A pair of St. Albert players will have the opportunity of a lifetime to wear the Maple Leaf jersey at the World U17 Hockey Challenge.
Left-winger Travis Ewanyk of the Edmonton Oil Kings and netminder Liam Liston of the midget AAA St. Albert Raiders were among 11 players from Alberta and 11 players from British Columbia named to Team Pacific for worlds, Dec. 29 to Jan. 4 in Timmons, Ont.
The tournament features 10 teams, five from Canada (Quebec, Ontario, Pacific, Atlantic and West), as well as Sweden, Russia, Finland, the Czech Republic and United States.
“It's an honour to represent Team Canada in a tournament like that,” Ewanyk said.
Each province held camps over the summer to identify a set number of players who were evaluated during the first part of the season by a group of high performance evaluators.
For both players, the toughest challenges they faced since attending the evaluation camps and being named was simply staying focused on their respective clubs.
Ewanyk feels his experience in the Western Hockey League is going to give him an edge in stepping up to a level where he can be looked on to provide a more prominent role.
“I think I can play without as much fear to make mistakes. The WHL is such a high level that going to anything after that definitely prepares you for it. I'm going to have to stay prepared and focused,” said Ewanyk, who has one goal and two assists in 23 games with the Oil Kings after playing for the Raiders last season.
Neither player has competed in international competition but both have talked to players who have experienced the thrill. Ewanyk spoke to Oil Kings’ defenceman Mark Pysyk while Liston sounded out Nathan Burns and netminder Kent Simpson, one of the two goalies on last year's silver medal Pacific squad.
“There's going to be a lot going on playing against guys you've never played against. I've heard playing against teams like Sweden and Finland is a whole different experience,” Ewanyk said “It's going to be exciting. You get to see guys from all over the world. You get to rate yourself in Canada up against other nations for the first time. It's going to be intense. Every game in the WHL is pretty tense, but the whole scope of playing with the leaf on the crest is exciting.”
“With the talent that all the international teams are going to have we'll need to adjust to their style of play,” added Liston, the top goalie in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League with a 1.45 GAA. “Personally I just need to work on stopping the puck. It's just a little faster and I'm looking to get better every day in general.”
It will also be a unique bonding experience that will create lasting memories.
“It's going to be unbelievable. Hopefully we'll have a gold medal around our necks and hearing the national anthem at the conclusion. Staring across the ice at guys wearing their colours for their respective countries is going to be awesome,” said Liston, a WHL bantam draft pick of the Brandon Wheat Kings. “We're going to go in there with a system and work hard. Each guy has so much talent. We're going to take it one step at a time and bond as a team and hopefully it will bring us a lot of success.”
The U17 program is the first step in Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence.
ICE CHIPS: The video coach for Team Pacific is Andrew Milne, a former Raider and St. Albert Saint who is the head coach of the Canmore Eagles in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
