Team Canada Selection Camp Opens in Calgary

Kitchener Rangers General Manager and Head Coach Steve Spott is in Calgary today, welcoming 36 of the nation’s top junior-aged players to Hockey Canada’s Selection Camp for the 2013 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.

Over the next few days, Spott and the rest of the Hockey Canada brass will have to make tough decisions. They’ll whittle their camp down to a roster of just 23 players who will represent our country in the quest for gold in Ufa. Like any squad, the team needs solid goaltending, sturdy defence and goal scoring, but there’s another important quality that Coach Spott is looking for in his evaluations.

“I don’t want to lose the element of grit. I know we’re on an Olympic ice service, but I still think you need to be big, you need to be physical. And I do think, looking at our teams the past couple of years, maybe that’s an area we need to continue to focus on. Dave Cameron had that type of team in Buffalo, with players like Zack Kassian and I liked that,” he explains. Hockey Canada included some tough, big-bodied players to their camp, skaters who have excelled with their individual teams and Spott hopes they can continue to impress on the big ice.

“The evaluation for players like Tom Wilson and Anthony Camara is different than some other players, because we’ll see them on an Olympic sized surface in Calgary. So that’ll be a challenge for them. But I want to have an element of grit and energy in the depth of our hockey team, because I think there’s still a level of intimidation and I want to have that in our line up.”

The long-time Rangers coach is the first to admit that choosing a line up from the talent available in Canada is more difficult than it sounds. Some invitees, like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, were easy choices for Head Scout Kevin Prendergast and his staff, despite concerns that he may not be able to attend due to a nagging injury and the on-going labour dispute in the National Hockey League.

“Ryan Nugent Hopkins is unique, in the sense that he’s an NHL player. If we have access to a player like that, we have to take it,” explains Spott, adding that other elite players had to be left off the camp roster due to untimely injuries. That list includes one of his standouts from Kitchener.

“Matt Puempel would have been at our camp, but you can’t commit to a camp like this coming off an injury. Ryan Nugent Hopkins is playing in Oklahoma City – his shoulder has been sore, but he’s playing,” says his Coach.

“It’s very difficult to go from what Matt’s dealing with now, being in first gear, to fifth or sixth gear against the best players in our country. Obviously, for the Rangers that’s a lot of risk. To Matt’s personal career, that’s a lot of risk. I understand the pride factor, but ultimately, the best decision for Matt was to make sure that he takes care of his body. He’s not healthy and it’s too bad, because he deserves to be there.”

Puempel is not the only player missing from camp in Calgary. Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Ryan Murray will not return to Team Canada this year, due to a season ending injury. A defenceman for the Everett Silvertips (WHL), he is exactly the kind of veteran Spott was hoping to bring to Ufa.

“It’s disappointing. That’s 20 to 25 minutes of ice in a big game. But again, you have to have the mentality that you need to turn the page and move on from it. It’s not something that Ryan wanted or that Hockey Canada wanted – it’s just an unfortunate part of the business. The Swedes have a couple of world-class players that are going through it as well. It’s tough, but ultimately you have to move on and hope that collectively you can find some guys to fill those minutes.”

Murray was one of several players anticipated to return to Team Canada, but regardless of who makes the cut (and what happens in the pros), the roster will feature new names in net. Neither Mark Visentin nor Scott Wedgewood will don the red and white this year, opening the door for a few names Rangers fans will be familiar with.

“I have a good book on Malcolm [Subban] and I know Jordan [Binnington] because we play Owen Sound enough and obviously I’ve seen him over the past three years,” says Spott, just days after Subban put on a 34 save performance at The Aud.

“Jake [Paterson] in Saginaw – I really like Jake. This may not be his time. It may be. But either way, he’s a big part of our future. And Laurent Brossoit, I think, struggled in the Memorial Cup and maybe didn’t have the summer he wanted, but he’s off and flying again in Edmonton.”

Only three of the netminders invited to camp will make the tournament roster, and Spott anticipates having to make a difficult decision. Statistics and technique won’t be enough – while he describes each invitee as a ‘character player’, the challenge will be selecting the third netminder, knowing he may never see the ice.

“He has to be a special person, because he may not put the pads on for two weeks. We have to make sure that whoever that third guy is, that he prepared to come on over and stay sharp, stay mentally prepared if he is called upon, knowing that he may not be. He has to not only be a special goaltender, but a special person because that’s not an easy job to take. These are proud young men, they want to be a part of it, but we can only dress two, and we can only play one.”
Coach Spott has been charged with managing ice time for the country’s elite players, which he admits is harder than it sounds.

“It’s about managing egos, managing high-end players. Every one of these kids is a 20-plus minute a night player for their individual club teams. So for me, that’s the challenge,” he shares.

“It’s exciting, but with the Stromes and the Scheifeles and the Huberdeaus – there are only so many guys you can have on the ice. You have to manage personalities and maintain lines of communications so everyone feels like they’re a part of it.”

For more on Hockey Canada’s Selection Camp for the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship, visit the team’s webpage.