Silvertips’ Hart, Juulsen set to depart for Canada’s World Junior camp
Published 8:30 pm Thursday, December 8, 2016
EVERETT — Talk to any Canadian hockey player who has donned a sweater with a maple leaf on it and he’ll tell you it’s a career highlight.
“It’s one of the greatest honors you can get in any sport,” said Everett goaltender Carter Hart, who played for Team Canada at the U-18 Ivan Hlinka Tournament in Europe in August of 2015. “It was easily one of my favorite hockey moments I’ve ever been a part of. Just that group of guys, we all came together so fast and we were so focused, and it was so much fun to be part of a group like that.”
The 18-year-old Hart, along with 19-year-old Everett defenseman Noah Juulsen, will depart Saturday for Hockey Canada’s World Junior selection camp in Boisbriand, Quebec, in their bid to pull on the maple leaf sweater again when the tournament begins on Boxing Day in Toronto and Montreal.
Juulsen was among the final cuts from last year’s roster and went all the way to Finland before he was sent home on the eve of the tournament.
“I think I just need to go in knowing what I have to do to make that team,” Juulsen said. “I think confidence-wise I got a lot from last year and it sucked to get cut, but I think coming into this year I just have to work hard.”
Both Hart and Juulsen attended Hockey Canada’s development camp last summer and are two-year veterans of Team WHL in the Canada-Russia Series. Juulsen captained this year’s Team WHL.
“We’ve met most of the guys going in there so we kind of know everyone, but it is nice going with a teammate,” Juulsen said.
Representing Team Canada would come at a cost to the Tips. If Juulsen and Hart make the roster they would miss at least nine games for an Everett team that so far has weathered nearly every challenge that’s come its way this season en route to a U.S. Division and Western Conference best record of 20-3-5-0.
Now comes another big challenge this weekend as the Tips play their first “three in three” of the season — that is three games in three consecutive nights. When coupled with Wednesday’s 4-3 overtime loss to Tri-City at home, it will mean four games in five nights, the second time Everett has faced that task this season.
Hart, for his part, isn’t looking past the 7:30 p.m. game Friday at Vancouver (11-17-1-1, 24 points) despite the Giants’ last-place standing in the Western Conference.
“I’m very excited for the opportunity to play for my country, but right now we gotta focus on (Friday) against Vancouver,” Hart said. “We have a big game (Friday) and I know that we have a big weekend ahead for the boys down here in Everett.”
The Tips beat the Giants 7-3 and 3-1 in a back-to-back, home-and-home series to begin the regular season. Everett did so without both Hart and Juulsen as both were still away at NHL training camps with Philadelphia and Montreal, respectively.
Vancouver is 2-6-1-1 in its last 10 games.
The goaltending mantle will fall to Mario Petit in Hart’s absence, with recently acquired Dorrin Luding serving as the backup. Petit has performed well in his limited opportunities this season and has a 4-0-1-0 record with a 2.45 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage in five games this season.
The Iles-des-Chenes, Manitoba, native was 3-3-4-0 with a 2.80 GAA and an .883 save percentage in the regular season last year, but was otherworldly in the postseason when he beat Portland three times and finished his four playoff appearances with a 3-0-0 record, a 1.30 GAA and a .953 save percentage.
Everett continues its weekend with a 7 p.m. game Saturday at Portland in what will be the Winterhawks’ Teddy Bear Toss, followed by a quick turnaround at 4:05 p.m. Sunday when the Spokane Chiefs visit Xfinity Arena.
For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @JesseGeleynse.
