All of Canada’s top teenage puck prospects will say the exact same thing — that they’d sacrifice almost anything to represent their country on international ice.
Calgary Flames up-and-comer Jakob Pelletier has shown it, too.
Last spring, some advised Pelletier that he’d be better off skipping the IIHF World Under-18 Championship in Sweden because, with so many scouts in the stands, a nagging injury could have a negative impact on his status as a potential first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.
The kid couldn’t be talked out of this trip.
“That was after playoffs last year — I had a high-ankle sprain, but I still wanted to go to U-18s because I think it’s a great experience,” Pelletier explained. “It was in Europe, and it’s not a lot of times you can play a tournament there. So I went and it was just amazing to be with those guys and represent your country.
“I will not say I was 100%, but I was good to play. If I had to make the same decision today or tomorrow, it would be the same. Just to be part of that group, of that experience, I think it was amazing. You kind of see yourself when you’re younger and cheering for Team Canada. And you’re like, ‘Now it’s me, it’s my turn, and most of the people at home are cheering for me.’ That’s a pretty great feeling.”
Pelletier, like the rest of his peers, is now chasing another international invite.
The 18-year-old left-winger, selected by the Flames at No. 26 overall this past summer and putting up impressive numbers since being returned to the Moncton Wildcats, will skate for Team QMJHL in the 2019 CIBC Canada-Russia Series, an important audition for spots on the world-junior roster.
The six-game tryout tour starts Monday in Saint John, N.B., and Pelletier will be in the friendly surroundings of his home rink for Tuesday’s matchup in Moncton. After that, Team OHL and Team WHL get their cracks.
“I want to show the player that I am, why I’ve had success in the QMJHL,” Pelletier said. “I want to play a two-way game and show I can play on the first line or third line or the fourth line. Show all that. Show a guy who is going to be courageous, determined . . .
“Everyone will want to impress and everyone wants to be there in December, so it’s going to be a lot of fun, for sure.”
Hockey Canada’s brass, of course, has been stacking up evaluations for months already, and Pelletier has certainly been making quite a case to be part of the group that will be shooting for gold in the Czech Republic over the holidays.
With 11 goals and 17 assists in 15 outings so far, Calgary’s latest first-rounder is averaging a sparkling 1.87 points per game this fall. Only five QMJHLers are producing at a faster clip, including fellow Flames prospect Dmitry Zavgorodniy (Rimouski Oceanic), who will rep the Russians in the showcase series.
“I’m kind of still the same player of last year, the same person. I think I’m more confident, though, with the puck,” said Pelletier, who had 89 points for the Wildcats last winter. “I’m more patient. I can take more time because I’m more confident with the puck, so I think that’s the biggest change that can lead to some more offence.”
His confidence must be sky-high right now.
The 5-foot-9, 167-lb. left-hander is riding an eight-game point spree, with eight tallies and a dozen helpers during that tear.
The Wildcats, ranked sixth in the latest rundown of the CHL Top 10, have won each of those games.
“(Pelletier) has been good, he’s been dynamic, and they have a really good team,” praised Flames general manager Brad Treliving. “What we preach to these guys when they leave is there is a little bit of disappointment to go back to junior, but sometimes there’s also sort of the big-league strut when they get back there. So what we tell them is, ‘All of those things that you spent the two or three or four weeks at camp doing, make sure you do that at the junior level. Don’t get caught playing at that level. Nothing disrespectful there, but play above the pace, practise above the pace, be a driver in practice, be a driver in games . . . ‘
“The games I’ve seen, that’s what Jakob has done. He’s played above the pace there and pushing it, and all the reports are that he’s done the same in practice. So that’s good to see, and he’s being rewarded for it.”
Pelletier, who signed an entry-level contract with the Flames at the end of his training-camp stay, is hoping he will also be rewarded with an opportunity to don the maple leaf at the world juniors.
He’s not a lock but also not a long-shot, the sort of guy who could really benefit from a pair of standout showings against Team Russia. He should already have a few fans on Hockey Canada’s scouting staff, especially after he shrugged off that high-ankle sprain when his country called last spring.
If that dropped his draft stock any, the Flames are thankful for it.
“For our guys that did the background on him, it was just another example of the type of person he is,” Treliving said of Pelletier’s insistence on attending the U-18s. “We obviously like the skill-set, the brain, the competitive nature . . . And then he’s an all-in personality, and that was just one of the many examples of it. That makes him who he is.”
The entire CIBC Canada-Russia Series will be broadcast on Sportsnet.
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
