MONCTON | Team Canada Junior Camp begins Friday in Moncton, and the 32 invitees have four days to convince Hockey Canada executives that they have what it takes to earn a place in the World Juniors, beginning April 26. December in Moncton and Halifax. The newspaper will be on site for the camp and you will be presented with four acts that you must carefully monitor.
• Also read: World Juniors: Bedard and Fantilli reunited in the ECJ camp, three CH hopefuls invited
• Also read: Wright will be at the Junior World Championships
Few positions available
Hours before his camp began, ECJ learned that forwards Shane Wright (Seattle) and Dylan Guenther (Arizona) and defenseman Brandt Clarke (Los Angeles) had been loaned to their respective teams for the tournament. Good news for the team, not so good news for the players trying to earn a place in the tournament. Considering that players returning from last summer’s edition – which isn’t necessarily automatic – will have a spot again this winter, there are eight attackers and four defenders whose spot is practically taken. You can probably add the names of top draft candidate Adam Fantilli and Seattle Thunderbirds defenseman Kevin Korchinski and you’re left with three lines and five defensemen. It will elbow out the last available seats.
How many Quebecers with ECJ?
Photo agency QMI / John Morris
Nathan Gaucher
Forward Nathan Gaucher (Quebec), Zachary Bolduc (Quebec), Joshua Roy (Sherbrooke), Jordan Dumais (Halifax), defender Tyson Hinds (Sherbrooke) and goaltender William Rousseau (Quebec) are the six Quebecers present at the camp. Of these, Gaucher and Roy competed in the tournament and won gold with ECJ last August. It will be interesting to watch the potential fight between Jordan Dumais and Zachary Bolduc, two highly offensive players in the QMJHL who could be battling with the Canadian team for one of the last spots. In the case of Hinds, his progress has been meteoric in recent years and he has an important card in his game: his head coach at Sherbrooke Phoenix, Stéphane Julien, is serving as an assistant at ECJ this year. He only has good words for him.
How many CH hopefuls in the team?
Photo Martin Chevalier
Owen Beck
The Habs count on three of their nominees for the ECJ’s final camp: forward Joshua Roy, Riley Kidney and Owen Beck. In Roy’s case, barring a disaster, he should be on the team as he played an important role in the search for gold last August. Kidney, meanwhile, is also back but played a very limited role in the last tournament, being used as the 13th striker. He has a head start considering he was on the team and his camp will dictate what happens next. In Beck’s case, it will be interesting to watch. A revelation from the Canadian’s last training camp, he certainly presents himself on an Erra, but also in a team that has very few spots available. His versatility could be an advantage, and if he had camp on par with his in Montreal, he could confuse the issue.
Who will be the starting goalkeeper?
This is perhaps the biggest question mark at ECJ as the tournament nears. Benjamin Gaudreau, Tyler Brennan and Thomas Milic made up the goalkeeping trio of the Canada team that won gold at the 2021 U18 World Cup. The three will be present at camp and will be joined by William Rousseau, a goaltender who was never drafted but has established himself as a fixture in the QMJHL since last year’s playoffs with the Remparts. Gaudreau and Brennan appear to be leaving with a head start but the fight is going to be close and Rousseau shouldn’t be underestimated coming into camp with confidence and no pressure.
LOG PREDICTION
Finally, let’s make a prediction on how crazy you’ll look on Monday when Junior Team Canada completes their lineup! But the more the merrier, here’s our prediction for the final CJS list.
attacker
- Brennan Othmann-Shane Wright-Dylan Guenther
- Adam Fantilli – Connor Bedard – Logan Stankoven
- Joshua Roy – Nathan Gaucher – Zachary Bolduc
- Riley Kidney Owen Beck Zach Ostapchuk
Extras: Reid Schaefer and Ryan Greene
defender
- Olen ZellwegerBrandt Clarke
- Kevin Korchinski Carson Lambos
- Ethan Del Mastro—Nolan Allan
Extras: Tyson Hinds and Jack Matier
Guardian
- Tyler Brennan
- Thomas Milic
- William Rousseau