Jets give ammo to Young Guns

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This article was published 01/03/2016 (3507 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jacob Trouba isn’t sure what to make of this Team North America concept for the World Cup this fall. It’s different. It’s fresh. And he knows that any lineup featuring the likes of Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Nathan MacKinnon, Aaron Ekblad and Johnny Gaudreau is going to be scary for the established opponents and a blast to watch.

And having all that talent but limited expectations means one thing for the under-23 squad of talent from Canada and the United States dubbed the Young Guns: it’s the perfect opporunity to under-promise and over-deliver on the world stage.

“It’s something new and I don’t think anyone knows what to expect out of the under-23 team,” said Trouba, who is a virtural lock to be among the players announced for Team North America today. “I think it’s a cool idea to showcase some of the other guys that probably wouldn’t be there. That team’s going to be good. There’s going to be enough good players on it to play and compete. At the same time, there’s probably not much expected out of that team. They’re supposed to get rolled, maybe, and it’s dangerous to have that much talent on the team and really not have that many expectations and have the underdog role going into it with nothing to lose.

“That puts a little fear into the team you’re playing against.”

The Winnipeg Jets could have a significant presence on the Young Guns squad as, in addition to Trouba, a lot of the mock roster projections also include centre Mark Scheifele and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. Meshing Canadians and Americans together on the international stage might be awkward at first — these two nations are archrivals, after all — but if it means they get the opportunity to participate in the event, the game’s younger stars give two enthusiastic thumbs up to the concept.

“It’s pretty cool. It’s a different thing, for sure,” said Scheifele. “There’s a bit of a weird aspect in that it’s Canada and the U.S. and guys that probably played against each other in world juniors are now on the same team. You’ve had the pride factor in playing for your country and if you were to happen to play for Team North America there’s still a little bit of the pride factor in that you’re the young guns and you’re trying to show the older guys that you’re not to be messed with.”

Today’s World Cup roster announcements will be a preliminary 16-player lineup. It’s expected Jets players Blake Wheeler and Dustin Byfuglien will be among the first introduced by the Americans and Ondrej Pavelec will likely be the third goaltender for Team Czech Republic after Petr Mrazek of the Detroit Red Wings and Michael Neuvirth of the Philadelphia Flyers.

And an intriguing name to potentially add for the Team Europe squad, made up of players from the non-traditional European powers like Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic: Dane Nikolaj Ehlers. Worth noting: Jets boss Paul Maurice is part of the Team Europe coaching staff. And that’s a pretty powerful voice for the young Jet to have in his corner. 

“It’s funny, I was thinking about it yesterday and I was saying I’m going to go tell him that if he wants me to play well (for the Jets), make sure I’m on that roster,” said Ehlers with a sly grin. “But I don’t think I’m going to say anything. It’s pretty funny that he’s the coach there. It’s not going to hurt me.”

The Team Europe concept, like the Young Guns idea, also gives the World Cup a unique twist. Combining talents such as Anze Kopitar, Marian Hossa, Thomas Vanek, Marian Gaborik, Zdeno Chara, Roman Josi and Jaroslav Halak means they could also be a scary opponent for the established squads.

Asked to pick a favourite for the event, Ehlers grinned — again — before adding:

“Team Europe. I have to say that. It’s going to be a great tournament with a lot of great players. A lot of guys would love to be a part of that.”

 Ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait