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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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TSN SportsCentre Reporter Mark Masters reports on the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championship. Team Canada practised at Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre on Tuesday. 

The team has been picked. Now, the real work begins. 

"Going to the World Junior championship as Team Canada, we have expectations that we're going to win a gold medal," said Kingston's Shane Wright. "We believe that we've got a good enough team to win."

It sure looks that way. Tuesday was the first practice since the final cuts and the first chance to see what the lineup may look like on Boxing Day. Wright skated between Winnipeg Jets prospect Cole Perfetti and Arizona Coyotes prospect Dylan Guenther on the top line. Wright may be the second-youngest player on the team, but he's already proven adept at handling hype. 

"For all the pressure that's on Shane, he's got the complete game going right now," head coach Dave Cameron said. 

The points didn't flow as expected early this year, but the Frontenacs captain never wavered despite the added expectations that come in a draft year. 

"It's pretty amazing," Cameron continued. "When you think about the pressure that's on with being [the projected] first overall pick and the way his season's gone in terms of the points put up, it'd very easy to cheat and he hasn't. He's stuck to his guns and he's playing the right way."

"There are really no gaps in his game," Guenther gushed. "He's reliable all over the ice. He's someone who can do it all. He's also a guy who has a really good shot. Playing with him at the U18s, he's a guy who scored a lot of goals with his release."

Wright captained Canada to a gold medal at the World Under-18 Championship in Texas earlier this year. He scored nine goals in five games. 

Wright's hockey sense is off the charts and he should mesh well with Perfetti, who's been playing in the American Hockey League. 

"He does everything right," Wright observed. "He's such a smart player. He thinks the game at such a high level and he can make plays out of nothing. He's a guy that's super easy to play with because he can find you in any area of the ice."

Guenther will be ready to finish off any opportunities Wright and Perfetti create. 

"He's a shooter," Wright noted. "He can score from almost anywhere. He's got an unbelievable shot. If you give him the puck he's most likely going to score or create an opportunity from it."

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That top line will be no fun to play against, but it may not be Canada's most feared unit. That distinction may go to the shutdown line of Brandon's Ridly Greig between Edmonton's Jake Neighbours and Vancouver's Justin Sourdif.

"They're fast. They're big. They're heavy. They're mean," said Everett defenceman Ronan Seeley. "It's kind of everything you don't want to be up against as a d-man, that's for sure. I wouldn't want to be against them, I'll just say that."

"We can be an everything line," Neighbours said. "Can get in on the forecheck, be physical, shut down top lines and, at the same time, produce for our team. We can play with speed and work well with each other. We're all close friends."

Neighbours started the season in the National Hockey League playing nine games with the St. Louis Blues. 

Greig, an Ottawa Senators prospect, has already racked up 46 penalty minutes in just 19 games this season. 

"He's always using his stick to agitate you and things like that," Neighbours noted. "[Sourdif] is someone who's physical and also dominant on the puck and so fast. He's hard to play against on both sides of the ice. I think I fall into that category as well with the two of them. I think the three of us, all together, can be that edgy line that produces."

The second line at practice featured Peterborough's Mason McTavish between Halifax's Elliot Desnoyers and Kamloops' Logan Stankoven. Michigan's Kent Johnson, who missed selection camp due to COVID protocols, appears like a good candidate to take that left-wing spot on that line when he joins the group later this week. 

Shawinigan's Mavrik Bourque anchored the fourth line with fellow Cataracte Xavier Bourgault and Windsor's Will Cuylle on his wings.

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After stealing the spotlight during the selection camp, Regina's Connor Bedard skated as an extra forward. The message from Cameron? 

"Trust the process," the coach stressed. "You're on this team now, there's no pressure other than to be who you are. You're on this team for a reason, play to that."

Bedard is the first 16-year-old to make Team Canada since Connor McDavid in 2014. The pair skated in the same group during one session early in the summer. 

"First and foremost, very impressed with his skill level, the way he shoots the puck," McDavid told reporters in Edmonton on Tuesday. "It was eye-popping. He's a young kid and it's an amazing thing that he's done to make that team at such a young age. It's exciting for everybody."

McDavid scored one goal and added three assists in seven games during the 2014 World Juniors in Malmo, Sweden, where Canada finished fourth.  

"It feels like a long time ago," the Oilers captain said. "I just remember it can be a little bit overwhelming at that age. You're so young and you're stepping into the first games on the big stage and with that comes lots of attention. For me and our team that year, things didn't go all that well so there was lots of negativity around that. I remember it being difficult."

McDavid suggested that Bedard tune out social media during the tournament. 

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When Guenther makes a good play this season you'll often see the Oil Kings social media team post about it while using the hashtag #SpicyDyl. 

"I don't like spicy food," the Edmonton native said with a grin, "but #SpicyDyl sounds good and it flows so I like it. Our media person picks three nicknames that we can choose from. I didn't think that'd be coming, but I thought that was pretty cool so I said, 'Sure,' and it kind of stuck. They've been using it quite a bit. I think it's funny."

"He's a pretty mellow guy," Neighbours said. "The spice comes on the ice more than anything." 

Guenther and Neighbours have been teammates throughout their junior careers. 

"His skill speaks for itself," Neighbours said. "The way he can shoot the puck speaks for itself. But the work he puts in off the ice and in practice is what makes him so good. He's so easy to play with. He's talking to you on the bench and we're always having conversations about how we can improve our game."

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Desnoyers was on the phone with his parents when he got a knock on the door and learned he had made Team Canada on Sunday night. 

"It was just a lot of pride," the Philadelphia Flyers prospect said. "I've been thinking about this moment for a couple years now."

It's been a long road to this point. 

Desnoyers was working his way back from hip surgery during the summer when Hockey Canada held its evaluation camp so he wasn't able to take part in the on-ice sessions. It was still a valuable experience and he left with a souvenir: a Hockey Canada hat. He wore the hat every day since then as a way to keep his goal top of mind, literally. 

And he won't be taking it off any time soon. 

"I still need it," he said with a smile. "Got to win that gold medal." 

Among the forwards to make Team Canada, Desnoyers is the lowest draft pick. He was selected in the fifth round, 135th overall, in 2020. 

"I'm the lowest draft pick, but I have my place on this team like anyone else and I'll prove it," he said. "I'll prove I can do anything and play in any role." 

Mental strength is a big part of what makes Desnoyers a successful player. He wears a bracelet with the the words, 'Clearer Mind' and 'Better Performance.'

"A guy gave a conference in Philadelphia this summer and I talked to him a lot and read his book and it was a great thing," Desnoyers said. 

The guy was Dr. Jarrod Spencer, a sports psychologist, and the book was titled, 'Mind of the Athlete: Clearer Mind, Better Performance.'

"It's about having your mind clear and thinking about positivity and being yourself," Desnoyers said.

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Lines at Tuesday's practice: 
 
Perfetti - Wright - Guenther 
Desnoyers - McTavish - Stankoven 
Neighbours - Greig - Sourdif 
Cuylle - Bourque - Bourgault 
Bedard 
 
Power - Zellweger 
Guhle - Cormier 
Sebrango - Lambos 
O'Rourke - Seeley 
 
Garand 
Cossa
Brochu 
 
Absent: Johnson