By Darren Steinke /
He has played in the Memorial Cup final in 2007, been selected in the first round of the NHL Draft, and now Tyler Ennis has made one more of his hockey dreams come true.
On Dec. 10, this Medicine Hat Tigers star forward left the Gas City along with Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins for the main training camp for Canada’s World Junior team in Ottawa. Ennis will be one of 38 players attempting to crack the Canadian roster.
Desjardins will be an assistant coach for the Canadian squad.
On Dec. 15, Ennis found out he was one of 22 players named to the Canadian team.
“It is a dream of mine to play on this team, so I have to go into camp and do everything in my power to make it,” said Ennis, before departing from the Hat.
“You have 30-some guys whose dreams are to make it to this team, so it is going to be a battle. It is going to be fast and intense. It should be fun.”
Since arriving with the Tigers as a 16-year-old-listed player, Ennis, who stand 5-9 and weighs 164 pounds, has had a number of highlights with the team.
The highlights include scoring the overtime winning goal to lock up the 2007 WHL Eastern Conference championship series against the Calgary Hitmen as a 17-year-old sophomore. As an 18-year-old, he had a stellar campaign recording 43 goals and 48 assists to finish fourth in the WHL in scoring with 91 points.
In June, this Edmonton-product was selected in the first round and 26th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL Draft.
During his final game before departing for Canada’s main camp, Ennis collected his 100th career WHL assist in a 4-3 home loss to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Dec. 8.
Ennis’s passes seemed to have eyes at times in that contest, and he showed off his trademark stickhandling skills. He believes these abilities are part of the things he will need to bring to the Canadian camp. His work was obviously made a good impression.
“Mostly, you just have to work as hard as you can,” said Ennis. “You have to find it in yourself to do other things outside of your game as well just so that maybe they can see you can play any role.”
As for Desjardins, hockey fans in the Hat believe his coaching role with the Canadian team was an honour long overdue. He is the all-time wins leader in Tigers franchise history, and he has compiled a 274-139-52 record since becoming the club’s head coach before the start of the 2002/03 season.
Desjardins is excited about the opportunity, but he also realizes what he is leaving behind.
“It is going to be fun,” said Desjardins. “It is going to be great with those guys (that are attempting to make and will be on the World Junior team).
“At the same time, I will miss the guys here. We have some really great guys here, and they play really hard. I certainly appreciate these guys.”
The Tigers could also be without both of their European players for an extended period. Czech rearguard Tomas Kundratek and his countryman left-winger Zdenek Okal leave for the training camp of their national team on Dec. 14.
In the Dec. 8 loss to Lethbridge, Kundratek, an NHL draft selection of the New York Rangers, netted his first WHL goal. This 19-year-old has one goal, five assists and is a plus-five in the plus-minus category in 18 regular season games with the Tigers.
Okal, an 18-year-old left-winger, was the Tigers second leading scorer on the season when he departed. He has 12 goals, 19 assists and a plus-10 rating in 33 regular season games.
In the Dec. 8 loss to Lethbridge, Kundratek, an NHL draft selection of the New York Rangers, netted his first WHL goal. This 19-year-old has one goal, five assists and is a plus-five in the plus-minus category in 18 regular season games with the Tigers.
Okal, an 18-year-old left-winger, was the Tigers second leading scorer on the season when he departed. He has 12 goals, 19 assists and a plus-10 rating in 33 regular season games. |
