Yahoo Sports 'You Dream Of That As A Kid': Devils Defenseman Lives Out Dream Of Playing For Team Canada
For young Canadian hockey players, the holiday season means more than presents and a break from school. It means that the IIHF World Junior Championship and the Spengler Cup will be mainstays on television as families gather around to root for Team Canada.
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It is a time that further fuels a passion and dream to one day wear the Team Canada logo, the iconic maple leaf.
For New Jersey Devils defenseman Colton White, that childhood dream was realized in early December when he received a call from his agent offering an opportunity he could not pass up.
A Dream Realized
"My agent asked me if I would be interested in playing the Spengler Cup, and I said yes," White told The Hockey News. "Growing up, I knew some people who participated in the tournament, so I knew a little bit about it. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
The Spengler Cup occurred in Davos, Switzerland, about two hours south of Zurich. The tournament ran from Dec. 26 to 31, 2024, and included six teams: Team Canada, HC Dynamo Pardubice, HC Fribourg-Gottéron, Oulun Kärpät, Straubing Tigers, and HC Davos.
During the holiday season, Davos captures a magic similar to the North Pole for children anxiously awaiting Santa's arrival on Christmas Eve.
In a town engulfed by the Swiss Alps and covered in a blanket of snow, White and the rest of Team Canada were met by blue skies and sunny 30-degree weather. People all around could be seen sledding and snowboarding, with a pair of skis being the most popular accessory for those walking around the town's center.
"I have never been to Switzerland before," White said. "It is a beautiful place, probably up there in the top five of the world. It was snowing, so it really felt like Christmas. Everybody was walking around. There were a bunch of coffee shops, and it just felt really festive."
From sitting in his living room watching the Spengler Cup with his father as a child, White now stood in Eisstadion Davos, also known as the Vaillant Arena, wearing the Team Canada logo across his chest.
The rink can accommodate 7,080 people, of whom 3,280 are seated. With wooden beams creating an eye-catching architectural ceiling, housed inside the building was a boisterous crowd that was hard for the players to ignore.
"It was more like a soccer experience, as opposed to a North American hockey game," White said, reflecting on the hockey fans in Switzerland. On one side of the rink, the fans are on their feet the entire game and cheering like crazy. It is a special rink."
Living his childhood dream, representing Team Canada, and spending the holidays in Switzerland. Could it get any better?
For White, it could and did.
When he received the call that he would be on the roster, he naturally asked which other players made up the roster. One name stood out in particular: one of his closest friends, Brett Seney.
From London to New Jersey to Davos
White first met Seney when he was nine years old, as both call London, Ontario, home. They did not know it back then when they were playing minor hockey together, but their lives would continue to intertwine into adulthood.
New Jersey drafted both players in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. White in the fourth round and Seney in the sixth. They would begin their professional hockey career together with the Binghamton Devils in the 2017-18 season.
Eventually, the teammates would become roommates, and now, years later, they live in the same neighborhood back in Ontario.
"For the last four or five years, we have lived about a block away, " White shared. "We train together every summer for the last 10 years and carpool to the rink and gym.
"It was really special to share this experience with him," he continued. "Whenever you go to a new team, it is nice to know somebody, so it was great to have a really close friend there."
On the ice, the duo helped Team Canada to the semi-finals. Off the ice, they soaked in the scenery with their teammates, taking a gondola to mountain-top restaurants to enjoy the local cuisine and beer.
"A Great Experience"
Through three games at the tournament, White picked up one primary assist in the Semi-Finals against the Tigers.
"It went low to high," White explained of his assist. "I got a pass from the corner, from one of the forwards, and then I saw one of my teammates at the net front, and I just threw it in there. I can't remember if it hit off of his shin pad or if he hit it in, but lucky enough, it went in.
"It was tough. We didn't win that game. It would have been nice to make it to the Final, but it was a great experience."
So, where does the Spengler Cup rank in White's eight-year professional career?
"I would say it is tied with my first NHL game, for sure," he said. "Just the feeling of wearing the Team Canada logo for the first time in my life, you know I have never been able to do that. You dream of that as a kid, playing for your country. It was pretty special."
Since returning to North America, White has been in New York, where he is part of the Utica Comets' leadership group in the American Hockey League. His first call-up to New Jersey was on Dec. 12. He remained with the team until he left for Switzerland for the Spengler Cup. The 27-year-old was called up for the second time on Jan. 17 and will serve as the Devils' seventh defenseman.
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