MONTREAL — Peter Chiarelli was never going to feel completely comfortable about this concept.
So as they arrived one by one in Montreal Sunday, this first ever under-24 team gathering for its maiden voyage at the World Cup of Hockey, the Team North America co-GM took stock of his roster: A team full of speed and potential, but one that is vastly inexperienced at this level compared to its competition.
“I like to call it ‘competitive poise,’” Chiarelli said. “You’re still at a high level of competitiveness and energy, but you’ve got the poise. From what I see, our guys don’t have it yet collectively. That will be a challenge.”
It is the faceoff dot that concerns Chiarelli the most.
“Faceoff establishes possession,” he continued. “That’s an area … we’ll have to find our way through.”
Eventually, after three pre-tournament games and nearly two weeks of training camp, this team will find itself in a tight tournament game facing a crucial draw. McLellan will look down his bench for that trusty draw man who has made a career of being counted on in just such situations, and…
“None of our guys, historically, are over 50 per cent (in the faceoff circle),” admits Chiarelli.
Gulp.
In Team North America’s pool, Sweden, Finland and Russia will be running out veteran centreman with lifetime percentages well over 50 per cent. The player on this U-24 team with the most NHL games played is Philadelphia’s Sean Couturier. He has a lifetime winning percentage of 47.6 per cent according to puckbase.com.
“It’s such a short tournament, and that magnifies every play. Our guys, whether it’s Connor (McDavid), Nuge, (Jack) Eichel, all of them will eventually be good faceoff guys, as they get stronger.”
Team Sweden named 35-year-old Henrik Sedin as its captain on Monday. He’s played 1,166 NHL games, and another 105 playoff tilts. Team North America’s captain will obviously be under 24 years old, and might well be 19-year-old McDavid, a veteran of 45 NHL Games — period.
And so it begins, this experiment with replacing an entry from Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia or Latvia with a team of Canadian- and America-born players who have yet to celebrate their 24th birthday as of Sept. 1, 2016.
I get the pleasure of this assignment, and will follow every step of Auston Matthews’ journey into senior international hockey — alongside McDavid and Eichel — as all three make that step up from their world championship experience of a few months ago, to a best on best tournament to be held in the glare of perhaps the world’s most pressure-packed hockey market, with all games being played at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
But first there is a training camp that spans Montreal, the charming Quebec City, and a game in Pittsburgh as well, with two pre-tournament games against Team Europe and a third one versus the Czech Republic.
Organizers have cleverly assigned teams to two pools, with the clear intention of paving the path for Canada and the United States to reach opposite semifinal games, and for neither to have to meet these Young Stars until that point.
Team North America will have to prevail over two of its three pool mates — Sweden, Finland and Russia — a pretty tall order when you consider how many of the U-24s are making their first foray into this level of international hockey, compared to rosters of the Swedes, Russians and Finns that are all teeming with Olympic experience.
“The biggest thing is the youth,” admits Chiarelli. “We’re talking about how to play in certain zones; how to leverage our best assets, which we feel is the young legs. The speed. But you don’t really have the Godfathers. Guys who, when stuff comes down, can settle everyone down.”
Every National Hockey League team has its veterans. Often third- and fourth-line penalty killers or bottom-three defencemen who can help grab control of a game or period that might be slipping away. They are tide turners. Momentum stoppers who might not win a game for you but hold the fort until the top-end guys find their way.
Across the entire NHL, which encompasses some 800 players annually, perhaps none of those type of players have yet to reach their 24th birthday.
“In a world championships, an Olympics or playoffs, you’ve got guys who have experience. Who have won before, and can settle things down,” Chiarelli said. “I am certain a number of these guys will turn into that… But it’s such a short tournament. The evolving concept of chemistry, you need a little bit more time.”
With camp beginning with an 11 a.m. ET practice at the Bell Centre Monday afternoon, that time is running short.
