Expect plenty of ice time for horvat
Tim Hunter has pegged Jett Woo as a throwback and you’d think Hunter would know something about that.
“Jett’s a real unique kind of player nowadays,” said Hunter, a rugged winger during his playing time with the Vancouver Canucks, who now coaches the Moose Jaw Warriors.
His Saskatchewan WHL team features Woo, a rugged defenceman who was the Canucks’ second-round pick, 37th overall, in last June’s NHL Entry Draft.
“You don’t see the guys who play that old-school, smash-mouth, run-over-people style. Not a lot of guys are willing to do that anymore, but I think there’s still room for that in the game.”
Hunter is also coach of Team Canada for the upcoming world juniors in Vancouver and Victoria. As part of that, he was behind the bench for the Team WHL that hosted a Russian side on Monday at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops and on Tuesday at Langley Events Centre in the CIBC Canada Russia Series.
Woo is in the running for a Team Canada tryout, which put him in the lineup for Team WHL this week. He laid memorable heavy checks both nights, getting Alexander Yaremchuk driving to the net in Kamloops and then Nikita Shashkov in the corner in Langley.
“Just the different kind of things you need to do to play at this level,” Woo, 18, said when asked about take-aways from playing the Russians this week.
“We talked about in the dressing room that when you go play world juniors, it’s almost like playing playoff hockey in the AHL. It’s a really fast game out there. You can see the differences from the CHL coming here and it was good for all of us.”
This physical game is his calling card, but Woo did put his offensive instincts on display Tuesday in particular, sneaking in from the point in the second period for a pair of scoring chances in what wound up a 3-1 Team WHL loss.
Woo had nine goals and 25 points in 44 games with the Warriors last season. He missed four games off the top of this season with Moose Jaw because of injury. He has one goal and five points in 11 contests with Moose Jaw so far.
“I feel like I’ve developed a lot. Every time I go on the ice or in the gym I’m trying to get better. From where I was last year to now is a huge difference,” Woo said.
The six-foot, 203-pound righthanded shot figured playing in the world juniors is “every kid’s dream.”
When asked how closely he’s keeping track of the Canucks, Woo replied: “I have (Elias) Pettersson in my fantasy lineup every day!”
For the most part, Hunter had Woo paired for the two Team WHL contests with Vancouver Giants rearguard Bowen Byram, 17, who’s being projected as a possible lottery pick for next June’s NHL draft at Rogers Arena.
Byram is an offensive-minded player who likes to jump up into the rush. That safety-valve role might be what’s best suited for Woo as he climbs up the ranks.
“You think it’s going to be hard coming here and playing with someone different, someone new and someone I haven’t been able to see too much, but it was fun to mix our playing styles together,” Woo said.