Hockey Canada brass impressed with ADT Challenge
Al Murray likes what he sees so far.
r
r
Hockey Canada’s Head Scout has been travelling across the country the past several days following the ADT Canada-Russia Challenge and has enjoyed every minute of it.
r
r
Murray will work with Hockey Canada’s coaching staff including head coach Pat Quinn to determine the roster of players that will be invited to the final selection camp before the World Junior Championship open up next month in Ottawa.
r
r
He said that the Russians have brought a competitive team to play in the series again this year and that makes it easier for him to evaluate the Canadian hopefuls.
r
r
“We’re fortunate again this year that the Russians have sent a real competitive squad,” Murray said. “From everything we hear, maybe two-thirds of their World Junior Team is represented here. They are going to add some high end players that are still in the Russian Elite League. It’s a really good team. They played in a Four Nations tournament about 10 days ago and did quite well.”
r
r
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League stars split the first two games of the series, with the QMJHL winning the opener 5-3 in Sydney, NS last Monday. The Russians stormed back with a 4-3 win on the second game on Wednesday in Saint John, NB.
r
r
The series shifted to Ontario last week and the Ontario Hockey League squad skated to a 6-3 win in Guelph last Thursday and a 3-2 win in St. Catharines on Monday.
r
r
Despite the CHL teams posting a 3-1 record in the first four games, Murray said that the games are as competitive as he hoped coming into the event.
“It’s a good test for our teams,” Murray said. “We’re a little bit younger in some of these games, especially on the back end which can get exploited by some of the Russian players. But it’s a great opportunity for our guys to learn and develop. I think it’s going to be a really good series. The scores so far are close.”
Murray said that the ADT Canada-Russia Challenge will give him a good indication of who will be invited to the World Junior champ in December but it is also an early warning tool for him to identify players for the Under-18 teams as well as an early read on players that may represent Canada at the Under-20 level next year.
r
r
“Like we always expect and like we always hope, we’ve got great depth of players,” Murray said. “We’ve got lots of good young players coming in the next wave. I think we’ve got a lot of depth as usual and it’s a real credit to minor hockey coaches in Canada and the CHL for taking that development to another level.”
r
r
After watching the first four games of the series, Murray now travels to Saskatchewan to watch the final leg in the Western Hockey League. The series concludes with games in Swift Current on Wednesday and Prince Albert on Thursday.
r
r
“It’s worked very well,” Murray said. “The series is well set up. The CHL and ADT organize a great event and it’s easy to travel right across because it just flows one into another. It’s outstanding for us.”