Moose Jaw Warriors forward Brayden Yager and goaltender Jackson Unger are only a few days away from representing Canada for the first time on an international stage.
The duo were among 23 players named to Team Canada for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup World Under-18 Championship on Monday, with the event set to drop the puck on Sunday in Red Deer.
“It's like a springboard," Yager told Aaron Vickers of NHL.com. “It’s best-on-best here for your age group. It's a great opportunity for us to get a little head start into the season. It's going to be fast-paced. If we can do well here, it'll lead into a good season for all of us.”
Yager and Unger took part in the National Men’s Summer U18 Team Selection Camp beginning on July 20, with practices and orientation the first two days before the first exhibition contest between Team Red and Team White taking place on July 22.
Unger suited up for Team Red and picked up the win in the first game, turning aside 20 shots as his crew picked up a 6-4 victory.
Yager’s Team White emerged victorious the next night, taking a 6-3 victory, with the high-scoring forward being held off the scoresheet both games.
He showed the Hockey Canada brass enough to crack the final roster, though, with his pedigree playing a huge part in that.
Yager set a Warriors franchise record for goals by a 16-year-old as he put up 34 and finished the season with 59 points in 63 games. He was named the Western Hockey League and Canadian Hockey League rookie of the year at the end of the season.
After the Hlinka Gretzky team was officially announced, Unger and Yager quickly switched gears to prepare to play against the World Junior U20 team, which held their camp at the same time in Calgary.
Unger took the Ice against U20 White and played the second half of the game, turning aside 12 of 14 shots in 30 minutes as Canada picked up a 6-4 victory.
Yager picked up his only point of the week on Canada’s fourth goal, drawing an assist on Saige Weinstein’s marker at 12:55 of the second period.
On Wednesday afternoon, Yager and Unger were up against a couple of familiar faces in defenceman and Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Denton Mateychuk alongside forward and Seattle Kraken prospect Jagger Firkus on Canada’s U20 Red crew.
While Yager was held off the scoresheet and Unger didn’t play, Firkus did hit the scoresheet, drawing an assist on Team Red’s first goal. Firkus also had an empty net goal in Team Red’s 5-3 win over Team White one night earlier
With camp having wrapped up, it’s right into the action.
Canada -- which named Yager one of its assistant captains shortly after the team announcement -- opens the tournament with a pre-tournament game against Finland on Friday night before round robin action gets underway. Canada plays Switzerland on Sunday before duelling Slovakia on Tuesday and Sweden on Wednesday to wrap up preliminary round play.
The top two teams in each round robin pool advance to the semifinal games on Aug,. 5 before the bronze and gold medal games on Saturday, Aug, 6.
