Everest conqueror gives Team Canada pep talk
* On Friday night, Team Canada's players and staff got a pep talk from Jamie Clarke, an adventurer, who made four trips up Mount Everest. "There's mountains that you need to climb every day in life," said centre Dylan Strome. "With this tournament it's no different. He's talking about base camp and base camp for us is the exhibition games and then you go from there. You slowly build up and build up and hopefully get to that gold medal game, which he called the summit push. The summit climb is three straight days of climbing and you don't even sleep or eat or anything and that's what it takes to get to the gold medal game." Clarke reached the summit of Mount Everest in 1997 and 2010. "The will (to succeed) and the years that go by between climbs, that's probably the coolest thing," said Strome. "You don't really realize that the first two times he went he didn't make it. He takes four years off after the first time, five years off the second time and then I think 13 for the fourth time when he makes it. It's perseverance and training hard, it's unbelievable what he can do. The way he tells the story is truly fascinating." Clarke also addressed the notion of confronting your fears. "He talked about when he's hiking you bring in the element of being scared and that's when you rely on your process and being prepared for everything," said defenceman Jake Bean. "That's one thing I took away from it. Hearing the things he learned along his journeys was pretty special. It was really inspiring."
* After sitting out Friday's practice, Blake Speers was back on the ice on Saturday. "The goal is and always has been to be 100% come tournament time," said the New Jersey Devils prospect, who broke his wrist on Oct. 27 while playing for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. "The maintenance day was just precautionary yesterday and just to help me out so I could continue strengthening it. It's going to be a process and we have a great staff here and everyone's comfortable with the way it's progressing." How close is Speers to being 100 per cent? "I feel really comfortable with it on the ice," he said. "So, 100 per cent means a full range of motion, zero pain and stuff like that so right now I got to be somewhere in the 90s. I can play my game with where it's at right now and not worry about it." Speers was cleared for contact earlier this week and played in scrimmages on Tuesday and Wednesday.
* At practice, Speers slotted in on the right side of Canada's top line alongside Strome and left winger Pierre-Luc Dubois. "There's an element of size, speed and skill," said Speers. "Duber has the size, Stromer has the top-end skill and me coming down the wing with speed. We're all really unselfish players who are willing to work back above the puck and in our own zone." Strome believes the formula for success for the trio is pretty straightforward. "I'm a guy who likes to have the puck on his stick and they're both shooters so we complement each other well," the Erie Otter said. "It's my job to get them the puck and their job to put it in the net." Speers and Strome have played together before. "We've known each other a long time and we had a little experience together at the U17 tournament back in Nova Scotia in our first year of juniors," Speers said. "I think there's a level of comfortability between us. We're good friends off the ice and I think it's a good match."
* Clarke's speech hit home for Bean, who has had to climb some mountains early in his hockey career. He was passed over by every team in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft (12 rounds, more than 200 players picked). "I wasn't as big or as good as all the other kids at the age when they kind of started to get scouted, but I've overcome that," said Bean, who now stands 6-foot-1, 170 pounds. "It inspired me a little bit, proving a few people wrong was nice." There was a silver lining as going undrafted gave Bean, a Calgary native, an opportunity to successfully tryout for his hometown Hitmen where his career took off. More recently, the Carolina Hurricanes first rounder dealt with the adversity of an early-season injury. His hand was slashed by Medicine Hat's Chad Butcher in a game on Oct. 14 leaving Bean with a broken finger. He missed the Canada-Russia series games and only returned to action on Dec. 2. "I tried to look at it in a positive way," Bean said. "It gave me six weeks to make sure I was sleeping right, eating right, getting the right amount of training in the gym and on the ice, making sure I had sufficient rest so when I did get back in the lineup for the five games before the break and for this I would be in the best shape I have ever been in my life and I am." Now, Bean is ready to take on a top-four role with Team Canada. He has been paired with Everett Silvertips captain Noah Juulsen at practice the last two days. "We played together in the summer camp," said Bean, who led all WHL defencemen in goals last season (24). "He's a really solid defenceman and I think I can rely on him for good defence and making a good pass. I think we complement each other: more offence on my side and then he's really steady back there."
