(Photo: Hicketts – Andy Devlin / Mantha – Vincent Ethier / Crouse – Aaron Bell/CHL Images)

Sunday November 15, 2015

The Canada-Russia Series has been the platform for a number of players to earn spots on Team Canada in recent years

By Daniel Nugent-Bowman

A pair of players caught the eye of Ryan Jankowski when he viewed his first Canada-Russia Series action as Hockey Canada’s head scout two years ago.

One was supremely talented Barrie Colts defenceman Aaron Ekblad, who showed he was physically equipped — even at 17 years old — to handle the top players at the World Junior Championship.

The second was way off the radar.

“I didn’t know who Josh Anderson was aside from a couple [of] viewings of London Knights games,” Jankowski said. “But he played really well in those two games. He was probably our most consistent forward. We thought, ‘Okay. This guy might be for real.’ Sure enough, he played on our World Junior team and was a good player for us.”

If recent history is any indication, another seemingly out-of-the-blue player will emerge and essentially make the Canadian World Junior team thanks to his performance in a Canada-Russia Series game this November.

Anderson, now a Columbus Blue Jackets farmhand, isn’t the only one to do so on Jankowski’s watch. He joined Charles Hudon and Anthony Mantha as Canadians buoyed by impact performances in 2013. Hudon and Mantha teamed up with scoring ace Jonathan Drouin on the QMJHL roster, combining for 11 points in two victories.

Hudon and Mantha then joined Drouin on the 2014 World Junior squad, often skating together as a trio. Mantha made the tournament all-star team as Canada finished fourth.

Fast-forward a year later, when the series began out west for the first time and a couple of undersized WHLers made their presence felt, with previously unheralded Brayden Point and Joe Hicketts catching Jankowski’s eye. Up front, there was Point of the Moose Jaw Warriors. The 5’8″, 160-pound Tampa Bay Lightning prospect chipped in offensively with an assist in two games, showing off his versatility in the process.

“Last year in the two Super Series games in Saskatoon and Brandon, he was our best player,” Jankowski said. “We used him on right wing in those games and he’s [also] a natural centreman. You can test players in different situations in these games.”

Point made the World Junior team as the 13th forward but wound up contributing two goals and two assists as Canada won its first gold medal since 2009.

“We’ve gotten away from the role players,” Jankowski said. “But that doesn’t mean a skilled player can play a [non-offensive] role.”

On the back end, Hicketts continued his rise.

Like Anderson, Hicketts wasn’t invited to Hockey Canada’s summer evaluation camp.

The Victoria Royals blueliner missed half his team’s games in 2013–14 when the he suffered a torn arm tendon. He wasn’t selected in the NHL Draft. So Hicketts dedicated himself to a strict off-season fitness regimen and lost 25 pounds. By the time he hit the ice, he was 5’8″ and 186 pounds and prepared to make his name a household one (see p. 14 for related story). Hicketts recorded a goal and an assist in the two games, showing a physical edge in the process.

“He came with a chip on his shoulder,” Jankowski said. “He had something to prove in those two games.”

Hicketts, who signed a free-agent contract with the Detroit Red Wings last September, recorded three assists in seven World Junior games.

The other player to vault up the depth chart certainly had size to his advantage. What Lawson Crouse didn’t have was an abundance of junior hockey experience. It takes a special talent to earn a spot on Canada’s World Junior roster as a 17-year-old. Crouse not only did that, but he netted a goal and added two helpers at the tourney before he was drafted 11th overall by the Florida Panthers in June.

The hulking 6’4″, 211-pound Kingston Frontenacs winger proved he was up to the task two months earlier.

“What Lawson showed in that game was he could handle the size and the strength of the Russians,” Jankowski said. “We talk about having skill throughout the lineup, but you still have to field a team that’s going to be strong and going to play a Canadian-style game. Lawson stood out in that game and he stood out for all the right reasons.”

So while some of Canada’s roster is relatively easy to figure out, the Canada-Russia Series leaves the door open for players to earn one of the final jobs. There could easily be another Josh Anderson or Lawson Crouse out there, waiting in the wings, ready to do just that.

“That’s the beauty of these games. They’re exhibition games, but it’s a mini-tournament,” Jankowski said. “They allow us to get a sense of the player.”

— Daniel Nugent-Bowman recently returned to Toronto after covering the WHL for the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix for three seasons.