Canada's selection camp runs through Friday at the Meridian Centre. in St. Catharines, Ontario. It will feature three games, including two matches against a team of U Sports (formerly CIS) all-stars on Dec. 13 and 14, and a final match against Denmark on Dec. 15.
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The 2018 WJC will be held in Buffalo from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5, 2018. Canada will open the tournament against Finland in a Group A preliminary-round game at Key Bank Center in Buffalo on Dec. 26. Also in Group A are the United States, Slovakia and Denmark. Canada will play the United States in a preliminary-round game at New Era Stadium, home to the Buffalo Bills of the NFL, on Dec. 29 at 3 p.m. ET.
Group B consists of Russia, Sweden, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Belarus.
Never having represented Canada before, Ferraro credited his partnership with Makar, the No. 4 pick of the 2017 NHL Draft by the Colorado Avalanche, as well as his relationship with UMass coach Greg Carvel and his staff as key reasons why he was invited to selection camp.
"At the end of the day, if it weren't for the early success we've had as a team and the great coaching staff we have, we wouldn't be here right now," said Ferraro, chosen by the San Jose Sharks in the second round (No. 49) in the 2017 draft. "A lot of credit goes to them and we want to represent them well. Cale's a great player of course, there's a reason why he went fourth overall. He's got a lot of skill, he's a very smart player with great hockey IQ and he has a strong offensive game. Being able to play with him this year for the first half has been great. I think we've worked well together."
Makar was quick to return the compliment of his defense partner, who he says is constantly pushing him to improve.
"He's very strong defensively and he's a huge penalty-killing guy; he's going to get down in every shot lane possible," Makar said. "He really challenges my work ethic in practice; he goes 110 percent every time, whether it's in drills battling or racing back to the lines once drills are done. He's a battler and I've never seen a guy go so hard, so much."
Neither Makar nor Ferraro were invited to selection camp last season, but each had a strong start this season to draw the attention of Hockey Canada. In 16 games with UMass, Makar has nine points (one goal, eight assists) and is plus-7, and Ferraro has eight points (three goals, five assists) and is plus-9.
"It's all about having the right mix of guys," Canada coach Dominique Ducharme said. "We went down to UMass and we saw Makar play and we saw Ferraro play. We really liked the way they were playing, we kept an eye on them and they deserve to be here."
Though playing as defense partners at U-Mass has served them well, Makar and Ferraro each was quick to point out he is quite comfortable playing with whomever the coaching staff determines. They practiced on the same pair during each on-ice workout on Tuesday, but if Ducharme sees a better fit in splitting them up, that's fine by them.
"I think Cale and I can play with anyone out there, we can adjust to whoever we play with," Ferraro said.
"That's our mindset so we try not to worry about things like that, the stuff that we really can't control. The only thing we can do is go out there and work our hardest; it doesn't matter who we're playing with."
Makar said no matter who his partner is, his success will come in sticking to what has got him to this point.
"I'm not going to try and play out of my element," he said. "I'm going to focus on the things that are my main attributes, whether it's jumping up in the play or my speed from the back end moving pucks. Once I get away from my game, it's just not going to be good."
