This year, Belleville Bulls head coach and general manager George Burnett is coaching the team and it's obvious to see the OHL flavour abundant on the roster.
Here is the roster (thanks to Hockey Canada):
| Goaltender/Gardien de but | ||||||||
| Robin Gusse | L/G | 5’10" | 170 | 04/23/93 | Terrebonne, Que./Qc | Chicoutimi (QMJHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Tyson Teichmann | L/G | 6'0" | 139 | 05/19/93 | Belleville, Ont. | Belleville (OHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Defence/Défense | ||||||||
| Myles Bell | R/D | 6'0" | 209 | 08/19/93 | Calgary, Alta./Alb. | Regina (WHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Dougie Hamilton | R/D | 6’4.5” | 187 | 06/17/93 | Toronto, Ont. | Niagara (OHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Scott Harrington | L/G | 6’1” | 209 | 03/10/93 | Kingston, Ont. | London (OHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Ryan Murray | L/G | 6'0.5" | 190 | 09/27/93 | White City, Sask. | Everett (WHL) | 2012 Dft/Rep. | |
| Xavier Ouellet | L/G | 6’0” | 174 | 07/29/93 | Terrebonne, Que./Qc | Montreal (QMJHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Stuart Percy | L/G | 6’1” | 187 | 05/18/93 | Oakville, Ont. | Mississauga St. Michael’s (OHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Duncan Siemens | L/G | 6’3” | 196 | 09/07/93 | Sherwood Park, Alta./Alb. | Saskatoon (WHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Forwards/Avants | ||||||||
| Austen Brassard | R/D | 6’2” | 192 | 01/14/93 | Windsor, Ont. | Belleville (OHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| David Broll | L/G | 6’1.5” | 221 | 01/04/93 | Mississauga, Ont. | Erie (OHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Daniel Catenacci | L/G | 5'10 | 180 | 03/09/93 | Newmarket, Ont. | Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Michael Curtis | L/G | 6'0" | 184 | 01/26/93 | Mississauga, Ont. | Belleville (OHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Phillip Danault | L/G | 6'0" | 173 | 02/24/93 | Victoriaville, Que./Qc | Victoriaville (QMJHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Jonathan Huberdeau | L/G | 6’1” | 166 | 06/04/93 | Prévost, Que./Qc | Saint John (QMJHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Boone Jenner | L/G | 6’1.5” | 197 | 06/15/93 | Dorcester, Ont. | Oshawa (OHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Lucas Lessio | L/G | 6'1” | 195 | 01/23/93 | Maple, Ont. | St. Michael’s (CCHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Garrett Meurs | R/D | 5’10.5” | 171 | 01/12/93 | Ripley, Ont. | Plymouth (OHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | L/G | 6'0" | 166 | 04/12/93 | Burnaby, B.C./C.-B. | Red Deer (WHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Matt Puempel | L/G | 6’0.5” | 201 | 01/24/93 | Essex, Ont. | Peterborough (OHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Alan Quine | L/G | 5’11” | 179 | 02/25/93 | Belleville, Ont. | Kingston (OHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
| Brett Ritchie | R/D | 6’3” | 204 | 07/01/93 | Orangeville, Ont. | Sarnia (OHL) | 2011 Dft/Rep. | |
Of the 17 OHL players invited to the selection camp, 14 made the team. The three who were released were Ryan Murphy, Cody Ceci and Carter Sandlak.
The last really high profile guy to get cut from the Hlinka team was Sam Gagner, who failed to make the 2006 team (who ended up winning gold). Gagner went on to become the 6th overall pick of the 2007 draft, so an exclusion from the tournament certainly didn't seem to hurt him.
Interestingly enough, two of the WHL's top prospects for 2011, Michael St. Croix and Ty Rattie were also cut. Both are being billed as potential first round picks, perhaps even top 15 picks. Rattie was the 2nd overall pick in the 2008 bantam draft, while St. Croix was the 4th overall. Just as surprising as Murphy's release is for us OHL fans, WHL fans have to be wondering what happened to these two at the camp.
It's pretty clear that George Burnett has some sort of vision in mind for this team. With the release of some pretty astounding talent, let's hope he's right!
Play begins on Monday, August 9th when Canada takes on Sweden.
Murphy tried to do way too much the 1st 2 days turning the puck over constantly and avg defense , they had a number of offensive weapons so I think this is the reason he was left off . Great talent but too much 1 on 1 stuff at times hurt him .
ReplyDeleteAgreed. He's an enormous offensive talent but his defensive game is lacking.
ReplyDeleteLast season with 39 points his "+/-" was -3. Even as an uderager with those kind of points he should have been in the +20 area.
Perhaps if he had the size that would help him in front of the net, although that wouldn't help in the turnover dept.
Finally, in last year's U-17 there was only 1 defenceman who he was effectively paired with. Otherwise it was real ugly.
What the hey, speedster and offensive flared Katic had to live in Doughty's shadow so them's the breaks at this level. Still an excellent player who will be drafted high as Brock alludes.