Canada leaning toward older players for World Juniors

The expectation is that the Canada National Junior Team will be older and wiser when the 22-player roster is announced after national junior team selection camp at the Centre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau in Blainville, Quebec, from Dec. 11-14.
"It was a little bit conscious [effort] to go with an older group [at camp]," said Ryan Jankowski, Hockey Canada director of player personnel. "We think that's where our strength is with the depth of our 1997 (birth years). I like the fact we're going to be a little bit older, which makes you a little more stronger and experienced, and that speaks to our 1997 age group (19-year-olds) which will kind of dominate this team. And yet we like the top end of the '98s (birth year) to fill out the roster."

The fact 18 of the 31 players going to camp were born in 1997 is further proof that Hockey Canada will be leaning toward an experienced roster on home ice when the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship is held in Toronto and Montreal from Dec. 26, 2016, through Jan. 5, 2017.
The select camp roster consists of 18 forwards, 10 defensemen and three goalies, including five returning players from the team that finished sixth at the 2016 WJC in Finland: Forwards Mathew Barzal (New York Islanders), Julien Gauthier (Carolina Hurricanes), Mitchell Stephens (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Dylan Strome (Arizona Coyotes), and defenseman Thomas Chabot (Ottawa Senators).
Canada opens the 2017 WJC against Russia in a Group B preliminary-round game at Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Dec. 26. Also in Group B are the United States, Latvia and Slovakia.
Group A consists of Sweden, Czech Republic, Denmark, Switzerland and Finland, the defending gold medalist. They will play preliminary-round games at Bell Centre in Montreal.
Here are five talking points heading into Canada's select camp:

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Goaltender competition

For the first time in four years, Hockey Canada will have a competition in goal; it has invited three players to select camp. In previous years, the managerial team opted to name two goaltenders for select camp and carried those players into the tournament.
Connor Ingram from Kamloops (Western Hockey League), Carter Hart from Everett (WHL) and Michael McNiven from Owen Sound of the Ontario Hockey League are the three goalies vying for two spots on the roster.

"This was a year where it was hard to get down to two goalies, and we've had really good performances from all three," Jankowski said. "If we felt we could go with two, we would. This year we felt that three would shoot for the spot and we feel that will provide competition at camp and allow us to determine who the top two are."
Canada ranked ninth out of 10 teams in save percentage (.849) and fifth in goals-against average (3.58) last year.

Something to prove

After failing to reach the semifinal round and finishing sixth at last year's tournament, Hockey Canada vice president, hockey operations Scott Salmond believes the players will be more motivated.
"I think there was a level of embarrassment to the result last year," Salmond said. "I don't necessarily think to the performance, but to the result. I think there's some guys like Dylan Strome, who is very focused on coming back, making an impression and trying to redeem what happened last year. I think playing at home lends to that too."

Veteran vengeance

Canada coach Dominique Ducharme is grateful that several players from last year's team will participate in select camp, including Barzal, Strome, Gauthier, Stephens and Chabot.
Those five players combined for seven of the 18 goals scored by Canada in the 2016 WJC. Strome finished tied for the team lead in goals (four) and points (six) with Mitchell Marner (Toronto Maple Leafs) and led Canada with 24 shots on goal. Barzal had two goals and three points in five games.

"I worked with [Strome and Barzal] a little bit last year," said Ducharme, who was an assistant on that team. "You want to see them achieve their goals in the NHL. When they were sent back to junior, I was happy to see they would play for our team. I had discussions with them over the summer about this and they were aware of it. They are well prepared and really excited to be joining us."

Stressing discipline

Canada's coaching staff knows it has to hammer home the importance of staying out of the penalty box.
Canada took nine penalties in a 6-5 loss against eventual gold medal winner Finland in the quarterfinal round last year. Finland scored two power-play goals, including the winner by Patrik Laine (Winnipeg Jets) with 6:50 left in the third period.
In a 5-2 loss to Sweden in the final preliminary-round game, Canada took 10 penalties that resulted in three power-play goals. Canada finished the tournament with the lowest penalty-killing percentage (58 percent), allowing seven goals on 17 chances in five games.
Players need to realize that overly aggressive play almost always leads to unnecessary stick fouls in international competition.

