Hockey Canada named its 2024 World Juniors leadership group Sunday night, with Saskatoon Blades forward Fraser Minten set to serve as captain.
“It’s a great Christmas present to start the tournament here,” the Toronto Maple Leafs prospect said.
Leafs captain John Tavares and his two young sons broke the news to the team on a FaceTime call after a Christmas Eve dinner in Gothenburg, Sweden. Minten moved in with the Tavares family earlier this season, when he surprisingly left the Leafs out of training camp and appeared in four NHL games.
“It was pretty cool,” said the 19-year-old from Vancouver. “I hadn’t seen him much since I left his house, but I got to know him and his kids pretty well when I was there, so that was really nice. “He’s clearly a Canadian hero, a great leader, a good person,” and a good friend. ”
Tavares helped Canada win gold medals at the 2008 and 2009 World Juniors and was named tournament MVP in 2009.
“He’s really professional,” Minten said. “The way he carries himself is very contagious and that’s something you can sense from a player like that and how much being a professional influences other players.”
Team Canada head coach Alain Letang feels that Minten, like Tavares, is a consummate professional.
“He comes to the rink and is focused,” Letang said. “What do you have to do today? What do you need? Is there anything I can do to help you? What’s your message?” “And it’s also John Tavares. Look at him on camera. I’m watching him in the game against the Leafs. I’m watching him in practice. And from everything I’ve heard, that’s who he is. He’s probably learning from the best.”
During training camp, Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe praised Minten’s leadership abilities.
“There’s that old cliché, ‘mature beyond his years,’ and he’s exactly that,” Keefe said after a Sept. 30 preseason game. “It’s not just the way he plays, it’s that he’s the best on the bench.”
Minten was named captain of the Kamloops Blazers after being reassigned from the Maple Leafs to the Western Hockey League in late October. Blazers bench boss Sean Clouston is currently an assistant coach with Team Canada.
“One of the things we do is we ask every player in our exit meeting, who is our leader next year?” Clouston told TSN in a recent interview. “We graduate a lot of players, but who’s going to be that player? And it was unanimous that Fraser Minten was going to be the No. 1 guy here. He’s not very emotional. He’s passionate but unyielding. His emotions control him.”
The rebuilding Blazers traded Minten to Saskatoon in late November.
Wenatchee Wild winger Matt Savoie, Boston Bruins center Matt Poitras, Drummondville Voltigers defenseman Maverick Lamoureux, and Peterborough Petes center Owen, Canada’s only returnee.・Beck will serve as alternate captain.
“It’s a good combination,” Letang said. “Mint is very serious. Becker is serious, but he went through it last year so he knows what we’re going to face. Maverick is a big presence and he comes in with a lot of personality. I’m in the lunchroom. I watch him, and he’s always talking. “To everyone. He pulls everyone along. We need those types of players. And we have Savvy. He’s serious, but he has a lighter side. He has the ability to brighten a moment. Everyone naturally looks up to Pozzi coming back from the NHL.” “It’s him. His leadership will be shown on the ice as well.” His leadership will rely on the culture that Boston has.”
Savoie, Poitra, Lamoureux and Beck will each take turns wearing the “A” insignia, with two receiving that honor in each match.
Minten will wear the “C” mark for the first time on Boxing Day when Canada takes on Finland.
“It’ll probably be cool,” he said. “The way I play isn’t going to change. I’m just going to go out there and keep doing what I do, but it’s going to be special for sure.”
Letang noted that there are many good options to wear the ‘C’, but Minten seems to fit well with this team.
“I don’t think our group is very energetic, but they are very businesslike and he is completely similar to that,” Letang said. “He does everything the right way on the ice, is always active, always stretches, is great in our drills, leads our drills and asks really good questions on the ice. So it’s all the little things that need to happen.”
“I just try to be myself,” Minten said. “I just try to work hard, do what the coaches ask me to do, be a dependable, versatile guy, be a supportive teammate, provide vocal leadership and play my best every game.”
