Joe Hicketts says he wants to remain a Victoria Royal as the team captain returned from the world junior championship on Wednesday morning to face the media at a news conference after sa国际传媒鈥檚 sixth-place finish in Helsinki.
With the Western Hockey League trade deadline set for Sunday, the highly regarded 19-year-old defenceman 鈥� who is likely to play minor pro next year for the Detroit Red Wings 鈥� expressed his desire to remain in the sa国际传媒 capital.
鈥淚 want to be here. I think that we have the opportunity to do something special here. The mix of playing with the younger guys and older guys, that is something that I鈥檝e enjoyed, not only this year but the last three years,鈥� he added.
鈥淲e鈥檝e come to grow really close with a lot of those guys. Whatever happens, happens, but I鈥檓 focused on playing out my junior career here and looking forward to hopefully having a good run here.鈥�
He, like everyone else, has put his faith in GM Cam Hope.
鈥淚 think everyone is [nervous]. You see what鈥檚 going on, some teams are starting to hit the panic button. We all have faith in Cam, in that he will do what鈥檚 in the best interest for the team. That鈥檚 what we have to rely on, is that Cam will make the decisions that are best for the team and if that鈥檚 trading or not, you have to accept that.鈥�
Hicketts, named one of sa国际传媒鈥檚 three best players at the world juniors, admitted to having gone through an emotional rollercoaster, especially after the 6-5 quarter-final loss to eventual-champion Finland.
鈥淒uring the tournament, it鈥檚 very strenuous,鈥� said Hicketts, who had a goal and two assists for Team sa国际传媒. 鈥淭he highs, the lows, the in-betweens 鈥� you can鈥檛 sleep some nights and on others, that鈥檚 all you want to do is sleep. It drains you mentally and physically.
鈥淐oming back here, obviously you need to take a couple of days off and I鈥檒l probably play in Prince George on Friday. You feel tired, a little jet-lagged, I guess, but I also feel energized to get the second half going.鈥�
The Kamloops native also threw full support behind Royals head coach Dave Lowry, who was also the head man in Finland. Lowry has become a bit of a target for disgruntled Canadian fans and some media.
Hicketts says he has not downloaded Twitter back onto his phone as the players were asked to remove the app, as well as Facebook, while representing the country.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to look at it for maybe another week or so. In the long run it helped us [not to have access to it],鈥� he added. 鈥淵ou see messages, there is a lot of support, but there are a lot of things where one play goes wrong and you get all the Twitter coaches, as we call them, that judge the game. To take it out of our minds was the best decision for us.鈥�
Although disappointed in the final result, Hicketts said he will have lasting memories this year after having won gold last year with Lowry as an assistant on Team sa国际传媒.
鈥淵eah, it was disappointing, but looking back, it was also a learning experience. Obviously, it wasn鈥檛 the result we wanted, but we lost to the team that won the tournament by one goal. If a bounce goes here or there, something else happens, but overall it was a good experience,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e knew how much everyone [the fans] wanted to win and it was no different in the room.鈥� [email protected]
