Junior World Championship | The hopes of the Canadian to follow

The Canadian will be well represented at the World Junior Championship. Six of his hopefuls will be there, divided among as many teams: Joshua Roy with Canada, Filip Mesar with Slovakia, Lane Hutson with the United States, Adam Engström with Sweden, Oliver Kapanen with Finland and Vincenz Rohrer with Austria. There would have been a seventh if Juraj Slafkovský had been allowed to represent Slovakia.

To everyone’s surprise, however, the best offensive rookie in training camp, center Owen Beck, was shunned by the Canadian team. Roy, a year older, but overshadowed by Beck during the CH preparatory matches, was preferred to him because of his 19 years and his experience last summer with the national team.

Before asking Canadian director of player development Rob Ramage to introduce us to the lucky winners and their progress this winter, the question about Beck, 39 points in just 27 games in Mississauga in the Ontario Junior League, was unavoidable.

Ramage remained diplomatic, but he was blown away by the Canadian team’s decision. “I have enough experience to stop looking for explanations,” he replied. Canada must be very strong, really very, very strong, to have taken it out. Because he is very good. Keeping him with us for so long in training camp at just 18 says it all. His game is very accomplished for such a young player. I spoke to him the other night. He is disappointed, but he is solid and he has a lot of character. He didn’t feel sorry for himself. »

In his first two games after being cut, Beck has amassed… six points. He should survive.

As Ramage loves all his hopes like sons, he is delighted for Joshua Roy, drafted in the fifth round in 2021. This will be for the young man another very profitable experience in his development, like that of last summer. , believes Ramage.

“I had a lot of conversations with his coach last summer with the Canadian team, Dave Cameron, a teammate at the time with the Colorado Rockies [en 1981]. He started the tournament with Mason McTavish and Connor Bedard, then he changed lines. Some saw it as a demotion, but Dave put him in a defensive role against top opposing lines.

“It’s fantastic that we put him in such a situation in such an important tournament. Players love to collect points in the junior ranks. Joshua still got 43 in 26 games in Sherbrooke. But his challenge will be to become a more complete striker. A few years ago, Cole Caufield didn’t have a lot of points at the World Junior Championship, but he played an important role because he was effective defensively. It really helped him. When he returned to Wisconsin later, he held that club on his shoulders. »

Filip Mesar

Choice at the end of the first round of CH in 2022, 25 ranks after Slafkovsky, 7 ahead of Beck, the choice of Mesar with Slovakia is not a surprise. He had taken part in two games with the team at only 16 years old and obtained a second cap last January during the canceled tournament.

“We detected his pro habits from the rookie camp, underlines Rob Ramage. This is not always the case with young people. Hence our hesitation to send him back to the junior ranks. He could have played in the American League in Laval, he already has the maturity, but we made the right decision. He missed a few games, and he produced in his last games. He showed up in Kitchener in great spirits [il a obtenu 22 points en 17 matchs jusqu’ici, dont 8 à ses 4 dernières rencontres]. »

Mesar will probably play center for Slovakia, but it’s still unclear whether the Canadian will become a center or a winger.

Lane Hutson

With his sensational start to the season in the NCAA, 18 points in 16 games, a production superior to that of Cale Makar and Adam Fox at the same age, Hutson, the choice of the end of the second round of the CH in 2022, will be one highlights of this Championship for fans of the Canadian.

“I was just talking about it with his trainer Jay Pandolfo today, continues Ramage in this telephone interview with The Press. He is a charm to lead. He had a tougher game, one of his few, the other Friday against Boston College. He texted his coach in the evening to tell him that he hadn’t been very good and that he was going to recover in the next game. The next day he was amazing in training and he had a great game two days later. He’s an 18-year-old rookie and he’s making a difference every game for Boston University. It’s not nothing. »

His challenge to be as effective in the NHL? Let time transform your body, and never forget to protect yourself on an ice rink.

“He’s going to gain muscle strength over the years,” Ramage said of the 5-foot-9, 155-pound defenseman. I saw him in an interview, I think he doesn’t even shave yet! But he must be alert. You don’t want to get hit hard. He is not afraid and I love courage. But you have to know who the predators are on the ice. There are fewer than in my day, but it only takes one. At the end of my career, I knew where Eric Lindros was at all times on the ice. It’s like being in a pool with a great white shark. They can knock you out very quickly. It is also a talent to know how to protect yourself. »

Vinzenz Rohrer

The 2022 third-round pick is less talked about in Montreal because he missed the rookie tournament and training camp due to injury. “He missed training camp because he was hit in the face during a preseason game by the Ottawa 67s, his junior team,” explains Rob Ramage. He was expected to miss eight weeks, but returned to action after just four. He healed quickly. He still has to wear the full visor, but that doesn’t slow him down. »

This young Austrian exiled in Ontario for two years has obtained 32 points in 26 games since the start of the season. “I saw two of his games the other weekend and…wow! What character, what charisma! He’s not very big at 5-foot-10 and only 170 pounds, but he’s got no fear. He plays the right way. He is very committed in his battles for the pucks. He uses his body well to protect the puck. He is a leader, his teammates gravitate around him. He just needs to mature physically. He is passionate and has a good work ethic. »

Adam Engstrom

This defenseman drafted in the third round in 2022, 17 ranks after Rohrer, thanks to the compensatory choice obtained from the Carolina Hurricanes for Jesperi Kotkaniemi, is a pleasant surprise. “He wasn’t in Sweden’s plans at the start of the season, but his performance got him a job. He played 7 games with his junior club in Rögle and collected 13 points. Then he played 23 games with the big club in SEL, the Swedish first division. He was playing in the first pair recently. Mario Leblanc provided us with a lot of video material on him and as a former defenseman, I love watching him play. He skates well, his head held high, he is very intelligent. We did not expect that at all from him. He is progressing impressively. It is complete. His mobility allows him to be good in transition. I didn’t know he was so good offensively. »

Oliver Kapanen

Kapanen, a late second-round pick in 2021, will be making his second appearance at this tournament with Finland. This right-handed center had two points in seven games last summer. In the first preseason game against the United States, he played in the center of the first line between Vile Koivunen and Niko Huuhtanen. Kapanen has amassed 13 points in 31 games with KalPa in the Finnish Premier League (SM-Liiga). “He will have a more important role during this championship, we hope, indicates the director of development of the CH. He got off to a slow start at KalPa, but he’s been very good recently. He is still very young and it is too early to project his future in the NHL. »