good to see him show his stuff."

Barkey, a Philadelphia Flyers third round pick, admitted to dealing with some nerves. 

"It's tough," he said. "You only got a couple days to show what you can do and prove yourself."

His focus? 

"Really paying attention to the coaches, what they're saying, buying into the systems and competing," he said. "Trying to battle down low, win battles, and do the little things right. I feel like that sticks out the most." 

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All four of the goalies at Canada's camp saw game action on Tuesday. Mooseheads' Mathis Rousseau started the game for Canada before being replaced by Seattle Thunberbird Scott Ratzlaff midway through the second period. DiVincentiis started for USports before giving way to St-Hilaire. 

"I liked all four of them," Letang said. "It's nice to have a goalie battle. It's nice to have some competition. It pushes them all."

Ratzlaff stopped 13 of 14 shots to finish with the best save percentage (.929) of the bunch. DiVincentiis turned aside 12 of 13 shots (.923) while Rousseau denied 11 of 12 shots (.917). St-Hilaire was beaten on two of 11 shots (.846).

There is no clear frontrunner to start on Boxing Day. 

"It's a healthy competition," Rousseau declared before the game. "Everybody knows what the other can do and everybody wants to prove he's the best so it makes everybody push harder."

"We have a tough decision," acknowledged Hockey Canada management group lead Peter Anholt. "Rousseau has been really, really good over the last couple years. He's established himself as a really good junior goaltender. What can he do at this level? We'll see. Dom has had some good runs and he's bigger."

DiVincentiis is the tallest goalie at camp at 6-foot-3, but also has the lowest save percentage in club play this season at .875 through 16 games. 

"There's a lot of ups and downs in junior hockey," the 19-year-old Winnipeg Jets prospect said. "I was going through a little bit of adversity to start the season, but you work yourself out of it. That's how you become a special goaltender and that's what I'm doing here. I was in a little bit of a rut but I think I'm getting myself out of it and being here now is bringing that confidence right back up to 100."

Rousseau is the shortest goalie at Canada's camp (5-foot-11) but arrived with the best save percentage (.934 in 21 games). He did not get picked in the NHL draft. 

"I'm not the biggest goalie," he said. "Now, my performance went and proved that size doesn't matter for me ... I stay patient on the play. I see it created in front of me and do what I have to do."

Ratzlaff, 18, is Canada's youngest crease contender, but also has a gold medal on his resume already courtesy of the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. 

"Ratzlaff has got some history with the program and he won for us at the Hlinka," Anholt highlighted. "St-Hilaire has been really good in Sherbrooke."  

Ratzlaff, a Buffalo Sabres prospect, has an .889 save percentage through 20 WHL games while the late-blooming and undrafted St-Hilaire is at .920 in 23 QMJHL games. 

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It's not unusual for an undrafted goalie to crack Canada's roster. Last year, Seattle's Thomas Milic did it and eventually backstopped the country to a gold medal. 

However, it's rare for a forward to be passed over in the NHL draft and then wear the Maple Leaf at the World Juniors. Soo Greyhounds forward Owen Allard is looking to do just that. 

"My confidence has grown tremendously," the 19-year-old from Ottawa said. "Last year I didn't get to play much with a shoulder injury, coming back and only playing 14 games. This year, I'm playing lots and getting some power-play touches, which grows the confidence. If I have confidence out there and use my speed and compete level then good things will happen."

Allard has 14 goals and 16 assists in 29 games. When did he start thinking that the World Juniors may be a possibility? 

"To be honest with you just a couple days before camp," he said. "When I got the call from Alan I was just really surprised. I was on cloud nine. I guess they saw something in my game that they may need in this tournament. I was ecstatic and super honoured."

What they saw was a 6-foot-2, 200-pound forward, who can fly and play physical.  

"My speed and work ethic are two things I've been trying to work on in the OHL this year," he said. "Being the fastest guy, whether that's playing with speed up the rush or being a good two-way player, if I do have that and use my physicality and compete level I think I'll have a good chance."

Allard played alongside Peterborough Petes centre Owen Beck and Brandon Wheat King Nate Danielson in Tuesday's game. He'll get one last chance to prove himself on Wednesday. 

"It'd be a great story and bring so much joy to my friends and family and everyone who has believed in me to this point," he said.

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Saskatoon Blades defenceman Tanner Molendyk skated on Tuesday morning with the other scratches, but missed the game due to an undisclosed injury. 

"Everyone said he looked real good on the ice," said Letang. "We'll know more tomorrow morning."

Molendyk is the youngest defenceman at the camp and likely needs to play to have a chance to earn a spot. 

"A tough situation for him," said Saskatoon teammate Fraser Minten, who is also at the camp. "Super unfortunate timing. He just took a bad bump against Red Deer in a game there [on Dec. 8] and unfortunately unable to be here full time right now. But I think it's not too bad and hopefully he can maybe get in one of these games still and show what he can do because he's an awesome player." 

Molendyk, a Predators prospect, has 28 points in 24 games this season. 

"His skating is unbelievable," said Minten. "He can make a lot of plays because of that and recover when he makes errors. It gives him a ton of leeway to get up and down and join the rush or defend. He closes gaps really well in the neutral zone and defensively with how agile and mobile he is as a skater."

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Hockey Canada lines in Tuesday's game:

Celebrini - Vidicek - Dumais 
Rehkopf - Yager - Firkus 
Ludwinski - Barkey - Wood 
Allard - Beck - Danielson 
Cowan

Buchinger - Bonk 
Furlong - Warren 
Donovan - Nelson

Did not dress: Geekie, Lamoureux, Luneau, Mateychuk, Minten, Moldendyk and Savoie