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Scott Walker played 16 years in the NHL. He played for Canada at three World Championships, and after retiring he became coach and later general manager in the OHL, principally with the Guelph Storm. He knows how the game works in every way, so when he was hired as the general manager for Team Canada’s U18 entry in Frisco on 12 April, eleven days before the start of the tournament, he wasn’t going to panic.
Assemble a gold-medal quality team in a week? No problem!
“Every chance you get to represent your country, especially in hockey at any level, you’re proud, but you want to do a great job,” he began. “Fortunately for me, we have a lot of great resources in the CHL and the leagues, and GMs help out a lot, and then Hockey Canada. Byron Bonora, Kyle Turris. They know a lot of the players. They’ve seen them and have really good connections. And then with my connections in the OHL, I know a lot of the Ontario guys from scouting them. As fast as it is, you do have a pretty good knowledge. And you watch the playoffs every night, who’s winning, who’s losing. You try to see who will advance or be eliminated, so you’re a little bit on pins and needles. It’s pretty interesting.”
It's polar opposite to the U.S. team, which has been playing together all season. They, too, have choices to make, but perhaps not quite as rushed. Tough as it seems, however, things fall into place for Walker day by day, player by player.
“You get a filter system where you get a lot of names from a lot of people,” he continued. “Everyone is pushing for their guys, which is great and exciting, and none of the names being pushed are unwarranted. They all deserved to be considered, but then you start filtering through and then you also have to worry about injuries. If you get your guy, is he healthy enough to come? We had some who couldn’t come.”
Of course, the ace in the hole for Walker is that Canada is so deep in talent. Even though many of the best players are in the CHL playoffs, he still has a long list of players to consider and invite. So once he has the names, he has to think about what kind of a team he wants—big or small, fast or physical, offensive or defensive.
“We’re fortunate because we have a lot of great hockey players. We have a combination of it all. We have smaller guys with elite skill and a lot of compete, and we have some bigger guys who can play a power game, but they also have skill. I feel good about our mix. The big thing for us is starting the tournament with fewer guys and then adding new players later, just seeing how they gel. It’s exciting to get more players, but you have to think as a player, how will this affect me? Am I off the power play? Am I going to play down a line? It takes a bit of time to make that chemistry work, but I think the guys are coming together now.”
There’s another important factor. Do you pick players only considering the next two weeks and only if they can help the team win gold now, or do you take a player who might not be a star right now but who would definitely benefit form the experience and be able to help out more completely down the road?
“One hundred per cent both,” Walker answered. “You’re trying to do two things at once. You’re trying to win a gold medal, but you’re also interested in developing the player and the program. We want to get to know these players as people as well as players but also see if we can help them on their path to World Juniors, Men’s World Championship, and Olympic team members in Canada. It’s a balancing act, but absolutely our goal.”
Because of the NTDP, the Americans are de facto favourites every April, but that doesn’t mean Walker builds a team to beat just them. He has to look at the entire field, and what he sees as the biggest challenge for Canada.
“Every team that plays Canada, and I mean in this tournament, every tournament, even when I was a player or here in Frisco, every team always plays Canada harder than I’ve ever seen them play any other country,” he opined. “They’re so proud and want to beat us. We have to give every team credit, but we have to build the best team we have with the players we have. We can’t worry about what the other teams are doing.”
When Canada builds its World Junior team, it’s pretty straightforward because every player they want is made available by the leagues and teams, and virtually every player accepts the invite. At the Men’s World Championship, it’s much more difficult to recruit. What about the U18? Great opportunity, lots of scouts, but there are risks.
“Everybody says yes when we contact them, and then they see how they’re feeling. Some have injuries or what not that force them to not play, so you don’t get everybody. We have to remember, this month for these young players is one of the biggest months of their lives. They’re really excited for the NHL draft. They’re all going to have great careers. We’re a part of that, playing for your country. But if there’s something about coming here that would jeopardize that, I’m 100 per cent understanding if they don’t come.”
In the old days, getting players from different teams together and getting them to gel quickly was always the biggest challenge. Who plays, who doesn’t? Who’s on the first line, who’s on the fourth line? Walker doesn’t see those problems in the modern game.
“There are now a lot of systems that are played across hockey that are similar from childhood up. Look at the 4 Nations. It’s not hard to get the Canadian men to buy into a role and do what they have to do to win. It’s easy to see how those top players accept their roles, but then we look to our young players here who are 17 and 18 and we can explain that to them, which makes it easier for them to buy into a role they might not have on their club team. It filters down. It’s not easy, but they do it for the team.”
