Battalion's Blujus disappointed at World Junior Camp early exit

It wasn’t the week that Dylan Blujus has hoping for.

The North Bay Battalion rearguard was named in the first round of cuts for Team USA at the World Junior Evaluation camp this week in Lake Placid, New York.

Blujus was among 16 defencemen invited to the camp which includes the World Junior teams from Canada, Sweden and Team Finland.

The Amherst, New York resident and 2012 2nd round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning played on Team USA Blue for the first few days of camp. However, on Tuesday USA trimmed their roster to fit one team by dropping 13 players from the original 44-man roster as Team Canada arrived to participate in the exhibition tournament on Wednesday.

Blujus was disappointed to get the news that he was heading home early.

“It was an honour to be chosen,” admitted Blujus to www.BayToday.ca from his home in Amherst.

“It was a big roster with 8 D on each USA squad. That made it difficult to get ice time and special teams so it was kind of tough to show yourself off. However, everyone had the same chance.”

The good news for Blujus is that his dream to play for Team USA is not dead yet and Team USA will be watching Blujus this fall in North Bay to see if he can play his way onto the USA World Junior Roster with a great first half.

“He would have to play the game with a bit of a quicker pace,” Team USA head coach Don Lucia told www.BayToday.ca about what Blujus will have to do to crack the USA lineup on the back end.

“He’s a big, strong guy, I don’t know if he’s been on an Olympic rink before in his play, but he obviously has some talent and we will get a chance to evaluate him this fall and watch the guy settle in.”

However Blujus, who led Brampton Battalion blueliners in scoring in 2012-13 with two goals and 27 assists for 29 points in 68 games, feels right now his priority is to prepare for a great season in his new junior hockey home in North Bay.

“I know the opportunity is still there like Riley Barber last year, but I’m going to focus on my team in North Bay this season and World Juniors will be in the back of my head. I may get another chance but we will see,” said Blujus.

Whether Blujus cracks the lineup is yet to be seen but regardless the Team USA defence will have a lot of new faces as Windsor Spitfires defenceman Patrick Sieloff is the only returning defencemen attending the World Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid.

The fact that Blujus will be scouting by Team USA this fall could also be good news for Blake Clarke. The highly touted forward is expected to be drafted in the top 5 in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft but was not invited to the Team USA Camp. A good fall for both could mean the duo could be playing in the World Juniors at Christmas.


Photo courtesy wwww.battalionhockey.com