* Head coach Dominique Ducharme says he is in no rush to name a captain and alternates, but it seems likely that Strome will be wearing a letter when the time comes. He is one of five returning players and served as the Otters captain last season in Erie. "Dylan is an extraordinary leader," said Otters bench boss Kris Knoblauch, an assistant on Ducharme's world junior staff. Strome started the season in the NHL, but didn't miss a beat after getting demoted by the Arizona Coyotes on Nov. 20. "Coming back this year, it can be extremely disappointing, because his goal was to be in the NHL," Knoblauch said. "Obviously, he was disappointed coming back, but you could never tell. His work ethic in practice, in games, his focus was on the Erie Otters and doing well." Strome, who had one assist in seven games with the Coyotes, has racked up 16 points in seven games with Erie. Knoblauch senses that Strome has unfinished business on his mind. "I think this is maybe a situation where he has a lot to prove. Last year, he was disappointed with the world juniors and not having the finish he would like and also with the Otters being so close to a championship, well, now he has something to look forward to this year. He has something to play for." The Otters had the best record in the OHL during the 2015-16 regular season, but were swept by the London Knights in the OHL's Western Conference finals. "A lot of the guys, sometimes, just want to be in the NHL, because it's pretty exciting being in the NHL," Knoblauch explained. "But, I think it was hurting Dylan a little bit being in the NHL and not being able to play every night, because he's such a competitor."
* Lines at Team Canada's practice Saturday:
Dubois-Strome-Speers
Joseph-Barzal-Raddysh
Jost-Roy-Gauthier
Dubé-Cirelli-Stephens
McLeod
Chabot-Myers
Bean-Juulsen
Clague-Fabbro
Lauzon
Hart
Ingram
* Power-play units at Team Canada’s practice Saturday:
Chabot
Barzal-Raddysh-Strome
Dubois
Myers
Bean-Gauthier-Jost
Roy
* On Friday night, Team Canada's players and staff got a pep talk from Jamie Clarke, an adventurer, who made four trips up Mount Everest. "There's mountains that you need to climb every day in life," said centre Dylan Strome. "With this tournament it's no different. He's talking about base camp and base camp for us is the exhibition games and then you go from there. You slowly build up and build up and hopefully get to that gold medal game, which he called the summit push. The summit climb is three straight days of climbing and you don't even sleep or eat or anything and that's what it takes to get to the gold medal game." Clarke reached the summit of Mount Everest in 1997 and 2010. "The will (to succeed) and the years that go by between climbs, that's probably the coolest thing," said Strome. "You don't really realize that the first two times he went he didn't make it. He takes four years off after the first time, five years off the second time and then I think 13 for the fourth time when he makes it. It's perseverance and training hard, it's unbelievable what he can do. The way he tells the story is truly fascinating." Clarke also addressed the notion of confronting your fears. "He talked about when he's hiking you bring in the element of being scared and that's when you rely on your process and being prepared for everything," said defenceman Jake Bean. "That's one thing I took away from it. Hearing the things he learned along his journeys was pretty special. It was really inspiring."
* After sitting out Friday's practice, Blake Speers was back on the ice on Saturday. "The goal is and always has been to be 100% come tournament time," said the New Jersey Devils prospect, who broke his wrist on Oct. 27 while playing for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. "The maintenance day was just precautionary yesterday and just to help me out so I could continue strengthening it. It's going to be a process and we have a great staff here and everyone's comfortable with the way it's progressing." How close is Speers to being 100 per cent? "I feel really comfortable with it on the ice," he said. "So, 100 per cent means a full range of motion, zero pain and stuff like that so right now I got to be somewhere in the 90s. I can play my game with where it's at right now and not worry about it." Speers was cleared for contact earlier this week and played in scrimmages on Tuesday and Wednesday.
