After a year off, the Men’s U18s are back.
The tournament runs from April 26-May 6. Frisco and Plano Texas are the host sites for the tournament. They are two suburb cities north of Dallas, Texas. Frisco’s Comerica Center will host Group B. This includes the USA, Russia, Czech Republic, Finland, and Germany. The Children’s HealthStar Museum in Plano will host Group A. This includes Canada, Sweden, Belarus, Latvia, and Switzerland.
There will be tickets sold at Comerica Center. Seats will one sold in 2-4 pods. No individual seats will be sold. Masks must be worn at all times. Food and drink must be eaten at the ticketed seat. There will be no seats sold for games in Plano.
And, no Texas hosting the U18s is not a typo. They are REALLY hosting the tournament. And according to Derek Neumeier from Future Considerations, the Dallas Stars have helped.
“The Stars are really good at building grassroots hockey. They built a team that has won the Stanley Cup and in two Stanley Cup Finals. But they haven’t abandoned growing the game. They put a lot of money into rinks and hockey programs. We are seeing more and more kids learning how to skate. And we are seeing more fruits of the labor. We are seeing more and more players coming from Texas playing at a high junior level. Blake Coleman won a Stanley Cup with Tampa is from Texas. So we’ve definitely seen a lot of growth in the game down there.”
Hockey might not be as big as football is down there. Or as basketball. But that is a genuine hockey market. Very interesting in-game presentation. It’s still growing. We will see more players come from Texas.”
In preparing for the tournament, there are a lot of draft lists. That included Future Considerations. Which, for obvious reasons, is a challenge for everyone. How confident were they in their process?
“We’ve seen some comments on social media that it’s not doable. We should push the draft back. We feel pretty confident about our lists. We watched a lot of these guys multiple, multiple, times. Some players have been viewed more than 10 times. For guys who haven’t played at all, we have been able to watch tape from last season. Even though we have had to rely more on video and good quality streaming. It’s doable. But it takes a little bit more work.
One thing that is not clear, and might not be clearer is a consensus number one pick going into the tournament.
“I would have expected that the top of the list would have been a little more clear and a little less murky the more views we got. Generally, at the season/draft year, there is a lot of uncertainty. But you start watching these players, you start comparing them to each other, and you start feeling more confident about strengths and weaknesses. This year, it seems to be going in the opposite direction when it comes to the top 10 picks of this draft. We feel pretty confident about who the top 10 are. But how we want to order them is really up in the air. Guys started this year hot and cooled off and vice versa. Guys started injured and came back. It’s certainly very unconventional.”
Future Considerations has Luke Hughes at the number 1 pick. Owen Power, who Bob McKenzie has as their number one pick is 6 on the FC list, Hughes is number 5.
The consensus first WHL Draft Pick is expected to be Dylan Guenther from the Edmonton Oil Kings. Guenther has 12 goals, 12 assists, for 24 points in 12 games this year. He is currently eighth on FC but could go as high as two or three.
“He thinks the game really well. He understands the flow of play. He understands how to find space. He understands how to put the puck in good places for his teammates. He doesn’t trail the play. He often dictates it or thinks ahead of it. If you are able to think the game one step ahead of the opposing defenceman, you’re constantly going to find yourself in good positions. And he’s also really good when he has the puck. A really good dual-threat offensively. Dangerous as a shooter. Dangerous as a playmaker. Not the purely quickest guy. But he gets around the ice quite well.”
Neumeier also sees these similar traits in one of the assistant captains of Team Canada, Logan Stankoven of the Kamloops Blazers.
“Stankoven is a really dangerous goal scorer. He’s got this knack for putting the puck in the net you can’t teach or develop. Some guys have it. Some guys don’t. Stankoven has these natural instincts, a natural feel for the puck. Once he has the puck on his stick, you gotta worry for any opposing goaltender who is trying to stop him because he can do so much with it. He’s not one-dimensional either. He’s not just a shooter. He’s a really underrated playmaker. He’s got that dual threat. He’s not a true burner, but he plays really quick. He’s able to play quickly in tight spaces. Quick with his hands. Quick with his feet.”
One of the most exciting players of this tournament will be Connor Bedard. But, this will also be a test. Some have felt his competition hasn’t been the best and want to see more. Not to worry says Neumeier,
“The division he’s played in is not exactly the strongest. The Swift Current Broncos haven’t been strong for a while. Any team he’s played this year isn’t as good as say the Everett Silvertips. But let me be really clear. Bedard is special. Even if he were playing against the toughest of the tough teams on a nightly basis, he would still be standing out. He would still be making highlight-reel plays. He would still be dangerous with the puck every time he touches it. He’s just a really skilled natural talented player. Not just with his hands. The way he thinks the game. His work ethic. He approaches the game in a competitive, skilled, way. He wants to win. He wants to make a difference. I don’t think you can have a knock against him the way he’s been playing.”
