Canada’s world junior dream team

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This article was published 20/01/2018 (3099 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The title of best junior hockey team of all time came later.

At the time, Rejean Beauchemin viewed the 2005 Canadian world junior team as a very talented bunch, but he couldn’t conceive of how they would be judged in historical terms.

“I don’t know if anyone did,” says Beauchemin, the No. 2 goaltender on that mythologized squad. “I think the analysts and scouts knew the talent we had. I didn’t know (Sidney Crosby) at all, other than from summer camps. He was a couple of years younger than us, but definitely a special talent. I would argue, and I’m no hockey expert by any means, but until guys start their pro careers you really can’t give it the title of the best junior team ever. We had a pretty good run at the tournament and it was definitely a special group.”

Today, names such as Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Patrice Bergeron, Shea Weber, Brent Seabrook, Jeff Carter and Andrew Ladd are part of the NHL’s elite and several are sure fire Hall of Famers.

Highly paid and praised, 21 of the 23 members of Canada’s team have gone on to play in the NHL. When a 32-year-old Jeff Glass made his debut in net for the Chicago Blackhawks last month, it left Beauchemin and forward Stephen Dixon as the only dream team members to miss out on the bigs.

Winning the worlds in Grand Forks, N.D., however, is a special memory for Beauchemin.

He played only once in the tournament, posting a 17-save shutout of Germany in a 9-0 round-robin victory, but success was sweet nevertheless.

“The guys were dialed in and with Brent Sutter as the coach, we were a well-oiled machine,” he says. “For me, the really cool part was just being named to the team.

“Coming through the tunnel and waiting to get on the ice before the (gold-medal) game. That was special. And the place was just rockin’, right? Winning is the best. Obviously, it would’ve been nice to be active in that game, but just to be part of it and go through it with that group of guys is pretty special.”

Chosen in the sixth round of the 2003 NHL draft by the Philadelphia Flyers, Beauchemin bumped around the minors for six seasons and eight teams before finally deciding to call it a career after the 2011-12 season. His time with the Flyers’ AHL farm club was derailed by injuries — he suffered through a broken finger, a high ankle sprain and knee surgery, all in his second season as a pro. His career never rebounded.

“My time in Philly was tough,” says Beauchemin, now 32 and firmly established in a life after hockey as an investment adviser with RBC Wealth Management in Winnipeg. “A combination of just not taking advantage of opportunities when they were presented… my second year, I shattered my ring finger (a twisted digit is a grotesque reminder of an injury suffered in practice when struck by a shot from Petr Nedved). I had a lot of development and growing up to do.”

Another medical issue helped to hasten his retirement.

“Throughout my pro and junior career I battled with low back pain,” Beauchemin says. “I had seen doctors and specialists… they just attributed it to wear and tear in the position. They give you maintainence exercises to do and it wasn’t until three years later when I was in Germany I was diagnosed with a rare form of arthritis called ankylosing spondylitis.”

The disease, a condition that afflicts and inflames the joints in the spine, must be treated carefully — even in retirement.

“It doesn’t affect me as much as if I was still playing,” he says. “I had a bit of a cancer scare, based on the side affects of the drugs, when I was playing in the Central Hockey League. You kinda take a sober second look at what the rest of your life looks like and always had in the back of my mind that I was going to go back to school.”

Beauchemin, a local product who learned his craft for three seasons as a member of the Western Hockey League’s Prince Albert Raiders, headed to the University of Winnipeg and earned a business degree while juggling work for two years as a goaltending coach for the Tri-City Americans. He has kept active in the game in various coaching roles, including his current post as the goaltending coach for the St. Mary’s Academy prep team.

In his professional capacity, he tends to the financial future of some current pro players.

“That is a part of my business that is growing,” he says. “I represent a few players. Most of my clients are kind of on the cusp, NHL/AHL. It’s a great industry to be a part of.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14