Prior to Hockey Canada announcing the 66 players who would comprise three Canadian teams at the IIHF U17 World Hockey Challenge next month, Cole Sillinger of the Medicine Hat Tigers being named was by many accounts a foregone conclusion.
While nobody was taking anything for granted, Sillinger’s performance out of the gate this Western Hockey League season certainly should have established the Regina product as a slam-dunk.
The 16-year-old leads all rookie scorers with eight goals in 12 games, good for 15 points, which is also tops among first-year players. Sillinger has been inter-changeable among the Tigers top-six forwards, contributing regularly on the power play.
Sillinger will play for Team Canada White, which will play its preliminary-round games in Medicine Hat.
Before the tournament, the three teams – Black, Red, and White, will practice in Swift Current, so fans will get a peek at all the Team Canada players. There are some pre-tournament games, one of which is scheduled for Shaunavon, Saskatchewan.
DUBNetwork spoke with Sillinger this week after practice at the Medicine Hat Family Leisure centre, while the Canalta Centre is being prepared as a host venue for the U17 World Hockey Challenge.
DUBNetwork: It must be pretty exciting to have an opportunity to play in the U17?
Cole Sillinger: “Yeah, for sure. I mean especially here as part of Team White. Every game is here in Medicine Hat, so that’s special to have our fans on hand.”
DN: There are a handful of WHL players on Team White. Any of them that you’ve crossed paths with?
CS: “For sure, mostly all of them. Growing up playing spring hockey against them and during my draft year and stuff like that. Guys like (Matt) Savoie and (Carson (Lambos), they’re actually on Team White, too.”
DN: Let’s take you back to your season in the Saskatchewan AAA Midget Hockey League. That’s good hockey. Can you give us a few thoughts on the experience there? You had a good season.
CS: “Yeah, it’s a great league. I really wanted to play for the Regina Pat Canadians, both my older brothers played for them and my dad was coaching the Pat Canadians for five or six years. When I was 15, I really wanted to play for them, I knew it would make me better as a hockey player and as a person. I treated it like kind of a mini-Western Hockey League.”
DN: We note that you were a first-round pick at the WHL Bantam Draft, 11th overall. Your father, Mike, was selected 11th overall too, at the 1990 NHL Draft by Detroit.
CS: “Yeah, as soon as I got drafted, that was kind of a funny thing my dad told me. Obviously drafted to the Western Hockey League and the National Hockey League, it’s different, but kind of a neat coincidence.”
DN: How does he feel about the U17 announcement? There was no U17 back in the day before Mike played in the 1991 World Junior Championship. Has he had any advice for you about playing in an international tournament?
CS: “He’s super proud of me and my whole family is. Every time you get a chance to represent your country, it’s all about enjoying the experience, competing hard and just embrace that I’m wearing that Canadian jersey.”
DN: Something we’ve noticed over the years with 16-year-old players in the WHL – a lot of the young guys tend to want to dish off the puck to veteran players in the attacking zone. But you appear to be a guy who is pretty confident shooting the puck.
CS: “I have to give my linemates a ton of credit (Ryan Chyzowski and Brett Kemp). Chyz and Kemper, they’re guys that want to make plays, they want to score, they want to play defense hard. They allow me to be comfortable and confident with the puck.”
DN: Where does that confidence come from, that inner strength, that motivation to be a playmaker?
CS: “I think when I’m playing my best, it’s because I’m relaxed and confident. We talk off the ice about hockey and we have really good chemistry with each other, so I don’t think anybody’s really scared to shoot the puck or try to make plays.”
DN: You know, you kind of blew it with this U17 thing – you won’t be traveling with the Tigers on the road trip through the B.C. Division.
CS: “Hah! Yeah! Honestly, those bus trips are one of the best things about playing junior hockey. I’ll really miss that one. But it’ll be nice to stay here, playing for the country and having the local fanbase behind us.”
DN: Has there been any communication with Hockey Canada, in terms of the structure, when everybody starts to arrive when you guys begin to practice?
CS: “I leave the Tigers on October 28 to start to practice and hang out with the guys in Swift Current. There are some pre-tournament games, I think we might play in Shaunavon. I report back to my team here on November 11.”
Road warriors
With the Canalta Centre undergoing the transformation for the U17 World Hockey Challenge, the Tigers are moving practices around the city to different local rinks. They are also beginning a stretch of nine straight road games before its next start on home ice, November 16 against the Edmonton Oil Kings.
According to assistant coach Joe Fraser, the Tigers will assuredly miss Sillinger. The young forward will play in Edmonton and Lethbridge this weekend before Hockey Canada comes calling.
“If you’d asked him the first three or four games, he might have told you he was maybe looking to pass more,” Fraser said when asked about Sillinger’s penchant to put pucks on net. “Chyzowski’s really helped him, he’s been a really good mentor for him. We just told Cole he’s got a great shot, so use it.
“Last year’s playoffs really helped with confidence in everything and he knows that he can play at this level and be an impact player.
“The U17, it’s a huge honour and a great experience for Cole. It’ll have an impact on our lineup, with him playing so well. That line has had a lot of success lately.”
Following the weekend tilts against Central Division rivals, the Tigers will embark on it bi-annual, five-game road trip through British Columbia.
These trips also enable teams to re-connect with affiliated players along the way. Fraser says the Tigers will be in touch with a few prospects.
“We’ve been talking to some of the prospects we’ve signed, that we had at training camp,” Fraser said. “We might at least get them to practice and maybe into a game or two.”
Tigers Tales…The Tigers head into the weekend at 8-3-1 for 17 points, tied for second overall in the WHL with Prince Albert and Lethbridge. Edmonton leads with 19 points. That’s three of the top four residing in the Central Division. The Raiders dropped its first regulation-time decision of the season in Seattle Tuesday by a 3-1 count…Medicine Hat has gone 10-for 46 on the power play, eighth-best in the league while surrendering one shorthanded goal. On the penalty kill, the Tigers are among the league leaders, fourth overall, allowing opponents only five goals in 34 opportunities. The Tigers have scored two shorthanded tallies…James Hamblin leads the team in scoring with 16 points. The forward line of Ryan Chyzowski (9-6; 15), Cole Sillinger (8-7; 15) and Brett Kemp (2-11;13) are next…Chyzowski has been named to Team WHL and will play in either one or both of the games of the 2019 CIBC Canada/Russia Series, scheduled for Saskatoon (Nov. 13) and Prince Albert (Nov. 14)…Daniel Baker is tops among defensemen with four goals and four assists and a plus-8 rating…Sillinger leads the team with a plus-10 rating…Rookie defenceman Dru Krebs (1-3; 4. +8) is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury…Medicine Hat is 3-0 against East Division teams so far, 1-0 against U.S. Division teams and 4-3-1 against Central Division rivals. The Tigers have lost both games in Calgary against the Hitmen this season, by scores of 2-0 and 6-3. The three-goal loss last Sunday also marked the first time this season an opponent has outshot the Tigers…Attendance at Canalta Centre through seven games is 21,557, an average of 3,080 per contest.