And that team, assembled in mere days, then has one goal in mind—gold.
Assemble a gold-medal quality team in a week? No problem!
“Every chance you get to represent your country, especially in hockey at any level, you’re proud, but you want to do a great job,” he began. “Fortunately for me, we have a lot of great resources in the CHL and the leagues, and GMs help out a lot, and then Hockey Canada. Byron Bonora, Kyle Turris. They know a lot of the players. They’ve seen them and have really good connections. And then with my connections in the OHL, I know a lot of the Ontario guys from scouting them. As fast as it is, you do have a pretty good knowledge. And you watch the playoffs every night, who’s winning, who’s losing. You try to see who will advance or be eliminated, so you’re a little bit on pins and needles. It’s pretty interesting.”
It's polar opposite to the U.S. team, which has been playing together all season. They, too, have choices to make, but perhaps not quite as rushed. Tough as it seems, however, things fall into place for Walker day by day, player by player.
“You get a filter system where you get a lot of names from a lot of people,” he continued. “Everyone is pushing for their guys, which is great and exciting, and none of the names being pushed are unwarranted. They all deserved to be considered, but then you start filtering through and then you also have to worry about injuries. If you get your guy, is he healthy enough to come? We had some who couldn’t come.”
Of course, the ace in the hole for Walker is that Canada is so deep in talent. Even though many of the best players are in the CHL playoffs, he still has a long list of players to consider and invite. So once he has the names, he has to think about what kind of a team he wants—big or small, fast or physical, offensive or defensive.
“We’re fortunate because we have a lot of great hockey players. We have a combination of it all. We have smaller guys with elite skill and a lot of compete, and we have some bigger guys who can play a power game, but they also have skill. I feel good about our mix. The big thing for us is starting the tournament with fewer guys and then adding new players later, just seeing how they gel. It’s exciting to get more players, but you have to think as a player, how will this affect me? Am I off the power play? Am I going to play down a line? It takes a bit of time to make that chemistry work, but I think the guys are coming together now.”
There’s another important factor. Do you pick players only considering the next two weeks and only if they can help the team win gold now, or do you take a player who might not be a star right now but who would definitely benefit form the experience and be able to help out more completely down the road?
“One hundred per cent both,” Walker answered. “You’re trying to do two things at once. You’re trying to win a gold medal, but you’re also interested in developing the player and the program. We want to get to know these players as people as well as players but also see if we can help them on their path to World Juniors, Men’s World Championship, and Olympic team members in Canada. It’s a balancing act, but absolutely our goal.”
Because of the NTDP, the Americans are de facto favourites every April, but that doesn’t mean Walker builds a team to beat just them. He has to look at the entire field, and what he sees as the biggest challenge for Canada.
“Every team that plays Canada, and I mean in this tournament, every tournament, even when I was a player or here in Frisco, every team always plays Canada harder than I’ve ever seen them play any other country,” he opined. “They’re so proud and want to beat us. We have to give every team credit, but we have to build the best team we have with the players we have. We can’t worry about what the other teams are doing.”
When Canada builds its World Junior team, it’s pretty straightforward because every player they want is made available by the leagues and teams, and virtually every player accepts the invite. At the Men’s World Championship, it’s much more difficult to recruit. What about the U18? Great opportunity, lots of scouts, but there are risks.
“Everybody says yes when we contact them, and then they see how they’re feeling. Some have injuries or what not that force them to not play, so you don’t get everybody. We have to remember, this month for these young players is one of the biggest months of their lives. They’re really excited for the NHL draft. They’re all going to have great careers. We’re a part of that, playing for your country. But if there’s something about coming here that would jeopardize that, I’m 100 per cent understanding if they don’t come.”
In the old days, getting players from different teams together and getting them to gel quickly was always the biggest challenge. Who plays, who doesn’t? Who’s on the first line, who’s on the fourth line? Walker doesn’t see those problems in the modern game.
“There are now a lot of systems that are played across hockey that are similar from childhood up. Look at the 4 Nations. It’s not hard to get the Canadian men to buy into a role and do what they have to do to win. It’s easy to see how those top players accept their roles, but then we look to our young players here who are 17 and 18 and we can explain that to them, which makes it easier for them to buy into a role they might not have on their club team. It filters down. It’s not easy, but they do it for the team.”
And that team, assembled in mere days, then has one goal in mind—gold.