Jarvis gets world juniors shot

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This article was published 30/10/2020 (1978 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Seth Jarvis and Peyton Krebs have never played a shift together but hockey fans can dare to speculate.

What would a pairing of Jarvis, the WHL’s top right-winger, and Krebs, the league’s pre-eminent playmaking centre, look like? Viewers of the upcoming world junior hockey championship in Edmonton may finally get a chance to find out.

Jarvis, an 18-year-old Winnipegger who plays for the Portland Winterhawks, and the 19-year-old Krebs, who plays for the Winnipeg Ice and hails from Okotoks, Alta., were among the 46 players named Thursday to Team Canada’s selection camp roster.

There is no guarantee they will be linemates but Jarvis, chosen 13th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes earlier this month, admits the possibility of playing with the 2019 Vegas Golden Knights first-round draft choice is intriguing.

“He’s a heckuva player and I think any time you get two players that play a fast skill game but also aren’t afraid to work hard, to kind of get dirty, I think it works well together,” said Jarvis.

Jarvis and Brandon’s Daemon Hunt, a defenceman with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors, were the lone Manitobans invited to the camp, which runs Nov. 16 to Dec. 13 in Red Deer, Alta.

Centre Cole Perfetti of the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit, a first-round pick (10th overall) of the Winnipeg Jets, is also in the camp mix.

All told, 15 WHL players were invited to the camp, eight of whom are first-round NHL draft picks. That group includes Jarvis, Krebs and two returnees from Canada’s 2019 gold-medal winners — defenceman Bowen Byram (Vancouver Giants) and forward Dylan Cozens (Lethbridge Hurricanes).

Other first-round selections from the WHL invited to Red Deer are defencemen Kaiden Guhle (Prince Albert Raiders) and Braden Schneider (Brandon Wheat Kings) and forwards Ridly Greig (Wheat Kings) and Connor Zary (Kamloops Blazers).

“I’m looking forward to it,” Greig told the Brandon Sun. “The next couple of weeks are probably going to be a long couple of weeks. To get out there in Red Deer and to skate with all those good players and even just put on the Maple Leaf in practice with those guys… You think of all the great names who have put on the Maple Leaf. so it’s definitely going to be pretty cool.”

The extended selection camp will be held in a bubble-type format to keep the players as safe as possible during the pandemic. The world junior championship, on tap for Dec. 25 to Jan. 5, will be played without fans in the stands at Edmonton’s Rogers Place.

“I’ve definitely thought about it,” said Jarvis. “I don’t know if I can quite prepare myself for what it’s like in a bubble but I’ve definitely just prepared myself for playing on the ice and just being ready and being prepared just to go into such a high level of competition.”

Hunt is eager to venture into the unknown.

“Obviously I’ve never really experienced anything like this, nor has anyone else,” he told the Sun. “I think it’s going to be good but it’s going to be different. I’m excited for it. I know most of the guys on the team, so I think it’s going to be a really good time. The schedule might be a little bit different compared to some times with COVID and our ability to do things, but it will be a good experience.”

It is Jarvis’s first invitation to a pre-tournament U20 selection camp. Krebs attended last year after rehabbing a serious Achilles injury and did not make the final roster.

“I’m feeling really good right now, so I think I’m going in there pretty confident,” said Jarvis. “Everything (is there) in terms of playing a fast pace and playing my style of game. I’m just hoping it translates over there.”

Without any games in the last seven months, Jarvis said his preparations for the selection camp will be focused on doing everything at high tempo.

He’s been skating regularly with a group of pro players at the Rink Hockey Academy and knows the next two weeks of preparation could be crucial to making Team Canada.

“Honestly, I think it’s just mostly just kind of refining everything and getting really used to playing in game situations,” said Jarvis. “It’s the kind of stuff you can’t work on much during the summer, in terms of just having competitive practices.”

 

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14