Luke Schenn has been named to the roster for Canada's entry at the upcoming World Under 18 Hockey Championships in Finland.
Schenn is among 7 players from the Western Hockey League named to the team.
In the picture to the left, Schenn is the 4th from the right.
In total four members of Team Canada have a Kelowna connection.
Schenn as a player while Rockets Head Coach Jeff Truitt is an Assistant to Trent Yawney.
Rockets Athletic Therapist Jeff Thorburn is a member of the training staff for Team Canada while Kelowna resident Jim Hammett is the teams Head Scout.
The Under 18's begin April 11th with Canada facing Germany April 12th.
Remember Lauris Darzins?
The former Rockets forward who ended his junior career as a 20 year-old on the injury list as he was unable to play against the Everett Silvertips in the 2006 Western Conference semi final because of a knee injury, is now playing pro in the Czech Republic.
Darzins is playing with Vsetin HC, which is the highest level of ice hockey in the Czech Republic.
The 14 team league introduced some interesting rule changes this season including awarding 3 points for wins and what I thought was different, awarding just one assist for a goal being scored.
Typically in the NHL or WHL, two assists are often awarded.
Darzins, who played exactly 100 games with the Rockets from 2004-2006, collecting 32 goals and 67 points in the WHL.
The 22 year-old is a draft pick of the Nashville Predators.
Pretty good article in the Vancouver Province today on former Rockets goaltender Derek Yeomans.
The main jist of the article talks about Yeomans facing the Giants again, this time now with Seattle, after beating Vancouver in a 6 game series two years ago as a member of the Rockets.
Yeomans was originally listed by the Giants, before being released because at the time Yeomans was considering the NCAA route rather than major junior.
The Rockets listed him, convinced him to come to camp and the rest is history as he wore a Memorial Cup ring as a backup to Kelly Guard in 2004.
A year later he was instrumental in getting the Rockets to the league final against Brandon before getting injured.
3 comments:
Why does nothing in this entry surprise me? Luke Schenn is by far the best defensive defenceman on that roster and Lauris was a no brainer to go Pro a year after his departure. Luke is alot like Dion Phaneuf. Started wearing the Maple Leaf early, and wont stop for a long time. Luke Schenn is a great candidate for any national team roster with his size and stabiliuty on the blue line.
Why doesn't it also surprise me that Lauris made it Pro? Because when he played in the Dub, he was a man among boys, with his superior skating abilities, agility, puck handling, and hockey sense. I wont be surprised if we see him over back in North America soon in the NHL/AHL.
I knew about Schenn being named to the team shortly after Truitt was named to the Team Canada coaching staff. Everything is hush hush. What was odd was the timing of the official announcement. I called Schenn's home to get an interview with him but he was already gone to Toronto as they flew out today. I spoke to my bud Jon Keen in Swift Current and he had the same problem.
I found where Darzins was playing by doing a little searching. I am a little surprised that he is playing there, unless he is no longer under contract with the Predators.
I would assume that is the case considering he should be playing in the AHL or ECHL if he infact was Predator property.
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