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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Welcome to the Neno's Place!

Neno's Place Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality


Neno

I can be reached by phone or text 8am-7pm cst 972-768-9772 or, once joining the board I can be reached by a (PM) Private Message.

Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Many Topics Including The Oldest Dinar Community. Copyright © 2006-2020


    Canadian juniors bond after tense night of cuts

    jedi17
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    • Post n°1

    Canadian juniors bond after tense night of cuts Empty Canadian juniors bond after tense night of cuts

    Post by jedi17 Sat 17 Dec 2016, 8:38 pm

    Canadian juniors bond after tense night of cuts


    Team Canada traveled to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec on Thursday where they will stay until Monday's first pre-tournament game. There are practices scheduled each day along with a series of team-bonding events.
    * The hours following Team Canada's 8-0 win over the Czech Republic in Wednesday night's scrimmage were tense for the players. "If you didn't get a call before 11:45pm it meant that you made the team," defenceman Philippe Myers explained. "When I didn't get that call all the boys were out in the hall hollering and cheering. We're all so grateful to be part of the team. It was a great experience. I'll never forget this." For the five players cut, Wednesday night was painful. For the 22 players who survived, especially those who knew they were on the bubble, it was as sweet a moment as they've experienced in hockey. "It's probably the best news I've ever gotten in my life," said forward Blake Speers. "Even comparing it to the news I got earlier this year that I was going to make a dream come true and play my first NHL game, this doesn't even compare to that. It's probably the best thing that's ever happened to me, honestly." The Devils prospect called his parents immediately after his fate was determined. "My parents were up. They were pretty nervous too so I called them. I'm not ashamed to say I had a couple tears in my eyes when I finally found out."
    * As always, there are a number of unlikely names that cracked Canada's final roster. The biggest surprise may be Speers, not because he doesn't possess the talent, but because he's played so few games this season. He started the year with the Devils and played three games in the NHL before being returned to junior hockey. But in his first game back with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Speers broke his wrist and required surgery a few days later. Since then, it has been a race against time. "I was trying to keep positive and really do all the right things the entire time I was out, but it's tough," Speers said. "It's a long process and it's a process that's pretty slow realistically, like, there's not much I could do about. I had my hand in a cast. I wasn't allowed to move it. There was nothing I could do to really speed up the process so I just sat back, got my rest, ate healthy and hoped for good news."
    Speers wasn't invited to Canada's summer camp, but Hockey Canada's director of player personnel Ryan Jankowski kept an eye on him. He made a quick trip to Buffalo to scout the 19-year-old during an NHL pre-season game and liked what he saw. If Jankowski wasn't at that game then it's quite likely Speers would have fallen off the radar. But Jankowski got video of the game and showed it to the coaching staff. So, Speers got invited to the selection camp although the injury was still an issue. He missed the first practice, wore a non-contact jersey in the second practice and then sat out the first scrimmage. He finally played on Tuesday and Wednesday, but there was rust and Speers wasn't sure if he had shown enough. "Last night it was weighing on my mind," he said. "I was thinking of all the different scenarios obviously, like any normal person would, and they only got two cracks to see me this year and the rest was only on video. The big thing for me going into both games was to show them how hard I'm willing to compete and work." That's exactly what Hockey Canada saw. "I was most impressed with him mentally," said Joël Bouchard, a member of Hockey Canada's management group and the president and general manager of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. "You come off an injury it's not always easy. You could look for excuses, but right away you could tell in his eyes that there was no looking back." It seems like a risk to pick a player with such a limited body of work this season, but Speers points out he'll have lots of time to get into top form before the opening game on Boxing Day. "He's a good hockey player," Bouchard said. "He didn't play very much so far this year, but it doesn't matter. It's what he does from today on."

    * Like Speers, Taylor Raddysh wasn't invited to Canada's summer camp. There were concerns about whether the 6-foot-2, 209-pound winger could keep up at the highest level. Raddysh believes he's put those doubts to rest by leading the OHL in scoring so far this season and then potting three goals in two scrimmages at the selection camp. "I feel like I've been able to show myself off this season," the Erie Otter said. "I don't necessarily think I'm a slow skater. I feel like I'm a bigger, stockier guy that people assume is, and maybe I look, a little bit slower. But I feel like I showed myself well enough this year to get to the camp and I feel like I proved myself well here." Still, Raddysh was among those waiting uncomfortably for the cuts to be announced on Wednesday night. "We were just following Twitter and we saw some of the media's tweets and me and my roommate, Michael McLeod, we gave each other a big hug in excitement. It was a cool feeling for us. We were teammates when we were younger." And now that he's on the team, Raddysh said his role is obvious. "My offensive game. It's something I got to keep doing. I feel like I showed it off in camp so I got to keep building chemistry with as many guys that I can. It's pretty awesome to be finally picked by the U20 team. It's been a goal of mine for awhile so it's pretty cool to be in the moment now."

    * With the 22-man roster now set, Bouchard was asked what he likes most about this group. "They're dialled in," he said. "That's what I like the most. I like the vibe. We're looking for a special team, special kids and so far they've been handling themselves very well. They're comfortable." On Wednesday night, head coach Dominique Ducharme said one of the rallying cries this year is "be special." Bouchard was asked to expand on what that means. "There's so much adversity in the tournament," said Bouchard, who won two gold medals at the world juniors during his playing days. "You look over the years and it's a different country that seems to be on top (each time). Adversity will hit you and the pace of the game is so high you need a special group of kids to adjust and a special group of players to go through the high and the lows in a three-week span." So, what will be the identity of this year's Team Canada? "Just a hard working team that gets it," Bouchard said. "Smart hockey players that play the right way with a good attitude."
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