EVERETT — When Radko Gudas found out his Czech Republic team would be taking on the Finland team of Everett Silvertips teammate Rasmus Rissanen on the second day of the 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships, he uttered one word in response:
“Good!”
Everett could have as many as three individuals taking part in this year’s World Juniors. All three represent different countries, and that made for some playful banter in the Silvertips locker room.
“Oh yeah, we joke a lot about it,” Rissanen said. “It’s fun.”
World Juniors is the premier international hockey event for players under the age of 20. This edition is being hosted by Canada on Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan.
And Everett’s 2010 contingent contains an eclectic international flavor.
Gudas has already headed out for the World Juniors. The 19-year-old defenseman departed Thursday for the Czech Republic’s tryout camp in Calgary, Alberta. He’s assured a spot on the roster as he was a key member of the Czech Republic team that finished sixth last year, tallying two goals and an assist in six games.
“I think it was my biggest experience in hockey,” Gudas said about playing at last year’s World Juniors.
“I think we have a better team than last year, for sure, because we have a lot of guys who were there last year,” Gudas added. “We have a good goalie, so our team will be pretty good.”
Rissanen doesn’t depart until Sunday for Finland’s tryout camp, which also takes place in Calgary. Unlike Gudas, Rissanen isn’t assured a spot on his team. The 18-year-old is one of eight defensemen competing for seven roster spots on a Finnish team that survived the relegation round last year.
“I think we have a good team,” said Rissanen, who has plenty of international experience, earning a bronze medal with Finland at the U-18 World Championships last spring. “We have great players. We just need to work together and we can win games.”
The third member of the Tips contingent is associate head coach Jay Varady. Varady is part of the coaching staff for the United States, serving as the video coordinator. He’ll spend much of his time scouting the U.S.’s next opponent as the Americans look to improve upon last year’s fifth-place finish.
“It starts with your head coach and Dean Blais has a reputation of being a hard-working coach who wants hard-working players,” said Varady, who left Wednesday for the team’s camp in Grand Forks, N.D. “I think that tone is going to be set right from the beginning, which will be good because I think that’s the type of teams that win in this tournament.”
While the Tips may have two teammates and a coach representing three of the teams at World Juniors, the majority of the organization will be backing a fourth. The Tips are supportive of their own, but the majority will be backing their home country Canada to win its sixth straight gold medal.
Among those Canadian fans in Everett is head coach Craig Hartsburg, who coached Canada to the gold medal in 2007 and 2008. He had some, shall we say, words of wisdom for those hoping to usurp Canada’s crown.
“They’re all playing for second, third and four places,” Hartsburg said with a laugh. “Jay and I had lots of laughs. I told him to get ready for the New Year’s Eve massacre (when the U.S. faces Canada in round-robin play).
“But it will be competitive,” Hartsburg continued. “I think every team this year is good, I’m not sure Canada is a favorite. Among (Everett’s) kids, the Finns have been down a few years but I can see them coming back, and the Czechs have something like 10 players coming back from last year’s team. The U.S. is always a threat, it’s just whether they become a team or not, that’s always been the issue for the U.S.”
One thing that’s not recognized south of the border is how important World Juniors are in Canada. The Canadian team receives non-stop national media coverage, and winning gold is the expectation.
“In Canada it’s much like what NCAA football or basketball is like here,” Hartsburg explained. “The whole country is glued to that final game.
“For Canadians it means a lot to the country and it means a lot to our kids in Canada,” Hartsburg added. “Not just the junior players, but the young kids growing up. I think that’s one of the reasons why we’ve had so much success. There’s a lot of pride in winning the gold medal in Canada. They went through a long dry stretch (from 1998-2004), but right now the pride the kids have towards the tournament is more than any other country.”
Nevertheless, one can be sure the Silvertip representatives will be looking to end Canada’s dominance.
Injury update
Everett captain Zack Dailey should return to the lineup tonight against Tri-City. The centerman sat our the previous two games because of a head injury, but he practiced at full speed Thursday. Leading scorer Shane Harper, who did not finish Wednesday’s game because of an upper-body bruise, did not practice Thursday. However, he has not been ruled out of playing tonight.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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