Who all is up at the crack of dawn for the Frederik Gauthier viewing party, MLHS? Team Canada takes on Team Germany in the opening game of the 2014 World Juniors this morning at 7:30 a.m. EST on TSN.
There’s only three returning players for Canada from last year’s tournament, one of which is suspended for the first three games (Griffin Reinhart) and one of the other two was Canada’s third goalie last tourney (Jake Paterson). The third is Jonathan Drouin.
Canada’s defence has some question marks especially with Griffin Reinhart suspended. The Leafs needed to keep Morgan Rielly and Hockey Canada brass opted to leave Darnell Nurse in Sault Ste. Marie.
The Red Wings’ third round pick in 2012, Jake Paterson is expected to start in net, getting the nod over Montreal’s Zachary Fucale at least for game 1.
Expect Brent Sutter to lean on Gauthier in a penalty killing role. We’ll be curious to see how much and in what other capacities Sutter will use Gauthier, who he called a “warrior” during Team Canada’s camp in Lake Placid back in August. He’s expected to play an a line with Josh Anderson, a 19-year-old undrafted winger from the London Knights.
Fabrice Herzog and Andreas Johnson will face off for Team Switzerland and Team Sweden later on in the day at 1 p.m.
Team Canada 2014 Roster
| Pos. | No. | Player | Team | Drafted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Zach Fucale | Canada Halifax Mooseheads | MTL, round 2, 2013 | |
| GK | Jake Paterson | United States Saginaw Spirit | DET, round 3, 2012 | |
| D | Chris Bigras | Canada Owen Sound Attack | COL, round 2, 2013 | |
| D | Mathew Dumba (A) | United States Minnesota Wild | MIN, round 1, 2013 | |
| D | Aaron Ekblad | Canada Barrie Colts | 2014 Eligible | |
| D | Josh Morrissey | Canada Prince Albert Raiders | WPG, round 1, 2013 | |
| D | Adam Pelech | United States Erie Otters | Undrafted | |
| D | Derrick Pouliot | United States Portland Winterhawks | PITT, round 1, 2012 | |
| D | Griffin Reinhart | Canada Edmonton Oil Kings | NYI, round 1, 2012 | |
| F | Josh Anderson | Canada London Knights | Undrafted | |
| F | Jonathan Drouin (A) | Canada Halifax Mooseheads | TB, round 1, 2013 | |
| F | Frederik Gauthier | Canada Rimouski Océanic | TOR, round 1, 2013 | |
| F | Bo Horvat | Canada London Knights | VAN, round 1, 2013 | |
| F | Charles Hudon | Canada Chicoutimi Saguenéens | MTL, round 5, 2012 | |
| F | Scott Laughton (C) | Canada Oshawa Generals | PHI, round 1, 2012 | |
| F | Curtis Lazar | Canada Edmonton Oil Kings | OTT, round 1, 2013 | |
| F | Taylor Leier | United States Portland Winterhawks | PHI, round 4, 2012 | |
| F | Anthony Mantha | Canada Val-d'Or Foreurs | DET, round 1, 2013 | |
| F | Connor McDavid | United States Erie Otters | 2014 eligible | |
| F | Nicolas Petan | United States Portland Winterhawks | WPG, round 2, 2013 | |
| F | Sam Reinhart | Canada Kootenay Ice | 2014 eligible | |
| F | Kerby Rychel | Canada Guelph Storm | CLB, round 1, 2013 |
