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Team Canada unveils roster for 2022 world juniors, headlined by Bedard and Power

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CALGARY — Canada’s junior men’s hockey team runs the gamut from seasoned pros to a 16-year-old.

Cole Perfetti, with over 50 professional games under his belt, and Connor Bedard, who becomes the seventh player to be named to the Canadian team at age 16, were among 25 players named Sunday to the 2022 roster.

Three goaltenders, eight defencemen and 14 forwards born between 2002 and 2005 comprise the host team for the world under-20 men’s hockey championship co-hosted by Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta., from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5.

‘The expectation is a gold medal.’ Here’s who will skate for it.

Forwards

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Connor Bedard, Xavier Bourgault, Mavrik Bourque, Will Cuylle, Elliot Desnoyers, Ridly Greig, Dylan Guenther, Kent Johnson, Mason McTavish, Jake Neighbours, Cole Perfetti, Justin Sourdif, Logan Stankoven, Shane Wright.

Defencemen

Lukas Cormier, Kaiden Guhle, Carson Lambos, Ryan O’Rourke, Owen Power, Donovan Sebrango, Olen Zellweger.

Goaltenders

Brett Brochu, Sebastian Cossa, Dylan Garand.

Soon, the quest for Gold begins

Canada opens the tournament on Boxing Day against the Czech Republic at Edmonton’s Rogers Place.

“It’s going to be a competitive team, we’re going to try to play fast, we’re going to be a team with a lot of energy, we’re going to be a team that initiates and plays with a lot of discipline,” Canadian head coach Dave Cameron said.

Bedard, a North Vancouver, B.C. product who plays for the WHL’s Regina Pats, joins Wayne Gretzky (1978), Eric Lindros (1990), Jason Spezza and Jay Bouwmeester (2000), Sidney Crosby (2004) and Connor McDavid (2014) in playing for Canada’s junior team at age 16.

“It’s pretty crazy to hear myself with those guys,” Bedard said. “Dreaming of playing in this tournament, getting the opportunity at the age I’m at is pretty special.”

Forward Shane Wright, who was released from selection camp a year ago at 16, earned a spot on the team this time.

Choosing experience

Garand, Guhle and Perfetti return from the team that fell 2-0 to the United States in the 2021 world junior final in Edmonton.

“Canada’s always got a skilled team and a lot of good people,” Guhle said. “The expectation is a gold medal.”

The 2021 tournament was held without fans in Edmonton because of the pandemic. There will be spectators in Rogers Place for the 2022 event.

“You ask the returning guys, Cole and Kaiden, it’s definitely not the same without fans,” Garand said.

“Whenever you can play in a tournament of this magnitude on home ice with home fans and a sold-out NHL arena, it’s pretty exciting to think about. I think it’s going to help our team.”

Perfetti, Sebrango and O’Rourke bring a total of 160 games of American Hockey League experience.

The Ontario Hockey League didn’t operate in 2020-21 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Perfetti and Sebrango returned to their AHL clubs this season.

Perfetti and Power won men’s world championship gold with Canada in Riga, Latvia, in June.

Cameron is the head coach of the Canadian team again 11 years after overseeing a squad that earned a silver medal in Buffalo. Canada lost 5-3 to Russia in that final.

Thirty-five players were summoned to selection camp in Calgary, but Sudbury Wolves defenceman Jack Thomson’s invitation was withdrawn because of COVID-19 protocols.

University of Michigan’s Johnson also didn’t report to camp Thursday because of COVID-19 issues, but was among the 14 forwards named to the 2022 edition.

A roster without NHLers — for now, at least

While no current NHL player joined Canada’s roster, Hockey Canada senior vice-president of national teams Scott Salmond has said that door remains open until Wednesday.

Canada plays Switzerland and Sweden in exhibition games Dec. 19-20 respectively in Red Deer followed by another pre-tournament game Dec. 22 against Russia.

Defenceman Vincent Iorio and forwards Zach Dean, William Dufour, Luke Evangelista, Jack Finley, Joshua Roy, Hendrix Lapierre and Ryan Tverberg were released Sunday. Defenceman Daemon Hunt was unable to continue due to injury.

“I don’t remember there being this many guys in previous camps that I was part of that had this many guys in the mix, which says something about Canadian hockey and the amount of depth we have here,” Cameron said Sunday before players were released.

“It makes our job a little bit more difficult, but those are the tough decisions you like. The more competition you have, the better it brings out of people.”

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Allen on trade to Devils from Habs: 'Sometimes you've got to be a little bit selfish' – Yahoo Canada Sports

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Jake Allen loved being a member of the Montreal Canadiens.

The hockey-mad market, the crackling Bell Centre on a Saturday night, the Original Six franchise’s iconic logo.

The 33-year-old goaltender is also realistic.

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With the Canadiens still in full rebuild mode — and two young netminders in Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau ready for more playing time — Allen could see the writing on the wall.

Desperate for help in their own crease, the New Jersey Devils asked Montreal about the veteran’s availability. But the team, general manager Tom Fitzgerald told reporters earlier this month, was initially on Allen’s no-trade list.

There wasn’t anything the Fredericton product disliked about the organization or city. The Devils simply appeared to have their crease set for years to come.

But when the club that finished with 112 points and made the second round of the playoffs in 2022-23 was badly hampered by poor play from Vitek Vanecek, Nico Daws and Akira Schmid — each netminder owned save percentages below .900 — the Devils circled back.

