Four London knights and Londoner Nick Suzuki will play for Team OHL in the Canada/Russia series next month.
Robert Thomas, Cliff Pu, Evan Bouchard and the recently returned Alex Formenton of the Knights were selected along with Suzuki for either one or both of the games against the Ontario Hockey League. They will be played on Nov. 9 in Owen Sound and on November 13 in Sudbury.
The annual six-game series against the OHL, WHL and QMJHL is a major tool for Hockey Canada in the selection of its selection camp roster for the World Junior Hockey Championship.
Thomas and Pu were both a part of the Summer Showcase which brought together all kinds of eligible players for the World Juniors.
Thomas is a first-round pick of the St. Louis Blues, who has six points in seven games for London since returning from Blues’ training camp.
Pu is a third-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres and had an excellent summer evaluation camp with Team Canada and as a 19-year-old, is taking on more of a leadership role with the Knights this season.
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Bouchard was born after the famous September 15 cut-off for the NHL Entry Draft (All players born after September 15 are bumped to the following year’s draft). That means he is in his draft year and has had a very impressive start to the season with a whole lot of eyes on him.
Bouchard leads London in scoring and is tied for the team lead in shots on goal with Max Jones. Both players have 36.
Formenton hasn’t played an OHL game just yet. He dazzled the Ottawa Senators in training camp and made Ottawa’s opening night roster. The second-year forward held the status of being the youngest player in the National Hockey League until he was assigned to the Knights on Oct. 15, following Ottawa’s west coast trip.
His time in the National Hockey League took him to both coasts, saw him score a goal on a breakaway in the pre-season and play in his first NHL game.
Now he comes back to London and is set for a bigger role on the team.
Suzuki was born in London and plays for the Owen Sound Attack. Currently, he leads the OHL with 18 points in nine games. The former London Jr. Knight was selected 13th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft and is expected to be a big part of their future.
The Canada-Russia series actually began in London, back in 2003 in front of a sell out crowd at what was then, the John Labatt Centre. Players like Corey Perry, Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and even Paul Bissonette played that night for Team OHL and beat Team Russia 7-1.
In the 14 years that have followed, there aren’t many major junior rinks across Canada that have not played host to the event.
Canadian Hockey League teams have won 58 of the 84 games that have been played in the series.
The Ontario Hockey League leads the way in victories with 28.
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