N.Albertan quartet excited about U17 event
When Team Alberta won the Under-16 West Coast Canadian Challenge last year, Jordan Papirny and John Quenneville thought their next chance to play together would be with the Brandon Wheat Kings somewhere down the line.
Instead, Papirny, Quenneville and two other northern Alberta 16-year-olds will all be teammates once again when they suit up for Team Pacific in the world Under-17 hockey championship.
The tournament is co-hosted by Victoriaville and Drummondville in Quebec this time and complements the world junior hockey championship during the holiday break. Teams play exhibition games Friday, with the tournament beginning Saturday and running through Jan. 4.
Quenneville, Papirny, Thomas Foster and Brandon Hickey will join seven other Albertans and 11 B.C. products on the Pacific squad, one of five Canadian teams that will compete with Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, the United States and defending champion Russia.
“We built a good relationship with each other on Team Alberta and in the summer camp,” Quenneville said of the four northern Alberta players. “That will help us a lot with the short-term competition.”
The team has its sights set on the podium, with one specific goal on the mind of its goalie.
“We’re all pretty familiar with each other,” Papirny said. “I think combining Team B.C. and Team Alberta, we’re gonna have a really good team. Maybe we can get the first gold for Team Pacific.”
The Under-17 championship is a key scouting event, as this year’s players are eligible for the 2014 NHL entry draft. The tournament has produced 1,272 drafted players since its inception in 1986, including 280 first-round picks. Players such as Ryan NugentHopkins, Jarome Iginla, Dion Phaneuf and Joe Sakic have all suited up for Team Pacific and put their names on the radar of NHL teams.
For coaches, having a player named to the team can be bittersweet as it provides a great opportunity for the individual, but the team loses the player for a few weeks.
Don Hay, head coach of the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants, was selfless in his evaluation of Foster.
“We’re excited about it,” Hay said. “Any time one of your players gets a chance to play for their country, it’s a great learning experience.”
Hay realizes the experience will help the 6-foot forward from Slave Lake, who has two points in 13 games this season, in the long run.
“We expect him to come back even better,” Hay said.
Foster and Quenneville, a 6-foot forward who has eight points in 22 WHL games with the Wheat Kings this season, are both two-way forwards who are strong in their own zone.
That’s great news for Papirny, the Team Pacific goaltender who has impressed this season with the South Side Athletic Club’s midget AAA Boston Pizza Athletics. Papirny narrowly missed out on being the Wheat Kings’ first 16-year-old goaltender since Trevor Kidd.
“I know I can play in the Western League, if not today or tomorrow, then down the road,” said Papirny. “This will just be a big boost for me and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Papirny will also be protected by Hickey, the only one of the four who has yet to have at least some WHL exhibition action. But the Leduc native brings poise and maturity to the Team Pacific blue-line that would normally be expected from someone more experienced. A 6-foot-2 defensive defenceman, Hickey’s game is predicated on helping the team minimize mistakes while using his natural skating ability to push the puck.
“He’s very deserving of the opportunity to play on the team,” said Jason McKee, Hickey’s head coach and general manager with the Spruce Grove Saints of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. “He has consistently become better and worked hard to get there. This will only help him in the second half of the season.”
Also lending a hand for Team Pacific will be another Edmonton export — Oil Kings associate coach Steve Hamilton, who will join the staff as an assistant coach.
Team Pacific faces an early test Friday against Russia, following an exhibition game Thursday against the U.S. TSN will broadcast the gold medal game on Jan. 4 at 5:30 p.m.