Canada, Fucale off to 'good start' in first game of selection camp

If Team Canada’s head coach Benoit Groulx was looking for a tight game to help weed out potential world junior cuts, he didn’t find it on Saturday night. Team Canada easily handled a team of local university players by way of a 10-3 blowout.

The scoring was spread out though Guelph Storm forward Robby Fabbri scored twice. In total, Canada had 16 different players find their name on the final scoresheet. At the world juniors last year in Malmo, Sweden, getting consistent scoring was a problem for Canada – particularly from the top two lines – so players finding the back of the net bodes well.

“We want to be a four line team obviously,” said Groulx. “It’s nice to see that everybody is contributing offensively tonight and it’s the kind of team we went to be. We want to go out there and establish our pace and the way we play. I was very happy with many, many guys tonight.”

Hockey Canada’s management staff has said there is no hard timetable to trim the roster because they want to let the players dictate that by their play. If last night’s game was any indication, it might take awhile. With five cuts to make at forward and three on defence, there were no glaring miscues to single anyone out.

There were defensive turnovers, but Groulx said that was to be expected considering the defencemen in camp have had very little time to get acclimatized to one another.

“I thought our turnovers were more about lack of communication or knowing what we want to accomplish right away,” said Groulx. “Overall I thought our defencemen were okay.”

Goaltender Zach Fucale is one of the few players on the team with job security. The 19-year-old made 23 saves in his first test with Canada.

“I think overall as a team it was a good start,” said the Montreal Canadiens prospect. “We didn’t want to focus too much on the score or anything like that. We just wanted to focus on the way we were playing and how we’re going to play throughout the tournament.”

Fucale was part of Team Canada’s fourth-place finish last year in Malmo, Sweden. His performance at that tournament was solid and it was the first time in recent memory that goaltending had not been a major problem for Canada.

This year he’ll be paired with Tri-City Americans netminder Eric Comrie as the country’s tandem. Groulx has said on a number of occasions that the starting job is up for grabs even with Fucale’s return. For his part, Fucale says he’s better than he was a year ago and even more prepared for what to expect this year.

“The more things you face, the more adversity you face you grow stronger,” said Fucale. “You know how to deal with things when they happen to you a second time or a third time, so I think that’s been helpful for me.”

His biggest takeaways from last year’s experience at the world juniors?

“The competition level is relentless,” said Fucale. “It’s non-stop, so that’s something to keep in mind as a team so we’re ready for those situations.”

Having someone who’s been there and done that, like Fucale has, is a bonus for a defensive corps still trying to find their chemistry. Defenceman Madison Bowey, who captains the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets, said there’s an extra level of comfort with an experienced goaltender.

“He’s great as always,” said Bowey. “I think when you get to have a goalie like that behind you we have a lot of confidence … it makes our jobs a lot easier as defencemen.

“He works really hard back there … he made some great plays – even out there we were helping each other out and that goes a long way.”

Canada will face the same university squad again on Sunday afternoon in Toronto at the Mattamy Centre before camp moves to the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, Ont.