Sochi hopeful Logan Couture finds motivation in rejection

Logan Couture took note on Monday when Hockey Canada announced its tryout camp roster for the upcoming world junior championship.

The San Jose Sharks centre paid special attention to the names of the players who were not invited to the camp.

He knows how those players are feeling. He knows it’s a tough pill to swallow, to be told you’re not good enough when your heart and your brain are telling you otherwise.

“To this day, I sit back and think about the world junior teams I was left off, how I didn’t even get an invite to any of their camps,” Couture said on Tuesday, prior to the Sharks' 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre.

Couture spent four years with the Ottawa 67’s of the Ontario Hockey League, but never got the call he wanted from Hockey Canada. The last snub was particularly disappointing, when the 2009 tournament was staged in Ottawa.

“That motivates me. It still does, to this day. I look back at the rosters of those teams, and there’s a lot of players who played world juniors for Canada who haven’t played in the NHL and may never play in the NHL. I’m in my fifth year in this league. But it still motivates me.”

The 24-year-old Couture has two 30-goal seasons under his belt already in the NHL, and would certainly have had a third last year if it had been a full campaign. He scored his 10th goal on Tuesday and there's a growing buzz about him, predicting that he’ll finally get the call to represent his country – and on the Olympic stage, no less.

“It’s on my mind,” he acknowledged. “At the start of the year I just decided to play well for the Sharks, think about (the Olympics) every once in a while, and everything will take care of itself.

“All I can control is how I play for San Jose. I’m not picking the team. If they decide to take me, I’d be more than happy to go. If they don’t, that’s their decision.”

Couture grew up in Lucan and London, Ontario, and he was looking forward to playing in Toronto for only the second time in his career. But he also skated there once as a youngster; he was only 12 years old when he took part in a province-wide skills competition and dazzled a sold-out ACC by needing only four pucks to hit all four targets in an accuracy contest.

“I remember I was very excited,” he said, recalling sitting on the bench next to Curtis Joseph and Sergei Berezin. “I’ve always been good at target shooting, from when I was very young. It’s a good memory.

“It’s exciting to play close to home. A lot of my friends grew up as Leafs fans. I didn’t like the Leafs at all,” he laughed. “Obviously now it’s all about the Sharks, but back in the day I was a Buffalo fan.”

Tuesday’s game marked the start of a short but intense Eastern road swing for the Sharks, who are now on a six-game winning streak that's taken them back to the top of the Pacific Division standings. Starting with the Leafs contest, they'll play four games in six nights before returning home.

“We’ve had a great start,” Couture said. “We’ve lost three games in regulation so far but you look at the Western Conference and it doesn’t really get you too far ahead of anyone. Every night, it seems like every team in our conference is getting points, and we need to do the same.

“It’s pretty tight, and it’s going to be that way until the end of the year.”

The end of the year is when the Sharks plan to be in the mix for the Stanley Cup. General manager Doug Wilson and head coach Todd McLellan have built a young, fast club that’s expected to thrive in the post-season, and Couture will be counted on to help lead it.

Maybe, by then, he’ll have an Olympic gold medal to fuel his continuing motivation and also to soothe the lingering pain of previous snubs.

“Looking back, obviously, I was devastated when I wasn’t selected to even try out for the world junior team,” he said. “But everything happens for a reason, and everything’s turned out pretty well for me so far.”