Hello, it’s the World calling
He was down in Arizona for the Coyotes’ orientation camp last week when his phone started ringing. He hadn’t purchased a U.S. phone plan so he ignored it. Besides, the caller ID said the call was coming from Prince Edward Island where he was pretty sure he knew nobody.
But then the caller rang again. And again. Now, he was curious.
“I want to answer but I can’t because it’ll cost me a ton of money for roaming,” Mackenzie Entwistle laughs.
When he finally found some
WiFi, he texted the number and asked who was calling.
Jim Hulton, was the reply. Head coach of the Charlottetown Islanders and assistant coach with Canada’s world junior team. Just asking if the Hamilton Bulldog forward would be interested in attending the national squad’s summer showcase event in Kamloops later this month.
As in, would he be interested in taking the first step toward possibly playing for Team Canada at the annual tournament at Christmas along with Bulldog teammate Robert Thomas?
“I guess I should’ve answered your call,” Entwistle thought to himself.
Heck yeah, he would be interested. The 18-year-old says he’s watched the world juniors since he was a boy and has imagined being on the team for as long as he can remember. He’s played for Canada at the under-17 world championship and the under-18 world championship. But this is the big stage.
Forty players — 16 from Ontario — have been invited to this camp that runs from July 28-Aug. 4. They’ll be split into two teams to play teams from Finland, Sweden and the U.S. It’s an opportunity for the top players in the country to show they should be on the team that ultimately wears the red and white in Vancouver and Victoria.
Making it particularly noteworthy is the fact that Hamilton GM Steve Staios holds the same position with the national team this time, meaning when it came to choosing the players he felt would best be able to help win a world championship, he chose Entwistle and Thomas.
Entwistle had 13 goals and 25 assists in 49 regular-season games this past season but was even better in the playoffs as the Bulldogs won the Ontario championship and made it to the Memorial Cup. Thomas, who played on the world junior team last year, led Hamilton in scoring through the long playoff run.