Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Ennis, Myers discuss dream gig

Below are a few quick reactions from Tyler Ennis and Tyler Myers regarding their earning of roster spots on Team Canada for the 2009 World Junior Championships. Ennis quote
“I woke up at 6 a.m. and couldn’t fall back asleep,” recounted Ennis. “When the phone rang I was pretty nervous.” The voice on the other end asked for Ennis’s roommate, defenceman Tyler Cuma who had injured his knee during an intra-squad game at the four-day tryout camp. Ennis, who later heard the knock at the door, will join 21 other members of the national junior team that now moves base camp to Canadian Forces Base Petawawa for a two-day team bonding session. After a proper on-ice training camp in Orangeville, Ont., the squad will play Sweden on Friday at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre in preparation for the start of the IIHF under-20 world championship tournament on Boxing Day. “I’m really excited and can’t wait for things to get underway,” said Ennis. “In Ottawa, in Canada. There’s going to be a lot of things going on and it will be a lot of fun. “It was nerve-racking, fun and exciting all at the same time.” Ennis becomes the first Tiger since Kris Russell and Darren Helm two years ago to compete for Canada, and the slippery forward has a stellar outing at the selection camp to thank. “He performed well,” said Medicine Hat Tigers coach Willie Desjardins, an assistant with Team Canada. “It’s a tough camp coming in to; you have to perform well. I think he was first or second in scoring (during the intra-squad games), that’s important because they were looking for offence from him.
I can see Ennis skating on a second line centered by Cody Hodgson, but we shall see. Myers quote
“I think I slept maybe two hours at most,” Myers says. “A bunch of us ordered pizza and watched TSN really late, then my roommate and I (goalie Dustin Tokarski, who also made the team) stayed up until 4:30, just waiting and wondering. We woke up again around seven, and just hoped we’d get the knock on the door instead of the phone call. At about 7:45, we got the knock. It was (captain) Thomas Hickey. He had our suitcases. It was an amazing feeling. It’s just a dream to be part of this team.”
Myers is one of eight Canadian defenseman, forcing the team to only keep 12 forwards. The bucking of the usual 7-13 breakdown is the result of 17-year old Ryan Ellis being kept as a power play specialist.