It’s an event they have watched since they were young hockey players getting set to play in their own minor hockey tournaments over the Christmas holidays.
Now three members of the London Knights are one step closer to playing in the world junior hockey championship.
Oliver Bonk, Easton Cowan and Denver Barkey received their invitations as Canada’s final selection camp roster was unveiled on Dec. 5.
All three Knights players are 18 years old.
The world junior tournament is commonly referred to as a 19-year-old tournament but Hockey Canada’s senior director of hockey operations, Scott Salmond, disagrees.
“It’s the best player tournament,” Salmond says. “Look at (the Knights), you have Barkey, you have Cowan, you have Bonk. Those are really good 18-year-old players. You can’t dismiss them because of their age. If they can play, they are going to play. (Macklin) Celebrini is playing with men in the NCAA and he’s 17 years old…. If we have five 18-year-olds (on the final roster) people will say that we are building for next year but we’re trying to win it every year.”
Barkey and Bonk were both members of Canada’s gold medal-winning Hlinka-Gretzky Cup squad in the summer of 2022.
All three players were part of the 2021 Capital City Challenge, which was a modified Under-17 championship that included Canada’s national women’s team as well.
Barkey currently sits tied for eighth for most points in the Ontario Hockey League this season.
Cowan ranks eighth overall in the league in points per game after beginning the season with an extended stay in Toronto with the Maple Leafs.
Bonk is seventh in scoring among OHL defenceman with six goals and 26 points.
Bonk was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. Barkey was Philadelphia’s third-round pick in 2022. The Maple Leafs took Cowan with their first pick, 28th overall.
Salmond adds that there are three main ingredients he looks for in a player who will be able to succeed at the world junior level.
“I’ve learned over the years that you get what you are given,” Salmond admits. “Some years you have big guys and some years you have smaller guys. At the end of the day, we want skilled guys who can skate and who are ultra-competitive. If you have two of three of those things, you can’t play. To play on our team at Christmas you have to have all three.”
The final selection camp will be held from Dec. 10 to 13 in Oakville, Ont.
This year’s world junior championship tournament will be held from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
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