After playing the highest level of minor hockey in St. Albert and two seasons in the Western Hockey League with the Edmonton Oil Kings, Travis Ewanyk is now competing for Canada on the world stage.
Only days after receiving an exit ticket out of the playoffs at the hands of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and the Red Deer Rebels, Ewanyk was named to Canada’s roster for the U18 worlds in Crimmitschau and Dresden, Germany. The line-up consists of players born in 1993 or earlier from Canadian Hockey League teams that are no longer in the playoffs
Wearing the Maple Leaf on the front of his jersey is a status that has Ewanyk pinching himself to make sure it’s real.
“It’s definitely an honour and pretty exciting. Anytime you get to represent your country it’s a pretty nice thing,” Ewanyk told the Gazette in an interview from Germany.
The U18 tournament is widely regarded as a major focal point for NHL scouts before the 2011 draft. For the aggressive and physical Ewanyk, a centre/left winger who put up 16 goals and 27 points in 72 games this season while going minus-three with 126 penalty minutes, it will be an experience to further develop his skills heading into the future.
“I just want to play the best to my ability and keep moving up in my role and get more ice time,” said Ewanyk, who showed his mettle by shadowing Nugent-Hopkins, the number-one North American skater in the draft, in the opening round playoff series.
Ewanyk, 18, was recently named to the last NHL Central Scouting report before the June 24-25 draft in St. Paul, Minnesota. While a final ranking of 66th among North American skaters would put him in the third- to fourth-round range, he believes it’s only the actual opinions of NHL clubs that matter in the long run.
“At the end of the day they don’t get a pick in the draft. They’re just an independent scouting report,” said Ewanyk, who played for Team Pacific at the 2010 World U17 Challenge. “I guess they can be accurate at times but like I said, you shouldn’t put too much thought into it.”
So far at worlds Canada has taken part in two exhibition games: Saturday’s 2-1 victory over the United States and Monday’s 4-3 shootout loss to Sweden. Canada was scheduled to play Germany on Tuesday but the score was not available at press time.
The recipient of the 2011 Oil Kings’ unsung hero award is confident Canada will put up a decent fight for the championship title. Last year Canada finished a disappointing seventh in Belarus. The medal finals go April 24. The last gold medal for Canada was 2008.
“It’s gone pretty well. In the first two games we were just coming together as a team. It was a pretty big win over the U.S., then a step back against Sweden,” said the Oil Kings’ leader in shorthanded goals with four. “We’re still coming together but we will have a really good team.”
The opening game for Canada in the group B pool is Friday against the Czech Republic. Canada will also play Finland, Norway and Sweden in round robin action.
