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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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Team Canada practised at the Downtown Community Arena in Edmonton on Tuesday. 

Mavrik Bourque sustained a shoulder injury in a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League game on Oct. 29 and, initially, it looked like the Shawinigan forward may miss the World Juniors. 

"I was concerned a lot," the 19-year-old said. "At first, we didn't know what was going on and how long I was supposed to be out. I was stressed. One day they told me it was two months, so I was crying a little bit. I called my agent and he told me to go one day at a time."

The injury wasn't as severe as first thought and Bourque returned in early December, picking up eight points in two games before leaving for Hockey Canada's selection camp. 

"I put a lot of work in during my rehab," Bourque, a Dallas Stars first-round pick in 2020, said. "I worked hard on the ice. I was doing some [conditioning] skates and stuff like that. I kept the smile during this time and I'm here now."

Bourque, who has 20 points in 10 games this season, started Canada's training camp as the team's fourth-line centre. A couple days ago, he was move up to the right wing spot on the second line alongside Peterborough's Mason McTavish and Michigan's Kent Johnson. 

"I think I can complete this line," Bourque said. "I'm a guy who's responsible both ways and I know what I have to do." 

"He plays a 200-foot game," said Team Canada assistant coach Louis Robitaille. "He's just an all-around good player. He can do all the details right. He's sound defensively and I think he has the hockey sense to play with two elite guys like that. He can play in the middle. He can cover if Macker gets on the forecheck, which is his type of game."

Bourque's ability to take faceoffs, as a natural centre, also helps solidify that unit. 

"It's good for us to have two centremen on that line, one righty and one lefty," Robitaille noted. "I think that will be a big asset for us."

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Bourque is also on Team Canada's top power-play unit. At Tuesday's practice, he and McTavish rotated between the bumper and net-front spots. 

"I was very comfortable," the native of Plessisville, Que. said. "It was my first time net front. Sometimes I was bumper. I know what I have to do. I know [Cole] Perfetti and Johnson are two pretty good guys on the wall, and I just have to be ready and pick up the loose puck and give it back to them. I know they'll make plays." 

This is an unfamiliar role for Bourque. 

"I play on the wall [usually] and I know what my net-front guy needs to do so I know what I need to do," he said. "I'm not really stressed about this."

McTavish saw some time as a net-front guy on the power play when he started the year with the Anaheim Ducks in the National Hockey League. 

"Definitely taken some stuff I learned from there and tried to implement that into these practices," the third-overall pick in July's draft said. "I like it. I'm a bigger guy. I like to score goals around the net and retrieve pucks and get the loose pucks." 

McTavish stands 6-foot, 213 pounds and that physical maturity makes him a force below the dots. 

"He's going to be difficult to get out of the front of the net," noted Team Canada assistant coach Michael Dyck, who oversees the power play. "He's really good at retrieving pucks in that trapezoid area." 

"He's so strong," observed Regina Pats phenom Connor Bedard. "You watch him in the corner and he kind of just man handles a lot of guys."

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Most of Canada's players operate on the flank of the power play for their club teams, so this training camp is an adjustment. Bedard has seen some reps as the man in the middle on the second unit. It's a spot he played at the World Under-18 Championship. 

"The most important part is retrievals," the 16-year-old noted. "Obviously, you're there and can get chances in front and have really good looks, but you have to be a really good support valve for the flanks and for the low guy."

Another interesting power-play wrinkle on Tuesday saw reps featuring two defencemen – Everett's Olen Zellweger and Charlottetown's Lukas Cormier – with the second unit. 

"It will be at the end of the two minutes," Robitaille noted. "They're two offensive-minded defencemen."

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What's the key on the penalty kill for Team Canada? 

"The main thing is trying to have good pressure," said Brandon's Ridly Greig. "That's been the main message. On rims, on backhands, try and pressure as much as you can and down ice, as well, if you can." 

Vancouver's Justin Sourdif and Greig will be key penalty killers for Team Canada. 