* At practice, Speers slotted in on the right side of Canada's top line alongside Strome and left winger Pierre-Luc Dubois. "There's an element of size, speed and skill," said Speers. "Duber has the size, Stromer has the top-end skill and me coming down the wing with speed. We're all really unselfish players who are willing to work back above the puck and in our own zone." Strome believes the formula for success for the trio is pretty straightforward. "I'm a guy who likes to have the puck on his stick and they're both shooters so we complement each other well," the Erie Otter said. "It's my job to get them the puck and their job to put it in the net." Speers and Strome have played together before. "We've known each other a long time and we had a little experience together at the U17 tournament back in Nova Scotia in our first year of juniors," Speers said. "I think there's a level of comfortability between us. We're good friends off the ice and I think it's a good match."
* Clarke's speech hit home for Bean, who has had to climb some mountains early in his hockey career. He was passed over by every team in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft (12 rounds, more than 200 players picked). "I wasn't as big or as good as all the other kids at the age when they kind of started to get scouted, but I've overcome that," said Bean, who now stands 6-foot-1, 170 pounds. "It inspired me a little bit, proving a few people wrong was nice." There was a silver lining as going undrafted gave Bean, a Calgary native, an opportunity to successfully tryout for his hometown Hitmen where his career took off. More recently, the Carolina Hurricanes first rounder dealt with the adversity of an early-season injury. His hand was slashed by Medicine Hat's Chad Butcher in a game on Oct. 14 leaving Bean with a broken finger. He missed the Canada-Russia series games and only returned to action on Dec. 2. "I tried to look at it in a positive way," Bean said. "It gave me six weeks to make sure I was sleeping right, eating right, getting the right amount of training in the gym and on the ice, making sure I had sufficient rest so when I did get back in the lineup for the five games before the break and for this I would be in the best shape I have ever been in my life and I am." Now, Bean is ready to take on a top-four role with Team Canada. He has been paired with Everett Silvertips captain Noah Juulsen at practice the last two days. "We played together in the summer camp," said Bean, who led all WHL defencemen in goals last season (24). "He's a really solid defenceman and I think I can rely on him for good defence and making a good pass. I think we complement each other: more offence on my side and then he's really steady back there."
* Head coach Dominique Ducharme says he is in no rush to name a captain and alternates, but it seems likely that Strome will be wearing a letter when the time comes. He is one of five returning players and served as the Otters captain last season in Erie. "Dylan is an extraordinary leader," said Otters bench boss Kris Knoblauch, an assistant on Ducharme's world junior staff. Strome started the season in the NHL, but didn't miss a beat after getting demoted by the Arizona Coyotes on Nov. 20. "Coming back this year, it can be extremely disappointing, because his goal was to be in the NHL," Knoblauch said. "Obviously, he was disappointed coming back, but you could never tell. His work ethic in practice, in games, his focus was on the Erie Otters and doing well." Strome, who had one assist in seven games with the Coyotes, has racked up 16 points in seven games with Erie. Knoblauch senses that Strome has unfinished business on his mind. "I think this is maybe a situation where he has a lot to prove. Last year, he was disappointed with the world juniors and not having the finish he would like and also with the Otters being so close to a championship, well, now he has something to look forward to this year. He has something to play for." The Otters had the best record in the OHL during the 2015-16 regular season, but were swept by the London Knights in the OHL's Western Conference finals. "A lot of the guys, sometimes, just want to be in the NHL, because it's pretty exciting being in the NHL," Knoblauch explained. "But, I think it was hurting Dylan a little bit being in the NHL and not being able to play every night, because he's such a competitor."
* Lines at Team Canada's practice Saturday:
Dubois-Strome-Speers
Joseph-Barzal-Raddysh
Jost-Roy-Gauthier
Dubé-Cirelli-Stephens
McLeod
Chabot-Myers
Bean-Juulsen
Clague-Fabbro
Lauzon
Hart
Ingram
* Power-play units at Team Canada’s practice Saturday:
Chabot
Barzal-Raddysh-Strome
Dubois
Myers
Bean-Gauthier-Jost
Roy
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