Update on 2017 NHL Draft prospect Nolan Patrick

Patrick, a candidate to be the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, was the only draft-eligible player on the list of camp invites revealed on Nov. 29. However, Hockey Canada announced six days later that he would be unable to participate because of an upper-body injury.
The 6-foot-3, 198-pound center, an A-rated skater on NHL Central Scouting's players to watch list, has missed the past 24 games for Brandon of the Western Hockey League.

The ailment shouldn't affect his status as one of the top draft picks in the 2017 draft.
"We have a good two-year history with this player; he's performed well at high levels against all his peers," director of NHL Central Scouting Dan Marr said. "He's known for the type of game he brings. He's the captain of his team so you know the character and leadership are there, and the skills and smarts are there.
"The fact he's not on the ice in his draft year is unfortunate. But I can relate back to 2012 when Alex Galchenyuk suffered a knee injury very early in the season, missed the entire regular season [with Sarnia of the OHL] and didn't come back until the playoffs. We had him ranked No. 4 on our final list of skaters eligible for the draft and Montreal selected him third overall."

CANADA SELECTION CAMP ROSTER

GOALTENDERS: Carter Hart, Everett, WHL (Philadelphia Flyers); Connor Ingram, Kamloops, WHL (Tampa Bay Lightning); Michael McNiven, Owen Sound, OHL (Montreal Canadiens)
DEFENSEMEN: Jake Bean, Calgary, WHL (Carolina Hurricanes); Guillaume Brisebois, Acadie-Bathurst, QMJHL (Vancouver Canucks); Thomas Chabot, Saint John, QMJHL (Ottawa Senators); Dante Fabbro, Penticton, BCHL (Nashville Predators); Samuel Girard, Shawinigan, QMJHL (Nashville Predators); Noah Juulsen, Everett, WHL (Montreal Canadiens); Jeremy Lauzon, Rouyn-Noranda, QMJHL (Boston Bruins); Philippe Myers, Rouyn-Noranda, QMJHL (Philadelphia Flyers); Kale Clague, Brandon, WHL (Los Angeles Kings); Victor Mete, London, OHL (Montreal Canadiens)
FORWARDS: Mathew Barzal, Seattle, WHL (New York Islanders); Anthony Cirelli, Oshawa, OHL (Tampa Bay Lightning); Dillon Dube, Kelowna, WHL (Calgary Flames); Pierre-Luc Dubois, Cape Breton, QMJHL (Columbus Blue Jackets); Julien Gauthier, Val-d'Or, QMJHL (Carolina Hurricanes); Brett Howden, Moose Jaw, WHL (Tampa Bay Lightning); Mathieu Joseph, Saint John, QMJHL (Tampa Bay Lightning); Tyson Jost, Penticton, BCHL (Colorado Avalanche); Michael McLeod, Mississauga, OHL (New Jersey Devils); Nicholas Merkley, Kelowna, WHL (Arizona Coyotes); Nicolas Roy, Chicoutimi, QMJHL (Carolina Hurricanes); Zach Senyshyn, Sault Ste. Marie, OHL (Boston Bruins); Mitchell Stephens, Saginaw, OHL (Tampa Bay Lightning); Dylan Strome, Erie, OHL (Arizona Coyotes); Taylor Raddysh, Erie, OHL (Tampa Bay Lightning); Blake Speers, Sault Ste. Marie, OHL (New Jersey Devils); Sam Steel, Regina, WHL (Anaheim Ducks); Austin Wagner, Regina, WHL (Los Angeles Kings); \-Nolan Patrick, Brandon, WHL (2017 draft eligible)
\-Unable to attend because of injury