Forward Alex Newhook of the Victoria Grizzlies might get plenty of opportunities in his hockey career to put on the red Maple Leaf jersey, including in the 2020 world junior tournament, and it will never get old.
鈥淭o play for your country is a special feeling,鈥� said Newhook, projected for the first round of the 2019 NHL draft.
Newhook does it for the second time in his career when Team sa国际传媒 West meets the U.S. today to open the World Junior 鈥淎鈥� Challenge in Bonnyville, Alta. This follows Newhook鈥檚 performance last year for Team sa国际传媒 Black at the World U-17 Hockey Challenge.
鈥淲e are going to play in that Canadian way 鈥� hard and with speed and intensity,鈥� he said.
That job will be made easier in that Newhook will be well acquainted with his Team sa国际传媒 West linemates. They are fellow Grizzlies Alex Campbell, also projected for the 2019 NHL draft, and Riley Hughes, a 2018 draft pick of the New York Rangers.
鈥淲e have familiarity with each other, and that helps,鈥� said Newhook.
The other Grizzlies on Team sa国际传媒 West are defencemen Carter Berger and Jeremie Bucheler.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great that all five of us made it. That鈥檚 quite a bit of an advantage we have because we all know each other so well,鈥� said Campbell.
That鈥檚 no small thing, because the key aspect of national-team or representative play is how quickly players from many different clubs can come together as a cohesive unit.
鈥淣ational-team play is usually over a short period of time, so you have to come together quickly to be successful,鈥� said Newhook.
The Victoria five join a Team sa国际传媒 West roster of 13 forwards, seven defencemen and two goaltenders that includes 14 players from the sa国际传媒 Hockey League, five from the Alberta Junior Hockey League and three from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
The only clubs with multiple players named are the five from the BCHL Grizzlies, the Penticton Vees of the BCHL with three and Vernon Vipers of the BCHL and Spruce Grove and Okotoks of聽the AJHL with two each. Based on track record, the goal for this group is the top of the podium.
鈥渟a国际传媒 West has won five of the last seven gold medals in this tournament [including last year in Truro, N.S., when currently injured Grizzlies goaltender Zack聽Rose backstopped the championship team],鈥� said Newhook.
鈥淪o we are not going to be happy with anything less than the gold medal.鈥�
Blueliner Berger concurred: 鈥淲e have a fast, skilled team that is looking for the gold.鈥�
Not that it鈥檚 going to be easy. Every team in Bonnyville, in east-central Alberta, has the same aim.
鈥淓veryone here is a great player, with so many guys who are going to go on to college and pro careers,鈥� said Berger.
Team sa国际传媒 East opens today against Russia. The other team in the tournament, which runs through next Sunday, is the Czech Republic.
World Junior 鈥淎鈥� Challenge alumni include Brock Boeser, Dennis Cholowski, Joe Colborne, Nikolaj Ehlers, Dante Fabbro, Mikhail Grigorenko, Tyson Jost, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Elias Lindholm, Cale Makar, Jaden Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko, Kyle Turris, Andrei Vasilevski, Jakub Vrana and Nail Yakupov.
