Dube 1st Kelowna Rocket to be named captain of national junior team
Dillon Dube was a bit player for Canada at last year’s world-junior tournament, recording three assists in a checking-line role while providing plenty of energy in playing an effective 200-foot game.
This year, as one of seven returnees, Dube will be relied on more for his scoring ability — flanking Sam Steel, the WHL’s reigning player of the year, and Jordan Kyrou, the OHL’s leading scorer, on Canada’s top offensive line — and also for his leadership skills, having been named Canada’s captain following a team-building exercise on Saturday night.
Defencemen Kale Clague and Dante Fabbro, fellow returnees, and Victor Mete, the lone NHLer in this year’s tournament, were named the assistant captains for Canada.
“It’s nice to go through this experience already last year, to be able to handle that pressure and everything going on. It’s going to help out a lot,” Dube told TSN’s Mark Masters. “You can’t get too high or too low, it’s going to be lots of ups and downs. Obviously if you lose a game, it’s tough to handle because it’s such a short-term competition, but overall it’s exciting times and I think we’ll do well this year.”
Dube becomes the first player from the Kelowna Rockets to wear the ‘C’ for the national junior team. He serves as an assistant captain under Cal Foote in Kelowna.
Foote, a defenceman, is also representing Canada at the world juniors — paired with Jake Bean, another returnee from the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, during Monday’s practice ahead of today’s opener against Finland.
Canada intends to dress seven defencemen today, but the status of Fabbro had not been determined as of press time.
The former Penticton Vee who is now a sophomore patrolling the blue line for Boston University (NCAA) had been recovering from a lower-body contusion. Fabbro participated in both weekend practices after sitting out portions of selection camp and the final pre-tournament game on Friday.
Considered day-to-day but questionable, Canada planned to announce Fabbro’s fate on Monday night. Josh Mahura, of the WHL’s Regina Pats, would be his replacement.