OTTAWA – He started out as just a friendly anomaly. Before him, only four 17-year-old defensemen had earned a position on Junior Team Canada in the last 25 years.
But Matthew Schaefer quickly positioned himself at the heart of Canadian ambitions. He didn’t come to learn. After three preseason games and almost four periods of real competition, he was expected to be identified as the team’s quarterback.
It’s the “almost” here that hurts. Before the end of the first third, Friday evening against Latvia, Schaefer was trying to complete a play imagined by his teammate Brayden Yager when he drove directly into the frame of the goal defended by the Latvian goalkeeper. His left shoulder took the violent contact which propelled him forcefully into the ramp.
The worst-case scenario was confirmed Saturday morning, when Hockey Canada announced that its young nugget’s tournament was over.
“It’s hard,” lamented Oliver Bonk, Schaefer’s playing partner since the start of the tournament. I feel bad for him, he’s a good kid and I enjoyed his company. He was playing spectacularly, so it’s a loss that hurts. »
“We lost a really good defender, but we are lucky in our misfortune because we have an excellent group to compensate for his departure,” said Bradly Nadeau. I’m sure Schaefer would want us to win for him. »
It will be easier said than done. It is clear that no member of the Canadian brigade has the fluidity on skates, the vision of the game and the offensive flair of the young cripple. Canada now finds itself with only one decidedly offensive guard, 19-year-old veteran Tanner Molendyk. No one else has demonstrated until now that he can facilitate the restart, support the attack, drop back or manage a power play with as much ease as number 25 did.
Part of the solution could come from Sam Dickinson. The London Knights defenseman, first round pick of the San Jose Sharks last summer, has the assets to establish himself as a general on his team’s blue line. He had 70 points in 68 games last year for the Ontario Junior League champions. He totaled 46 in 26 games before joining the national team this season.
But his game has not allowed him to stand out in recent weeks. The head of Hockey Canada’s under-20 program, Peter Anholt, didn’t name anyone, but it may have been a name he had in mind when he said Saturday that the team would “need better performances from some of the guys on the blue line. »
Since they had kept two vacant places in their squad, the Canadian leaders would have had the option of recalling a defender who was not in the team’s entourage. The name of Zayne Parekh, who was cut at the end of the selection camp, came to mind. The Calgary Flames prospect is not flawless, but he has the profile to fulfill the missions entrusted to Schaefer.
Anholt more or less ruled out this scenario by announcing that Sawyer Mynio would instead join the Canadian team. Mynio has been training with the team since training camp, but has still not been officially registered with the tournament authorities. Everything seems to indicate that this is the option that will be favored.
The Vancouver Canucks prospect has 19 points in 18 games this season with the Seattle Thunderbirds.