And Allen had changed his tune.

“Loved my time as a Hab,” he said of pulling on Montreal’s red, white and blue threads. “I always will cherish that. Put on probably the most special jersey in hockey, in my books. But you realize in your career, it doesn’t last forever.

“You’ve got to make decisions sometimes.”

Allen, who is signed through next season, eventually agreed to a deal that sent him to New Jersey ahead of the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline for a conditional third-round pick at the 2025 draft.

Apart from playing meaningful hockey on a team trying to claw its way back into the Eastern Conference playoff race, the swap gave him more runway to get his family settled in a new city instead of waiting to see what this summer’s crowded goalie market might bring.

“Sometimes you’ve got to be a little bit selfish,” said Allen, a Stanley Cup champion with the St. Louis Blues in 2019. “Look yourself in the mirror and wonder what’s best for you and your family.”

He’s been really good for his new team.

Allen was lights out in Tuesday’s first period against the Toronto Maple Leafs, making an eye-popping 25 saves in what would turn into New Jersey’s 6-3 victory.

So far he’s 4-2-0 with a .925 save percentage and a 2.51 goals against average in six starts for the Devils, who sit five points back of the East’s second wild-card spot.

“A real pro,” said interim head coach Travis Green.

Allen is a combined 10-14-3 in 2023-24 with a .900 save percentage and a 3.39 GAA. Across his 11 seasons with St. Louis, Montreal and now New Jersey, he’s 193-164-41 with a .908 save percentage and 2.75 GAA.

“Makes the saves we need to get some momentum back,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said. “If you have a solid goalie in the net, that makes your work easier.”

Allen is also 11-12 with a .924 and a 2.06 GAA all-time in the playoffs — a good sign for his new club should New Jersey manage to make the cut.

For now, though, he’s just enjoying being back in a post-season race.

“I thought this was a good opportunity to come in the rest of this year, play some games,” Allen said.

“It’s been a good start.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2024.

___

Follow @JClipperton_CP on X.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press

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Matthews game-time decision for Maple Leafs against Capitals with illness – NHL.com

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TORONTOAuston Matthews will be a game-time decision for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Washington Capitals at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, MNMT) because of an illness.

“It’s going to be on how he feels throughout the day,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said.

The forward did not participate in Toronto’s morning skate. Max Domi took his place as the center on a line between Tyler Bertuzzi and Mitch Marner, a right wing recovering from a high-ankle sprain sustained March 7 and will be out the next two games.

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Matthews leads the NHL with 59 goals, one from becoming the ninth player in NHL history with at least two 60-goal seasons. He scored 60 in 73 games in 2021-22, when he won the Rocket Richard Trophy, Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award. He had one goal and nine shots in 23:44 of a 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, which extended his point streak to five games (four goals, seven assists).

He missed one game this season with illness, a 7-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 16.

“Of course, it’s an adjustment when your best player is out of the lineup,” Domi said, “when anybody is out of the lineup, but I think we’ve done a great job all year of guys stepping up when they have to, and we just have to continue to do that.”

Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly will miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury.

“He just remains day to day,” Keefe said. “We’re hopeful he’s going to bounce back here. The one thing that is good is once he gets through this day or two here, it’s not going to be a lingering situation. It’s not going to be an injury that’s ongoing. Once he’s past it, he’s past it so we just need to give him some time.”

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Canucks place goalie Thatcher Demko on long-term injured list

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The Vancouver Canucks have placed all-star goalie Thatcher Demko on the long-term injured reserve list retroactively.

“It’s just cap related,” coach Rick Tocchet said after practice Wednesday. “We get some cap relief, that’s all it is.”

The 28-year-old netminder has been considered week to week since being sidelined with a lower-body injury midway through Vancouver’s 5-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets on March 9.

That injury designation hasn’t changed, Tocchet said.

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Demko boasts a 34-18-2 record this season, with a .917 save percentage, a 2.47 goals-against average and five shutouts.

Casey DeSmith has taken over the starting job for Vancouver, going 3-2-1 since Demko’s injury. He has a .899 save percentage on the season with a 2.73 goals-against average and one shutout.

The earliest Demko could be back in the Canucks’ lineup is April 6 against the Kings in Los Angeles.

He’s expected to be a key piece as Vancouver (45-19-8) prepares for its first playoff appearance since the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin also announced Wednesday that the club has called up forward Arshdeep Bains from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League.

“I’d like to see where [Bains is] at,” Tocchet said, noting he isn’t sure whether the 23-year-old winger will slot into the lineup when the Canucks host the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

WATCH | Bains makes NHL debut

 

Surrey, B.C.’s Arshdeep Bains makes Canucks debut

1 month ago

Duration 2:20

Arshdeep Bains from Surrey, B.C., has made his NHL debut with the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche. As CBC’s Joel Ballard reports, it’s been a hard-fought journey for the hometown kid to the big leagues.

Bains played five games for the NHL team in February before being sent back to Abbotsford.

“He went down, he’s done a couple of things that we like, and he’s got some speed,” Tocchet said.

Vancouver may get another forward back in the lineup Thursday.

Dakota Joshua practised in a full-contact jersey on Wednesday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in Vancouver’s 4-2 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Feb. 13.

The physical winger, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has a career-high 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) this season.

Sitting out injured “hasn’t been fun,” Joshua said.

“It feels like forever,” he said. “But at this point, that’s behind me and I’m moving forward.”

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