Ice hockey in August seems incongruous. But Team Canada head coach Dave Lowry and defenceman Joe Hicketts, both from the Victoria Royals of the WHL, squeezed the most out of it this week in Calgary at the national team summer evaluation camp.
“It was fun to be back on the ice, but it was weird to be playing at that pace in August,” said Hicketts, by phone.
The irony is that Hicketts wasn’t even invited to the summer camp last year before making the Canadian team and winning 2015 world junior gold as a late addition. The sorting-out process is what this week was all about.
“It was a great week and opportunity to evaluate some players I’m seeing for the first time, and also to see the progress of players I am familiar with,” said Lowry.
“The guys played well. To see such intensity in August is great,” added the Royals bench boss, by phone from Calgary.
It’s all in preparation for the 2016 world junior championship which opens on Boxing Day in Helsinki, Finland.
Canada goes into the 2016 worlds as the defending champions after winning the 2015 edition on home ice in Toronto with Lowry as the assistant coach. Five returnees, including Hicketts, were part of the week’s activities in Calgary. Eligible returnees Connor McDavid and Max Domi are expected to stick with their NHL clubs and likely won’t be in Helsinki. But 2015 gold-medallists Hicketts, Canucks-prospect Jake Virtanen of the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, Brayden Point of the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors, Robby Fabbri and Lawson Crouse will provide Lowry with the veteran foundation as he builds toward the 2016 world tournament.
“That’s important because these returning players have lived it and bring with them the success and experience from a gold-medallist team,” said Lowry, who had Hicketts, Virtanen, Point, Fabbri and Crouse talk about their 2015 experiences to the rest of the 32 players in camp.
“They understand and have experienced it, and know how much work needs to be put in.”
Lowry wants that accumulated wisdom imparted to the newcomers. Just to drive home the point, he rotated Hicketts, Point, Crouse and Fabbri as assistant captains for the exhibition games played during the week, which resulted in 7-1 and 6-2 victories over the Czech Republic and a split against Russia with a 4-1 win and 3-2 shootout loss.
“I want to be one of the leaders,” said Red Wings prospect Hicketts. “We [five returnees] shared our experiences with the younger guys, who asked us a lot of questions. I told them about how hard you have to work, but also about how rewarding it was in the end.”
That innate sense of knowing what it takes is one of the reasons it’s almost a lock that Hicketts will be on the roster when Lowry makes his final cuts in December.
“Joe did a good job this week and played the way Joe plays, which is very intelligently,” said Lowry.
Among the national team newcomers showing well in Calgary was forward Nick Merkley of the Kelowna Rockets, a thorn in the side of the Royals during WHL play.
“Merkley brought a lot of passion and he wasn’t a surprise for those of us who have seen him play in the WHL,” added Lowry.
Lowry leaves Sunday to scout the Ivan Hlinka Memorial U-18 Tournament in the Czech Republic. It will allow him to see how European teams approach the game on the bigger ice surface, on which which the Canadian junior team will play this winter in Helsinki.
