WHL Cup Preview: Team Manitoba

 

With just a glance at Team Manitoba’s roster, it’s easy to identify the high-profile names. Second-overall selection from the 2019 Western Hockey League’s Bantam Draft, Conor Geekie (Winnipeg ICE), sixth-overall selection Tyson Zimmer (Brandon Wheat Kings) and 11^th-overall selection Denton Mateychuk (Moose Jaw Warriors) are fairly clear players to pick out, but where Manitoba’s strength really lies is in their overall roster composition.

While the team is listed players that were selected from the first round of the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft, the bulk of the roster is composed of second round-and-beyond players, requiring the need for a unified approach from Team Manitoba at the WHL Cup. The aforementioned approach was kept in mind when selecting the team.

As with any WHL Cup tryouts, it’s difficult for players to crack their provincial team, but one could argue that Manitoba’s was the most problematic because its talent was all of a similar high-level calibre.

“It’s a process that we went through very meticulously, very carefully and we tried to be very respectful throughout the process of the players trying out,” Jeff Sveinson, Team Manitoba’s Head Coach said. “We fully understand how badly our players want to be on this team. It’s difficult in the sense that not all the players from Manitoba that are capable of being on this team, end up on the final roster. We’ve picked the 20 players that we think are the best fit.”

Thirty-three Manitobans were selected in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft compared to Team Alberta’s 69 players or B.C.’s 60 players making it difficult to cut down 33 players to just 20 for Team Manitoba, given the similar qualities of their draft selections.

To make the decision more challenging, Sveinson attested to the strength of specific positions in the province, which in tournament play will be an advantage for the team.

“[There was] very strong competition at defence,” Sveinson said. “This seems to be a year that Manitoba has a real strong group of defencemen and a real strong group of goaltenders.”

While the young men knew they were there to compete for a spot on the roster, they also highlighted different opportunities and excellences of the training camp.

“It was really good,” noted Luke Robson, a ninth-round selection of the Moose Jaw Warriors. “Anyone that volunteered or was working to develop us was amazing. All the players and the staff were great and overall it was an amazing time. If I had the chance to do it again, I definitely would.”

“I really liked how they set the camp up,” defenceman and first-round selection of the Warriors, Denton Mateychuk said. “It helped make connections with other guys and create a bond for the tournament, so it was good.”

After all was said and done with camp and the roster release, 20 young Manitobans were elated.

“It was really awesome,” Mateychuk said after finding out he had made the team. “I’m really honoured to be able to represent my province in this tournament.”

“I was astonished,” Robson said. “I was so excited. I couldn’t believe it and I’m just looking forward to everything after what my older buddies have said about it.

“My Dad who played for the Brandon Wheat Kings and was the captain for Team Manitoba at the time told me it’s going to be so much fun and so far it’s been a blast.”

For Robson, the ability to follow in his father’s footsteps in the WHL Cup and hopefully one day with the Warriors in the WHL, is an incredible honour, but it all comes back his work ethic.

“I have to work my hardest no matter what, even if I’m not very good at it, I still need to work very very hard,” Robson said. “That’s what my dad has always taught me.”

With the precedent of hard work in place for Robson and Team Manitoba, the next area of focus for the team is speed.

“We’re a fast team,” Mateychuk said. “We will be hard workers.

“Team Manitoba doesn’t like slow or players that like to lollygag, so we’re probably going to be one of the hardest working teams on the ice,” Robson said.

“You can expect a nice balanced attack,” Sveinson said. “It’s a fast-paced team and very hard working. Our intention is to keep the pace up and we’ve built a team around speed and hockey IQ.

“It’s Team Manitoba and we certainly know what we’re up against, the other provinces are very strong and certainly our goal is to play on that final game on Sunday.”

With a strong work ethic and a unified approach to tackling the other three teams, Sveinson believes his team’s efforts will set them on a path for success.

“We’ve achieved bronze and silver before and we certainly look at that as a benchmark, but we want a shot at that gold medal like every other team. We want to get in there and get in that final game and be healthy and strong and feeling right to compete for that gold medal.”

Team Manitoba will begin vying for a chance at the gold medal when they play their first game of the tournament on Wednesday, October 23 (6 p.m. MT) against Team Alberta at the Markin McPhail Centre in Calgary, Alta.

For more information on the WHL Cup, visit https://prospects.whl.ca.

Hockey Manitoba is pleased to announce the Team Manitoba U16 Male Roster for the 2019 WHL Cup in Calgary.

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— Hockey Manitoba (@hockeymanitoba) October 3, 2019