"Ever since I was 16, 17 in the Western Hockey League, I've kind of killed a lot," Greig, an Ottawa Senators prospect, noted. "It's my natural suit, I think."

Greig has earned praised from his teammates for how he uses his stick. 

"Whenever I can get the puck with a poke check, I try and use it in that way," he said.

"It's that and it's his speed too," said Bedard, who plays against Greig in the WHL. "His stride is so effortless and he's so fast. He's able to break up a lot of plays." 

Speed is a big part of what makes Sourdif a good penalty killer as well.  

"He's a great skater," noted Dyck, who coaches Sourdif in Vancouver. "He's smart. He's got a great stick. He's persistent on pucks. He understands when he can pressure and when he's got to be in good position. Certainly, one of our better killers in Vancouver. His ability to get up and down the ice quickly makes him a really good penalty killer."  

Greig and Sourdif are also playing together at even strength as part of Canada's shutdown line. The WHL rivals were roommates in Banff before Hockey Canada shifted to individuals rooms. 

"He's a pretty big goof," said Greig. "He might be a little bit quiet sometimes, but he's into random stuff all the time. He's pretty funny in the room."

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With no Ontario Hockey League season last year, Donovan Sebrango played 31 games for Grand Rapids in the American Hockey League. That made him eligible to return to the AHL this season. The professional experience gave the defenceman momentum heading into Hockey Canada's World Junior selection camp. 

"There's older, faster, stronger guys, so it prepared me to step right in and be around the best players in my age group," Sebrango said. 

After learning he made Team Canada, the first person Sebrango called was his mom. 

"She was crying as soon as I told her," Sebrango said. "She just couldn't believe it ... She's my rock. She's my everything. Growing up, as a single parent, she had to be a father and a mom to me. I owe the world to her and owe her this tournament to come out on top."

Kim Sebrango is planning to be in the stands in Edmonton. 

"I'll definitely have some goosebumps looking up and seeing her in the crowd cheering, probably crying too, so it will definitely be a cool experience," the 19-year-old said. 

Sebrango, a third-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2020, was among Team Canada's final cuts at last year's selection camp. He's learned how to handle adversity from his mom, who was in a serious car accident in 2017. It left her with a severe brain injury. Having a service dog has helped her cope and Donovan has started working with the National Service Dogs organization. 

"Service Dogs really helped her through her process of recovery so just trying to use my platform," he said. "Once I saw that organization, it was an easy step for me to join. It means a lot to my family and me." 

Shortly after signing his entry-level contract with the Red Wings earlier this year, Sebrango bought him mom a golden retriever. 

"He's just a couple months old now and he's getting in trouble a lot so far," Sebrango said with a smile.

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Robitaille is handling the opponent pre-scout as part of his role on Team Canada's staff. Will having just one pre-tournament game make that process trickier? 

"It is a challenge, but we'll do our work," Robitaille said. "The European teams have been playing, you know, games back in November."

Canada's first and only pre-tournament game is on Thursday against Russia. This year, the Russians have a new head coach in Sergei Zubov, who replaces Igor Larionov. 

"Offensively, they'll look to spread the zone," Robitaille said. "They'll play the Russian game. They're really quick on counters. They want to create on the rush. They want to use their speed and go on three-on-twos and four-on-twos. It will be important to play our style of game and play the puck deep against them. They'll hold the blue line so if you're not managing the puck well, that's what they want."

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Lines at Tuesday's practice: 

F

11 Perfetti - 15 Wright - 18 Bourgault  
13 Johnson - 23 McTavish - 22 Bourque 
12Neighbours - 17 Greig - 24 Sourdif 
27Cuylle - 19 Desnoyers - 9 Guenther 

D

10 Stankoven - 16 Bedard 
25 Power - 3 Zellweger 
21 Guhle - 6 Cormier 
7 Sebrango - 4 Lambos
28 O'Rourke - 8 Seeley

G

30 Brochu
1 Cossa
31 Garand