It’s time to test the water in London again.
If you go back to 2014 and have a look at Canada’s Olympic hockey roster, five of the 25 players on it had a connection to London.
Drew Doughty and Jeff Carter are from the city and John Tavares, Corey Perry and Rick Nash had played for the London Knights. No other city or town had a ratio anywhere close by way of birth or club team.
On Dec. 3, Team Canada named its final selection camp roster for this year’s World Junior Hockey championship, and five names have London connections.
For the full roster, click here
WATCH: Canada wins gold at World Junior Championships (January, 2018)
Nick Suzuki and Isaac Ratcliffe both grew up in London and played their minor hockey with the London Jr. Knights.
Both are very skilled forwards. Ratcliffe is a first-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers and has outstanding size and ability. Suzuki is the kind of player who seems to have eyes in the back of his head for the way he can set up teammates. He is property of the Montreal Canadiens.
They will be joined by three London Knights.
Evan Bouchard started this year with the Edmonton Oilers and could play a large role on Canada’s blue line.
Liam Foudy is only 18 years old, and given the World Juniors is known as a tournament for 19-year old players, he will have to continue to impress. So far Foudy has taken advantage of every opportunity to get himself onto Team Canada’s radar. He played in both games featuring Team OHL during the Canada/Russia and showed off his speed and skill in the summer during the World Junior Summer Showcase in Kamloops, B.C.
The final piece of the five with London connections is Alex Formenton of the Knights and he stands to play a very big role as a returning player who brings with him the experience of winning gold last year in Buffalo, N.Y
Formenton is no stranger to a Memorial Cup celebration. He has played games in the National Hockey League and has even scored his first NHL goal, but the King City native admits that there is something really special about playing for Canada.
“Having that opportunity to wear the Team Canada emblem on your chest…,” Formenton said. “I just remember walking out and seeing and feeling the support from our country sitting in the stands. It was an incredible experience.”
Formenton and Team Canada earned their way into the gold medal game against Sweden a year ago and the teams sat tied 1-1 with less than two minutes remaining, when Tyler Steenbergen scored to put Canada ahead. Formenton smiles, thinking back, and admits he will always remember what came next as he got a shot to put the game away just seconds later.
Formenton will head west to Victoria, B.C., for the final selection camp that will run from December 10-14. Team Canada’s final roster is expected to be announced on December 14. If each of the eligible guys with London ties finds themselves as part of Team Canada when the tournament starts, they may want to put in an order for some London water after all to ship west.
When it comes to hockey, maybe there really is something special in it.
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