In terms of rivals, the U.S. has become to this generation of Canadian hockey players what Russia was to the previous.
Defenceman Joe Hicketts of the Victoria Royals was part of the latest battle as sa国际传媒 defeated the U.S. 4-0 Saturday in the gold-medal game of the U-18 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament in the Czech Republic.
Hicketts showed his sense of international hockey history is as sharp as his outlet pass.
鈥淚t feels unbelievable to win. This is a rivalry that started in 2002 [when sa国际传媒 defeated the U.S. in the gold-medal final of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics before doing the same at Vancouver 2010],鈥� he said, by phone from the Czech Republic.
The sa国际传媒-U.S. final was a repeat of 2012, as sa国际传媒 won the tournament for the sixth consecutive year.
鈥淭his is about 21 guys who all bought into the system [installed by Canadian head coach Dale Hunter],鈥� Hicketts said.
sa国际传媒 finished 2-1 in pool play and then knocked off its historical nemesis, Russia, in the semifinals.
Although undersized, the mobile Hicketts displayed again why he is rated highly by Central Scouting for the 2014 NHL draft. He was consistently used by Hunter against the other teams鈥� best lines.
鈥淚 think I did well,鈥� Hicketts said.
鈥淲e shut down the other teams鈥� top lines and held them to one or two goals each game.鈥�
For players such as Hicketts 鈥� good enough to represent their country internationally as well as play for a club 鈥� hockey is pretty much 12 months of the year.
Hicketts said he will try to catch a breather, before Royals camp opens late this month at Save-on-Memorial Centre, by spending some family time in Thunder Bay, Ont., and his hometown of Kamloops.
