Canada won their first game against USports by a score of 3-2. Standouts include Denver Barkey, Ty Nelson, & Oliver Bonk.
Canada has won their first of two games against USports in their World Junior Selection Camp this week, by a score of 4-2 (not including overtime and shootout). Goals were scored by Matthew Wood, Denver Barkey, & two from Jake Furlong (including one EN).
This game was a chance for a lot of players to really fight to earn their spots on the final roster. The top players on the camp roster were not in the lineup tonight, and it was a chance for non-guaranteed players to shine.
London Knights centre Denver Barkey was playing down the middle, with Owen Allard and Matthew Wood on his wings. Barkey picked up an assist on Wood's goal, and a tip off of a Matthew Wood shot, grabbing two points in the game.
Away from his production, Barkey was evidently working harder than anyone else on the ice, and he never took a shift off. His determination and compete were off the charts, and he is making it incredibly difficult for this team to cut him.
Canada's lineups for this game saw two all-OHL defence pairings; Oliver Bonk with Michael Buchinger, & Ty Nelson with Jorian Donovan.
These two pairs didn't exactly seem to gel easily. A lot of expected sloppiness from the team as a whole, but all six defenders had a particularly tough time exiting the zone. These are not pairs that I would expect to see on the final roster, but there were positives to take away.
Ty Nelson was activating often and taking his chances offensively, and his shot was on full-display. Nelson's shooting mentality makes him a threat from the point, and that was evident in this game. His chances to make this final roster seem to becoming more and more likely.
Oliver Bonk also played a solid game, and was likely Canada's best defender at breaking out the puck. His ability to start the play in-transition with his first pass is high-end, and he is incredibly reliable with the puck on his stick.
We had a first look at potential penalty kill lines, involving multiple OHLers.
The first PK unit we saw consisted of:
Owen Beck - Owen Allard
Oliver Bonk - Michael Buchinger
Denver Barkey and Paul Ludwinski also made an appearance on the PK.
This game was a great test for all eleven OHLers on Canada's camp roster, and provided an opportunity to show some unproven talent.
The final game between Canada and USports goes down tomorrow at 12:00pm EST at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. Canada's final roster will be announced at 6:30pm EST following that game.