Chase Harrington works construction during the off-season, so you could say he knows a thing or two about sandpaper.
On the ice, it’s no different for the Flames prospect, and that’s why the product of Prince George, B.C. is vying for a role on Canada’s World Junior squad this winter.
Harrington hasn’t had a tonne of time to work at his Dad’s construction firm this year. First came Flames Development Camp, then a week-long visit to Ontario to represent Canada at the World Junior Summer Showcase.
A first - necessary - step toward getting on the radar for the 2027 World Juniors in Alberta.
“It would mean everything to me,” Harrington said over the phone last week when asked what making Team Canada would mean to him. “Watching World Juniors in my house every Christmas, it was a pretty big deal growing up. It’d be such an honour.
“Watching them dominate, watching them win gold medals. It’s the standard in Canada, to bring home gold. I’m excited to get the opportunity to try and do that. It’ll be electric in Edmonton, so I hope I can make my way onto the roster to do that.”
The Flames liked Harrington’s mix of size, skill and ill will enough to select him early in the second round of this past June’s NHL Draft. And the forward is optimistic that Canada brass will think the same about his game.
His game is about speed, skill, but also that ‘Canadian Way’ of wearing down opponents with relentless physicality, and Harrington is hopeful his week in Oakville helped garner the right kind of attention from Team Canada’s decision-makers.
“I play heavy, I play fast, I think that’s pretty valuable,” he said. “I think I bring a little bit of a different aspect in that sense, producing offence while also having that hard style of game, being a good fore-checker, and being good in the D zone and on the penalty kill.”
All three Flames prospects in the Canada camp last week had WHL ties. Harrington, Cole Reschny and Carson Carels had many a battle in the rough-and-tumble Western Conference in contests between Spokane, Victoria and Prince George.
Both Reschny and Carels know what Harrington’s game is all about. And as World Juniors returnees, they also have a pretty good idea of how Harrington’s game can help Canada in its pursuit of a first gold medal in four years.
“He’s a hard player, he goes to the dirty areas, he’s getting under guys’ skins,” Reschny said. “You need guys that can fill different roles and play in different situations. For him to come here and showcase what he does, that’s the biggest thing.
“He got picked for a reason, and he’s looked good so far.”
“His game kinda speaks for itself, he’s a playoff player,” said Carels, whose Cougars traded series wins with Harrington’s Chiefs over the past two springs. “In the playoffs, you’ve got to play the Canadian way, a lot of hits, keep running down the other team. I think his game kinda complements that really well.
“He has that kind of ‘playoff mode’ and switch where he just turns into an absolute animal, almost. I’ve gotten to know him quite a bit in the past year, he’s a great guy but as soon as he gets on that ice, he’s just an animal.”
The three have become firm friends, a bond now forged through a common goal of playing NHL hockey in front of the C of Red.
But in the short term, the prospect of capturing World Juniors gold on home soil is alluring, too.
Carels and Reschny as returning key cogs.
Harrington as the spark plug that could well help rev that Canadian engine.
“I play the game that I play,” Harrington said.
“I think the Flames appreciate that, and I think Team Canada will too.”
