WORLD JUNIORS: Holloway enjoying early chemistry with Newhook

EDMONTON, AB - Isolation had its perks for Dylan Holloway and Alex Newhook.
Since the Oilers 2020 first-round pick arrived at Hockey Canada's World Junior Selection Camp in Red Deer from the University of Wisconsin and the Colorado Avalanche 2019 first-rounder came from Boston College, they were only permitted to skate with each other and goalie Devon Levi from Northeastern University for the first two weeks due to health and safety protocols.
Drills with just two skaters and a goalie can obviously be a bit limited, but what the three-person sessions did achieve was creating plenty of chemistry between the two forwards.
"We had, I think, seven skates together, so I feel really comfortable playing with him," said Holloway, who scored in each of his two NCAA games with the Badgers before heading back to his home province for the camp. "I got used to how he skates and how he thinks, so that definitely helps us on the ice."

Overlapping with their own two-week isolation was a camp-wide quarantine after two players tested positive for COVID-19, but when the full group was finally able to skate together last week, Holloway and Newhook were on a line together with Calgary Flames 2019 first-rounder Jakob Pelletier.
The trio, with Holloway at left wing and Newhook at centre, played a pair of intrasquad games together last Wednesday and Thursday before they were officially selected for Team Canada's roster on Friday. The Oilers prospect told Bob Stauffer on Tuesday's episode of Oilers Now that he's been informed his line will stay intact to start World Juniors.
"I think they're going to keep us together for at least the first part of the tournament," Holloway said. "I think we're going to be kind of a shutdown line, potentially going up against the top lines on other teams, and I'll also be a penalty-killer for Team Canada."
Holloway and Newhook played together previously for Hockey Canada at the 2019 World Under-18 Championship in Sweden, capping off the 2018-19 season that saw them win the MVP awards in their respective leagues. Holloway was the Alberta Junior Hockey League player of the year with the Okotoks Oilers and Newhook was BCHL MVP with the Victoria Grizzlies.
"Holly's got speed and strength and he uses those really well, wins a lot of battles," Newhook said of his linemate. "We've been working well so far, so hopefully we can continue to do that moving forward."
Their line and the rest of Team Canada will play their first pre-tournament game on Monday at 4pm MT against Edmonton's 2019 first-round pick Philip Broberg and Sweden.