EVERETT — Hockey Canada announced its team for the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championships on Thursday morning, and it was news Leland Irving and Zach Hamill didn’t want to hear.
Both of the Everett Silvertips’ hopefuls for Team Canada failed to make the cut, dashing their hopes of representing Canada one final time at the junior level.
Both Irving, Everett’s No. 1 goaltender, and Hamill, the Tips’ top center, were among the 36 players vying for 22 spots at the selection camp in Calgary, Alberta. They received the bad news early Thursday morning and were back in Everett in time to take part in Thursday afternoon’s practice.
“It was disappointing,” Hamill said. “I want to be there right now, but unfortunately I can’t be. But life goes on.”
Both Irving and Hamill were considered bubble players going into camp as neither has had an exceptional season for Everett so far. However, they both had points in their favor, too. Both have a strong resume representing Canada at younger ages, both held their own during the Canada-Russia Super Series in August and September, and Irving was a member of last year’s World Junior team as a backup.
As 19-year-olds this was their final chance at playing at World Juniors.
The blow appeared to be harder on Irving, who as one of the three returning members from last year’s team figured to have an inside track for one of the two goaltending positions. Instead fellow 19-year-old Super Series goalies Jonathan Bernier and Steve Mason took the two roster slots.
“I was a little surprised and obviously disappointed, but that’s the way things go sometimes,” Irving said.
“I thought I had a fairly good camp,” Irving added. “I felt I played well enough to have a spot on the team. I didn’t feel either of the other two played exceptionally well to take the spot that I had last year. But obviously the coaches had something else in mind.”
Hamill thought he played well during camp, scoring a goal in the first of the two scrimmages. But as an offensive player he likely needed to win a spot on one of Canada’s top two lines to make the team, a challenging prospect given Canada’s depth.
“I thought the first game I played (at camp) was one of the best all-around games I’ve played, either here or there,” Hamill said. “The second game our whole team wasn’t going, but it wasn’t terrible. Obviously it wasn’t enough.”
While it was bad news for Irving and Hamill, it was good news for the Silvertips. Instead of losing Irving and Hamill for a minimum of 11 games, Everett lost them for only one as both are expected in the lineup tonight at Tri-City.
“It’s a disappointment for them,” Everett coach John Becanic said. “I’m sure it’s their dream and goal and it’s their last opportunity at it. But as I said earlier, whether they made it not, when they come back they have to be a part of the Everett Silvertips and move forward. Christmas was a little early for us and obviously the Grinch was a little early for them. We’re a better team with them in the lineup, so we look forward to having them in (tonight).”
Now the challenge for Irving and Hamill is to put the disappointment of not making the team behind them.
“To work hard all year and have it come down to this is pretty disappointing,” Irving said. “But on the upside I get to be back with my teammates here in Everett, guys who I know want me here, and I just look forward to the season with them.
“No time to sit and pout, just go out and play my game and sho everyone what I’m capable of.”
With Irving and Hamill back, and with the rest of the team healthy, Everett has a full roster available going into the final weekend before the Christmas break. That affords Becanic some lineup flexibility.
“It’s nice to be healthy and be able to have leverage over players who aren’t performing well,” Becanic said. “We’ve been patching together a lineup here with the healthiest bodies we have, so you don’t have a lot of leverage as a coach with regards to rewarding players with ice time. Now we’re healthy and everybody’s back and hopefully I have a little more leverage.”
Slap shots: Everett’s power play is in a serious funk. Over the past 12 games the Tips are just 4-for-56 for a paltry 7.1 percent, and Everett has not converted in its past 25 chances. The stretch has seen the Tips’ overall power-play ranking slide from among the league leaders at around 25 percent to 16th at 17.2 percent. … Former Silvertip Jeremy Creurer skated with the team during practice Thursday. Creurer, who played the 2004-05 season with Everett until his career was cut short by concussions, was in town visiting his former billets.
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