CLOUSTON CHASING GOLD IN SWEDEN
By Marty Hastings
Find Marty on Twitter @MartheReporter or via email at [email protected]
Canada is chasing its third consecutive gold medal at the World Junior Hockey Championship and has help from Kamloops Blazers’ head coach Shaun Clouston.
The Kamloops bench boss is handling assistant coaching duties for the Canadian under-20 squad, running the defence during games and maintaining responsibility for the penalty kill and cohesion on defensive zone face-offs.
“It’s been terrific,” said Clouston, a first-time participant in the world juniors. “Great staff, big staff. No stones left unturned. Great players. The hotel is amazing. The food is great. It’s first class all the way.”
Canada will begin tournament play with a tilt against Finland on Boxing Day in Gothenburg, Sweden. Game time is 5:30 a.m. Kamloops time on TSN.
Clouston was interviewed on Thursday, a few moments after the team wrapped its final practice in the community rink it occupied for a few days in Malmö, about 275 kilometres south of Gothenburg.
“It’s quiet,” Clouston said when asked about pre-tournament distractions and media attention. “That was one of the reasons why they chose Malmö. We’re kind of tucked away here. Mark Masters [of TSN] has been here every day, but it’s been quiet.”
Most reports back home indicate the Canadians are icing a team that does not boast overwhelming star power and Clouston agrees with the narrative.
“Absolutely,” he said. “It doesn’t have the marquee names as much. But I do think we have really great depth. We’ve got real good speed and we’ve got some size, especially on the back end — and they can skate. We’re going to have to be a four-line team, keep everyone involved and try to play at a real high pace.”
The rink in Malmö was jammed to its capacity of about 600 when Canada throttled under-25 Denmark 8-0 on Tuesday, with former Blazers’ captain Fraser Minten recording two goals and a helper in the exhibition victory.
“It was packed,” Clouston said. “There were kids everywhere. At the end of the game, we took a group photo with all the staff and the Danish team. The hospitality here in Malmö has been wonderful.”
Minten added to his pre-tournament points total with another goal in a 6-2 triumph over Switzerland on Friday in Ängelholm, which is about 190 kilometres south of Gothenburg.
The team continued its journey north on Saturday and stopped in Kungsbacka, about 30 kilometres south of Gothenburg, for its final tune-up game — a 6-5 overtime loss to the U.S.
Meanwhile, about 7,000 kilometres west of Gothenburg, the Blazers’ dressing room is unoccupied while club players enjoy the WHL holiday break.
Clouston joined the national junior team after the Blazers opened their East Division road swing with a 6-4 loss to the Pats on Dec. 8 in Regina.
Kamloops dropped four consecutive games before finishing the trip with a victory over the Warriors in Moose Jaw on Dec. 15, a contest that took place while Clouston slept in Malmö.
“I just remember waking up and checking the score and being really excited for the group because it’s not easy to go through those stretches,” said Clouston, who handed the head coaching reins to associate coach Don Hay for the remainder of the road trip.
“For parts of the stretch, we played pretty well. It was kind of a similar story, where we’re close but either didn’t get a save or didn’t score enough goals. And a couple games it wasn’t that way. The games got away from us pretty early.”
Clouston was encouraged by his club’s effort in Moose Jaw, with the holiday break looming and the team at the tail end of a grueling road trip.
“One game isn’t everything, but man, getting that last win in Moose Jaw, it feels huge,” said Clouston, who is expected to return to Kamloops in time for the game against Everett on Jan. 12 at Sandman Centre.
“You’re worried the players are going to get down, disheartened and discouraged, but my take on it is the Moose Jaw game was a real hard fought game.”
The Blazers (8-20-3-2) will return to action on Wednesday, when the Kelowna Rockets (15-15-2-0) come to town for a 7 p.m. start at Sandman Centre.
Clouston was twice an assistant coach for U18 Canada at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament (now known as the Hlinka Gretzky Cup), winning gold in 2014 and 2015. He was also head coach of the U18 Canadian team that claimed bronze at the 2016 U18 world championship.
World juniors gold is the goal for 2024.
“Overall, some of the coolest moments and experiences of my hockey career,” Clouston said. “If we’re relentless, we believe we’ve got a good chance.”