Going through the list of roster players, I was struck by another AJHL Brooks Bandits player being on the team. Corson Ceulemans. I wondered about what Brooks is doing.
“Brooks is a really interesting organization. They have a really defined team culture. The way that they present things. The way the players dress. The signature red headbands. Really unique vibe.Really unique approach to how they develop players. They are not afraid of being an up-tempo offensive team. This identity has been good for them. They have kept the attitude they had when they had Makar. They still play fast. They still let their players take chances.”
And although he’s not Makar, Ceulemans is thriving in the system.
He’s not quite as mobile as Makar. He’s not quite as good with the puck as Makar. But he gets the green light to go end to end with the puck.”I’m a big fan of his, It doesn’t matter what league he is in, he’s a special talent.
Ceulemans has a goal and 10 assists for 11 points this year. He’s expected to be paired with Prince Albert Raider Noah Allen in the tournament. He’s committed to Wisconsin next year.
While the forwards are the strength of the team, one guy that will be missed is Cole Sillinger. The Regina product patterns his game after Bo Horvat.
(Photo – Ryan McCracken)
“Sillinger is genuine offensive talent. He might have some upside of center. We have seen that growth in him. He wasn’t a guy who pushed the pace or got to the middle of the ice. But he’s getting a lot better at that this year which has been really nice to see. Definitely a power-play specialist.One of the better power-play specialists in this draft. When he gets the puck in the offensive zone, there is so much he can do with it. He’s got a natural ability offensively. The nice thing is he’s working hard on his weaknesses and that is something we wanted to see out of him this year. And one of the reasons he’s bumped up on our board this year. He’s gone up to 13. But he could go higher because we see him putting in the work to become a well-rounded player.”
I’m also always interested in the players who are flying under the radar. Who we need to pay more attention to? Derek has a couple of OHL players to watch for;
Mason McTavish (Peterborough Petes) could have a really interesting tournament. If you are a little bit bigger and a little bit stronger, that is often an advantage at an event like this.McTavish is going to be one of those guys who could be really interesting. He scored 29 goals in the OHL as a 16-year-old. He’s found some games in Europe this year. He’s got a little bit of momentum.
The other one is Brett Harrison (Oshawa Generals). He’s been playing in Finland in their top junior league. He’s a really good 2-way center. He can kill penalties. He can match up against the top players on opposing teams. But he can chip in points offensively. He doesn’t get a lot of fanfare. He’s not a guy who can pull fans out of their seats. But he’s a really effective player. I think he will be someone who gets relied on a lot. He will turn a lot of people on to his abilities.”
While the strength of the team is forwards, the question mark is goaltending. The goalies are Benjamin Gaudreau of the Sarnia Sting, Tyler Brennan of the Prince George Cougars, and Thomas Milic, who enraged as the starter for the Seattle Thunderbirds. There isn’t a red flag, but they’re still is a question of who will be number 1.
“Some years you have an obvious starter. Your defacto guy you can lean on. There are good goaltenders this year. But it’s a little hard to say what to expect. Gaudreau is 32nd on our list. Really good.Really athletic. Really fast. Decent size. We considered him a first-rounder because he had such a good rookie season. He kept a really week Sarnia Sting team in a lot of games. He can keep his exposure, He’s a battler. He’s really competitive. But he hasn’t played at all this year.”
Brennan has put up some good numbers. He hasn’t played a ton. He’s got a lot of size. A lot of natural ability. He could be a guy who does well for Canada.”
Milic has emerged as the starter with the Thunderbirds despite being a younger guy.”
It’s a little hard to say definitively what we are going to expect out of them. They will get good goaltending out of Gaudreau. But when he hasn’t played in a really long time, it’s really hard to say that confidently.”
As far as expectations, where can Canada finish?
“I would still say Canada is the favorite. It’s usually Canada vs the USA. But there are 2 things that are working against the USA. One is it’s not the most talented class. There are players that will go in the first round. But it’s not quite their strongest group. Especially in comparison to some recent years. And two of their very best players, Luke Hughes and Chaz Lucius are not going to be there due to injury.”
“The Swedes are going to be good. There are some good Russian players as well. But if I have to say who is coming out with gold, I would probably say Canada.”
Canada’s first game is Tuesday, 6:00 PM Pacific, 9:00 PM Eastern against Sweden. Games can be seen on TSN and Hockeytv.com
