With the 2017-2018 Ontario Hockey League season rapidly approaching, a handful of Battalion players/prospects have gotten an early start vying for spots with their respective countries National Teams.
Team Canada opened its Under 17 camp last week, inviting 111 players to camp. Of those 111 players competing to earn spots on one of Canada's three entries at the 2017-2018 World Under 17 Challenge where Battalion 2017 Draft picks, Brandon Coe, Kurtis Evans and defenseman Payton Vescio. The U-17 camp split the 111 players into six respective teams, which meant all three future Battalion players competed against one another. Skating with Canada Green, Battalion first round pick Brandon Coe had the top statistical performance of the North Bay prospects, tailing a goal and an assist to go along with two penalty minutes. Kurtis Evans, while held pointless through three games skated with Canada Gold and showed very well. Utilizing his combination of size, speed, and skill to thrive on a number of occasions.
Finally, defenseman and local product Payton Vescio. Vescio skated with Team Black where he recorded 2 penalty minutes in three games. Vescio showed poise and maturity as patrolled Canada Black's back-end. While his simplistic, but effective style of play wasn't as flashy as some of the defenders in camp, Vescio made very few mistakes throughout camp and should be in contention for a roster spot when the final rosters are announced.
Moving on to the Under 18's.
Shortly after Team Canada wrapped up their Under 17 camp, 44 players arrived in Calgary looking to earn a spot on Canada's entry at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. The Hlinka tournament is often used for NHL scouts to get their first look at top prospects for the upcoming NHL draft and many top players have had their "coming out party" at this event. Battalion forward Adam McMaster, who last year earned a spot on one of Canada's three entries at the World Under 17 Challenge was looking for another chance to dawn the Canadian jersey as he skated with Team White during the selection camp.
McMaster sat out the first Canada Red vs Canada White game, however, was in the lineup for the following two games. Skating on what was arguably Canada White's top line with consensus 2018 NHL first round picks Jack McBain and Akil Thomas, McMaster showed well utilizing his speed in various ways. McMaster was able to record one assist during his two games of action but was surprisingly left off Canada's roster. With such a deep forward core, it was really splitting hairs when picking the final roster and McMaster's inability find the back of the net during the two games, may have been the small difference in why he wasn't ultimately selected.
While being passed over is surely a disappointment, it should be noted last season Canada left Cody Glass off their Hlinka roster and he went on to be the sixth overall selection by Las Vegas in the 2017 NHL Draft. Morgan Frost, who was also a first round pick in the 2017 NHL draft by Philadelphia wasn't even invited to Canada's selection camp. Which just goes to show one event does not make or break a player's draft stock and the future is still very bright for Adam McMaster.
And now onto the U-20 (World Junior Selection Camps).
While no Battalion skaters were invited to Canada's summer camp taking place in Plymouth, Michigan. North Bay's most recent import pick Filip Chytil was invited to his native Czech Republic's summer camp in Brno, Czech Republic. The camp was a small one in comparison to what's going in Plymouth with Canada, Sweden, Finland and of course the Americans, as just the Czech's and Swiss were in attendance. Team Switzerland and the Czech's both had five days of practice leading into two exhibition games. Team Czech Republic came away with victories in both games, scoring a 4-1 victory in game one, followed by a 3-1 win in game two. While Chytil wasn't able to find the back of the net, he did record one assist over the two games. Following the two games against Switzerland, Team Czech Republic moved on to Vierumaki, Finland where he played two exhibition game against Team Finland. The Czech's would fall 3-2 in game one and 4-3 in game two, however, Chytil did find the back of the net in Monday's 3-2 loss.
