Tuesday, December 21, 2010 /
By Mark Janzen /
At the start of Team Canada’s selection camp, coach Dave Cameron told all his players the same thing.
“Make my job difficult.”
With only four players returning from last year’s silver-medal winning squad – defencemen Ryan Ellis, Jared Cowen and Calvin de Haan and forward Brayden Schenn – the battle for spots was about as wide open as it could be.
And the 40 players who were invited to Toronto did exactly what Cameron said. They battled for the right to be in a position to be the next Jordan Eberle.
It’s just this year, no one really knew exactly who would take that centre spotlight. Or even left, right or back stage spotlight.
But by the time camp ended and the team was announced Dec. 15, the newbie’s who had separated themselves from the rest were already starting to capture the rest of the nation’s hearts.
First, take forward Marcus Foligno, who probably had one of the most impressive camps of any player. The younger brother of Ottawa Senators forward Nick Foligno and son to former NHLer and current Anaheim Ducks assistant coach Mike Foligno, is the lowest drafted skater on Canada’s roster – he was drafted in 104th overall by Buffalo in the 2009 draft – but he made an immediate statement in the first intrasquad game, with two goals and a big hit, and as, Cameron would say to him upon making the team, he made it “impossible” not to pick him.
Then look at a player like Jaden Schwartz. The Emerald Park, Sask. native, who has 26 points in 17 games this year at Colorado College, also scored in the camp-opening game and the St. Louis Blues prospect has been a fascinating player to watch for fans and analysts alike.
“It’s just a big relief right now,” Schwartz told TSN upon hearing he made the team. “Our family has been through a lot the last couple years and I know for me and my family, especially my sister, they wanted me to be here and it was a great opportunity for me. It’s a dream come true.”
Schwartz’s sister Mandi, 22, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia two years ago and is currently in Seattle recovering from a stem-cell transplant she had in late September.
Then there are other new players who made it like Brett Connolly, who missed most of last year with hip injuries; Cody Eakin, who was a late cut last year; Ryan Johansen, who’s having a great year with the Portland Winterhawks and is on an unbelievable rise from the BCHL ranks a couple years ago to become the highest-drafted forward to make the team; Buffalo prospect Zack Kassian; Louis Leblanc, the darling of Montreal who plays for their QMJHL team and is a prospect of their NHL team; and Sean Couturier, the No. 1 ranked prospect by Internationanl Scouting Services for the 2011 Draft, who is the only undrafted player to make the team.
Or Canadians might even hear a lot from a player like Curtis Hamilton, who plays for Saskatoon of the WHL and is an Edmonton Oilers second round pick.
It feels great,” Hamilton told Hockey Now. “It’s quite a relief. I didn’t get much sleep and I’m probably working on just an hour or two of sleep but that’s all right.
“Well, TSN kept saying that this camp was more wide open than in years past and I think I just did the job I needed to do and played the game that I played in Junior, which is a two-way game, and I also got a couple points.”
Defensively, it will be first-timers Erik Gudbranson of Orleans, Ont.; Dylan Olsen of Calgary, Alta.; Simon Despres of Laval, Que.; and Tyson Barrie of Victoria, B.C. joining the returning trio.
And in net, for the seventh year in a row, Canada will go with two new goalies.
This year, Oilers prospect Olivier Roy who was cut from Team Canada last year and Mark Visentin, a Phoenix Coyotes first round pick in the 2010 draft, will battle for the number one job.
Cameron didn’t want the job of paring down the team to 22 to be easy. And it wasn’t. But now the real work starts Canada’s head coach: bringing all these first-timers together in short order and then, winning gold.
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