(Oakville) Six Quebecers are part of Canada’s official squad which will take part in the World Junior Hockey Championship from December 26 to January 5 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Forward Jordan Dumais, of the Halifax Mooseheads, as well as defensemen Maveric Lamoureux, of the Drummondville Voltigeurs, Tristan Luneau, of the Anaheim Ducks, and Noah Warren, of the Victoriaville Tigres, all won their places in the the roster of 22 players announced Wednesday evening by Hockey Canada.
PHOTO CAROLINE GRÉGOIRE, LE SOLEIL ARCHIVES
Jordan Dumais
Goalkeepers Mathis Rousseau, of the Moosehads, and Samuel St-Hilaire, of the Sherbrooke Phœnix, complete the Quebec delegation within the 2024 junior national team. They will fight with Alberta’s Scott Ratzlaff for starts in front of the net.
PHOTO DAVID ZALUBOWSKI, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Tristan Luneau
Nova Scotian defenseman Jake Furlong, who also plays with the Mooseheads, has also earned a position with the team, so that seven players from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) will wear the colors of Canada during the tournament presented during the holiday season.
Markus Vidicek, also a member of the Mooseheads, is the only Quebecer still present at camp Wednesday who was cut. Denver Barkey, Jagger Firkus and Paul Ludwinski suffered the same fate on offense.
“There were some tough decisions,” admitted Peter Anholt, who is responsible for the under-20s for Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence management group.
“They are good players and they are here for a reason. But we did our job, even if it’s always hard to disappoint 19-year-old players. They handle the situation like pros; This is what is expected of them. »
Forward Owen Beck, who was drafted in the second round by the Montreal Canadiens in 2022, will also be part of the roster. He will also be the only player to have taken part in last year’s tournament, during which Canada won gold in Halifax.
Macklin Celebrini, who is tipped to be the first overall pick in next June’s NHL draft, also cracked the roster.
“It’s a great honor,” commented Celebrini. It’s every child’s dream. »
The 17-year-old forward is currently playing in the American college ranks, where he has 25 points in 15 games this season with Boston University.
“I was surprised how good he is. To see a 17-year-old play like he plays, it’s exciting,” admitted the national federation’s first vice-president of high performance and hockey activities, Scott Salmond.
With information from Joshua Clipperton
No reinforcements from the NHL
Fraser Minten, Owen Allard, Easton Cowan, Nate Danielson, Conor Geekie, Carson Rehkopf, Matthew Savoie, Matthew Wood and Brayden Yager will be the other forwards on the Canadian team.
Hockey Canada could have kept a 13e forward in his lineup, but preferred to keep a spot available in case an NHL team decided to loan him a player at the last minute.
“There are always opportunities,” Salmond observed. Discussions still take place. »
On defense, Canada will also count on the services of Denton Mateychuk, Tanner Molendyk and Oliver Bonk. Michael Buchinger, Jorian Donovan and Ty Nelson were cut Wednesday at this position, as was goaltender Domenic DiVincentiis.
Canada will begin its tournament on December 26 against Finland. He will also face Latvia, Sweden and Germany during the preliminary round.
The team will fly to Europe on Thursday in preparation for its first preseason match, which will take place next Tuesday against Denmark’s under-25 team.
The Canadians will then face Switzerland on December 22 and the United States the next day to complete their preparatory schedule.
Several players from the 2023 edition of the Junior National Team were eligible to return this year, but they were not loaned by their NHL team. This is the case for Connor Bedard (Chicago), Adam Fantilli (Columbus) and Kevin Korchinski (Chicago), who all play important roles with their team.
Matthew Poitras (Boston), Zach Benson (Buffalo) and Shane Wright (Seattle/AHL), the other eligible players currently in the professional ranks, have still not been loaned to Junior Team Canada.
“It always depends on the health of the teams and the contribution that the players in question have,” explained Salmond of the possibility of seeing players who play in the NHL be loaned to the national team for the World Championship junior.
“I have my own opinion on how important an experience like that is for the players, but at the end of the day, I respect these teams. We have to give them a few days and see how these players are doing and the health of their team. »
– With information from Joshua Clipperton