Bitten ready for Russia, and after
Will Bitten says he just wants to play his style of hockey at this weekend’s Canada-Russia Series.
After all, it’s worked for him before. “My style is just hard work, speed,” he says.
“I like to get in people’s faces and just play my game. I know it’s simple, but I just play really hard and that’s why I’ve gotten all these opportunities.”
Bitten, 19, is the lone Hamilton Bulldogs player skating for Team OHL in the six-game series — a key part of the identification process for both countries in the lead up to the world junior championships. That tournament, which features the best under-20 players on the planet, takes place in Buffalo and gets underway in late December.
The goal for him, for all the guys on the roster, is to score an invite to Canada’s world junior camp in St. Catharines next month.
He knows it won’t be easy, but between his style and his history (he previously played for the national team at the under-17 and under-18 levels), he thinks he has “a good shot.”
Like several of his Canada-Russia teammates, Bitten, a tough, yet smallish forward who plays both centre and on the wing, was already under the microscope at Hockey Canada’s world junior showcase in August.
He has also played in this series twice before — as a sophomore with the Flint Firebirds and, again, shortly after being traded to Hamilton last year. He says the fact that those appearances didn’t translate to a camp call is extra motivation this time around.
“This is my last year, so I just want to play really well and hopefully get the invite,” he says. “It would be a dream come true to make that team.”
The series, which pits regional teams of national junior candidates against Russian hopefuls, kicked off in Moose Jaw Monday with a decisive 7-0 win by the Western Hockey League’s top talent. Russia took Game 2 in Swift Current the following night.
Bitten, who leads the Bulldogs with three goals and 14 points this season, will play in Game 3 in Owen Sound Thursday and Game 4 in Sudbury Monday. The series concludes with a pair of stops in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League next week.
John Gruden, who coached Bitten in Flint and now in Hamilton, says his top scorer is probably being looked at for a “certain role” on Team Canada — that is, a bottom six energy guy who is tough to play against and effective on the penalty kill. He also says he’s going into the series on a high.
“He played extremely well in his last two games” — back-to-back wins over Oshawa and Windsor. “The best I’ve seen him,” Gruden adds.
The fact that Bitten has previously played in the series should be to his advantage. He knows what to expect, he says, and that is a fast and high-paced game in which he’ll have to play “really hard.”
Unlike last year, however, when the series stopped in North Bay and Hamilton, he’ll have a long way to travel. After suiting up in Owen Sound, Bitten says he’s bussing back to Hamilton to face the Erie Otters Friday before flying to Sudbury Sunday for Monday’s game.
He’s not thinking about the distance, though — just the opportunity. He can think of more than a few players who would love to take his spot.
“It’s a privilege,” Bitten says. “Not a lot of people get to play in these games and represent the OHL and their country, so I’m really lucky and really looking forward to it.” NOTES: Owen Tippett and Ryan McLeod have been added to Team OHL for Game 3 in Owen Sound. The two Mississauga Steelheads replace the Attack’s Jonah Gadjovich and Givani Smith of the Guelph Storm, both injured. … Connor McMichael had a goal in Canada White’s 7-2 win over Czech Republic at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge Tuesday. The Bulldogs forward is back on the ice Thursday for the tournament quarter-finals. … With McMichael, Mackenzie Entwistle, Owen Burnell and others out of the lineup this weekend, the Bulldogs have recalled forwards Dylan D’Agostino and Liam Van Loon. The former has 10 points in 10 games for the Jr. A Powassan Voodoos, while the latter leads the Jr. B Ancaster Avalanche with 22 points in 14.