CALGARY ? Canada, meet your 2012 world junior hockey team.
Led by four returning players from last year?s squad, two National Hockey League rookies and a handful of eager first-timers, the 22-man roster was revealed to the nation on Wednesday after an intense three-day selection camp at Hockey Canada headquarters in Calgary.
Forward Jaden Schwartz, for one, is ready to hit the ground running.
?It?s pretty amazing,? said the Wilcox, Sask., product who tugged on an official Team Canada jersey for the second time in as many years. ?Really. It?s a dream come true to get a second opportunity, it?s something that not a lot of people get.
?I feel very lucky with that.?
Also with a shot at redemption after last year?s silver-medal effort starting Boxing Day are fellow forwards Brett Connolly and Quinton Howden and goalie Mark Visentin.
Although a letter has yet to be sewn on his Red and White jersey, Schwartz has captain material written all over him. The 19-year-old from Colorado College is a St. Louis Blues prospect, who broke his ankle during last year?s tournament. He brings leadership and experience.
?Just being on this team alone is a tremendous honour,? Schwartz said. ?You dream of this growing up. I don?t even know how to explain it if I got a letter. But that?s not really my focus right now.
?It?s just building this team together and trying to get some chemistry going.?
Head scout Kevin Prendergast identified the 2012 roster as ?enthusiastic? which, to some, could be another word for young and inexperienced.
?We have a lot more guys this year that can do a lot more with the puck,? he said. ?I think, from a skill factor, we?re going to be ahead of last year.
?I also feel that, defensively, we have a mix of guys that can carry the puck and guys that can stay the home. It?s the same thing up front. We feel half the forwards that can play offence and half of them are good defensively. I think (head coach) Don Hay has a good mix to work with.?
Up front, Hay will deploy the likes of Ontario Hockey League leading scorer Tanner Pearson, pest Brendan Gallagher, dependable Freddie Hamilton and sublimely skilled Ryan Strome.
He can also turn to NHL players Brett Connolly (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Devante Smith-Pelly (Anaheim Ducks).
Mark Stone leads the Western Hockey League in scoring ? the Ottawa Senators prospect is an asset on right wing.
The highly touted Mark Scheifele, a first round pick of the Winnipeg Jets, is penciled in as Canada?s top centre and needs to fill the net along with Stone, Schwartz and Connolly.
Howden, who sat out Tuesday night?s game with what is believed to be a concussion, should be available for the tournament while Team Canada is counting on a healthy Jonathan Huberdeau to recover from a broken foot.
?We have a lot of offence,? Hay said. ?Offence comes from taking time to work together and practising together. It?s the process you go through. Every day, you want to have good practices and become a little bit better in your work ethics and get to know each other a little better.
?Line combinations and things like that lead to that development and knowing each other. I think just a little bit of structure within the group is really important. They?re all individuals right now and we want them to come together as a team.?
According to Prendergast, Team Canada brass stayed up much of the night debating which 13 teenagers to send home.
?So many kids played so well at the end,? he said. ?It?s the unfortunate part. Sometimes, the best player doesn?t make it. It?s the player we feel fits the chemistry part of the team. You hate like hell going to tell the kids at that point that?s it, but that?s Canadian hockey.
?Hopefully, a couple of the kids will have the opportunity to come back next year.?
Anchoring Canada?s inexperienced blueline are Dougie Hamilton, Brandon Gormley, Nathan Beaulieu and 2012 NHL draft eligible Ryan Murray.
Scott Wedgewood earned the right to back up Visentin.
Hay said Wedgewood pulled away from the pack and earned the job from netminders Tyler Bunz and Louis Domingue. However, Wedgewood is not content with the No. 2 tag attached to his name.
?Obviously, I?m not going to just sit there and take second place,? said the New Jersey Devils prospect. ?That?s not the way I am, I always want to strive for the best and win. Practises are huge for me. I?m definitely going to make a push in exhibition games and in the opportunites I do get, I?m going to try to play the best I can.
?Mark is going to have to bring out his ?A? game to keep that spot.?
Canada takes the next step of their journey with a team bonding three-day trip to Banff, Alta., on Thursday. They play three exhibition games (Dec. 19 against Finland in Calgary, Dec. 22 against Switzerland in Red Deer, Alta., and Dec. 23 against Sweden in Edmonton) before round-robin play begins in Edmonton on Boxing Day.
Calgary Herald
kodland@calgaryherald.com
Twitter.com/KristenOdlandCH
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Source: http://feeds.canada.com/~r/canwest/F260/~3/kLe5Ofdro4k/story.html
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