Picking Canada’s juniors a tough task

Tim Hunter knows he’s got some tough decisions looming. The head coach of Canada’s junior national team will soon have to invite dozens of the country’s most talented young hockey players to selection camp. Then he’ll have to whittle the group down to a final squad to play in this year’s IIHF world juniors championship, which starts in Vancouver and Victoria on Dec. 26. “You want competition at positions and you want lots of players that you have to make decisions on,” Hunter said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun and it’s going to be a real challenge.” Choosing who will go to camp got tougher this week as Hunter coached a team made up of the Western Hockey League’s best in a pair of games against the Russian junior team as part of the Canadian Hockey League’s annual Canada Russia series. Canada won the first game 2-1 in Kamloops, B.C., on Monday, then dropped the second bout 3-1 in Langley, B.C., the next night. Some lesser-known names stepped up in both games, Hunter said. “There are the guys that are the star players that are under the radar to start with, but then you take guys like Brett Leason as an example, who’s come on the radar because of his play in the early season,” Hunter said, referring to the 19-year-old right winger for the Prince Albert Raiders. There could be more unexpected standouts when the Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League field their teams against the Russians starting in Sarnia, Ont., on Thursday. Some young NHL prospects could also complicate Hunter’s decisions. The coach’s list of potential players recently got a boost when defenceman Evan Bouchard and left winger Alex Formenton were sent back to the OHL’s London Knights. Bouchard tallied one goal in seven games with the Edmonton Oilers this season and Formenton played nine games for the Ottawa Senators, finding the back of the net once.