Quinn Hughes and Ty Madden could not have imagined how their hockey lives would intersect with British Columbia in such a profound way.Blue-liner Hughes was born in Orlando, Florida, and enrolled in hockey when the family lived in Boston. Madden was born in Deerfield Beach, Florida, but spent much of his life following his dad John’s National Hockey League career, most of it based in New Jersey with the Devils.
As happenstance and the luck of the NHL draft would have it, Hughes was selected seventh overall in the first round by the Vancouver Canucks this year and Madden in the third round and 68th overall.
Both are also members of the U.S. national junior team and as it also happened by chance, the 2019 International Ice Hockey Federation world junior championship was awarded to Vancouver and Victoria, so their British Columbia journey became even deeper.
Throw in Hughes’ younger brother, Jack Hughes, who is also on the U.S. junior team for the world tournament and is the projected No. 1 draft pick for the 2019 NHL draft. And where will that draft be held? Well, of course, in Vancouver, so Jack Hughes will be back in the province as the centre of attention in June.
“It’s pretty crazy when you think about it [all the B.C. connectons],” said Madden, a five-foot-11 centre.
The U.S. will be based in Pool B at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. As Canucks prospects, both Madden and Hughes will be under intense scrutiny in this province during the world junior tournament. Not to mention Jack Hughes as the probable overall No. 1 selection in the NHL draft.
“I am very proud of him,” said Quinn Hughes of his younger brother.
But it will be Quinn Hughes who will be the most closely watched of the siblings by Canucks fans because he is so highly projected for the Vancouver blue line of the future.
“I don’t look on that as pressure,” he said.
“I’ve had pressure on me for a long time now and am comfortable with that. I am just here to help our U.S.A. Hockey team win at the world junior tournament.”
The situation is reminiscent of last year, when defenceman Rasmus Dahlin, who went first overall in the 2018 NHL draft to the Buffalo Sabres, skated for Sweden in the 2018 world junior tournament, which happened to be in Buffalo. (Sabres fans, however, did not know at that time they would win the NHL draft lottery to select Dahlin first overall.)
Hughes is a highly mobile 5-10, 170-pound defenceman who has three goals and 17 assists for 20 points as a sophomore in the NCAA with the University of Michigan Wolverines.
He describes himself as a “puck mover.”
Hughes’ decision to return to Michigan and the NCAA this season, rather than turn pro in the Canucks organization, raised some eyebrows in B.C. But there is no hesitation from the 19-year-old in describing it as the proper move for him personally and for his development.
“I am happy with the decision and there is no looking back,” he said. “I have been very happy with my development at Michigan.”
A big reason he cited is that because of the higher number of games played in pro hockey (as well as Canadian major-junior hockey) during the regular season, the fewer games in the NCAA have allowed him to grow stronger and enhance his physique with more time for dryland training.
“In pro hockey, you’re not lifting [weights] as much,” explained Hughes.
Fans tend to forget that these U-20 seasons are the formative years for the development of the body, and that not all the development happens on the ice.
Madden, meanwhile was drafted by the Canucks out of the Tri-City Storm of the Junior A United States Hockey League, and has six goals and nine assists for 15 points as a freshman with Northeastern University of the NCAA.
It didn’t hurt growing up in the Madden household, where dad John won three Stanley Cups, two with the Devils and one with the Chicago Blackhawks, in a 14-season NHL career that included 898 regular-season and 141 playoff games. The younger Madden watched and learned much from his two-way forward dad, who played an honest 200-foot game, and came to the big league undrafted out of the University of Michigan. Teaching was always a strong point for John Madden, now coach of the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League.
The younger Madden watched and learned well.
“I feel I’m a two-way forward who sees the ice well and has a high hockey IQ,” said Ty Madden.
“I play a style that is workmanlike, with my nose to the grindstone and a willingness to go the extra mile.”
That might be just the kind of gritty player the Canucks will need to supplement their emerging skilled forward talent of the future with the likes of Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat and Elias Pettersson.
That will also be so on the U.S. junior team this week on Blanshard.
“We are going to have a fast team. But I can be a shutdown guy if need be,” said Madden.
The Hughes brothers, of course, bring their own compelling family backstory to the Memorial Centre.
“It’s definitely exciting to play with my brother in U.S.A. colours,” said Quinn Hughes. “I believe we are going to look back on this as a very special moment in our lives.”
Joining the U.S. in what is a strong and appealing Pool B in Victoria will be traditional hockey powers Sweden and Finland. Rounding out the pool are Slovakia and Kazakhstan. Here is a look at them:
Sweden
The defending silver medallists got a bonus with the Anaheim Ducks releasing Isac Lundestrom to play in the world junior tournament. That will enhance a team that was gutted by players who aged out after the 2018 world juniors in Buffalo.
There is no longer the epic force known as Rasmus Dahlin on defence, but there are two pros on the blue line in Pontus Holmberg and Rasmus Sandin, both Maple Leafs prospects in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies. The Maple Leafs, however, have ruled out another Swedish blue-liner with the Marlies, Timothy Liljegren, because of an ankle sprain. Six-foot-three blue-liner Philip Broberg is projected for the first round of the 2019 NHL draft, and forward Nils Hoglander for the second or third rounds.
Finland
The always fast and flashy Finns also got a bonus when the Chicago Blackhawks released Henri Jokiharju to play in the world juniors. Six-foot-two forward Kaapo Kakko is projected for the first round of the 2019 NHL draft and the blue-line trio of Anttoni Honka, Lassi Thomson and Mikko Kokkonen for the second or third rounds.
Slovakia
There will be a familiar face as forward Milos Roman of the Vancouver Giants — the biggest rival of the Western Hockey League’s Victoria Royals — returns to Blanshard Street, but this time in his national team colours. There is another WHLer with forward Andrej Kukuca of the Seattle Thunderbirds.
With nine returnees from last year’s team, this could be the sleeper side to watch in Pool B.
Kazakhstan
On the surface, this is perhaps the most unlikely hockey-playing nation in the world. But it starts to make sense when you consider it is a former Soviet republic, so the game is deeply ingrained in the nation.
Still, this is the first time in the top tier for Kazakhstan in a decade, after earning promotion by winning the Tier 1 world tournament last year by beating the likes of Germany and Latvia.
The Kazaks, however, will have to play out of their heads on Blanshard to avoid relegation back to the Tier 1 ranks next year, which is the fate that awaits the 10th and last-place team in this year’s world tournament in Victoria and Vancouver.
The player to watch is KHL pro defenceman Valeri Orekhov.
