Othmann aims to bring Tkachuk-like edge to Canada's top line
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Team Canada's scratches skated on Monday in Edmonton.
Brennan Othmann is adding some edge to Team Canada's top line.
"I'm very physical," the Flint Firebirds winger said. "That's how I get under the skin of guys. I'm almost 190 pounds and I play like I'm a little bit heavier. That's something a little underrated in my game."
Connor Bedard, who was also teammates with Othmann at the 2021 under-18 World Championship, agrees.
"At the U18s I remember in the first game I was shocked that he threw like three big hits," the Regina Pats forward said. "He creates a lot of energy for us, and he can make such good plays. He gelled well with us."
"He finishes every check," noted top-line centre Mason McTavish. "He plays hard. He plays the right way. He's pretty chirpy too."
Bedard and McTavish have dominated the scoresheet so far in Edmonton, but the left wing spot on their line has been, to use the words of head coach Dave Cameron, "a work in progress." Othmann skated in that spot at the start of camp before giving way to Joshua Roy.
Othmann took two penalties in Canada's lone pre-tournament game and was then a healthy scratch in the opener against Latvia. The New York Rangers first rounder took the benching in stride and got another look with the top line in the third period of Thursday's game against Slovakia. He took full advantage of the chance and is now showing off the skills that made him a 50-goal scorer in the Ontario Hockey League last season.
"The guy that I always look up to in the NHL is Matthew Tkachuk," said Othmann. "He's a guy that's physical and gets under guys’ skin a lot. He likes to be that rat on the ice."
Othmann blended skill and sandpaper perfectly on Saturday. He picked up two assists, drew two penalties and levelled Czechia defenceman David Jiricek with a heavy hit.
"He's hit me a couple times, so I'm used to seeing that," said defenceman Jack Thompson, who plays for the Soo Greyhounds. "He likes to skate through you, so you definitely feel it."
As McTavish noted, Othmann also likes to run his mouth.
"He's always got something up his sleeve," said centre Ridly Greig. "He's always saying something to the opposing team. I've had a couple good chuckles."
Does Othmann have a favourite World Junior chirp so far?
"I've had a couple good ones, but I don't know if they're appropriate for camera," he said with a smile. "But there's been some good ones."
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Roy has dropped down to the third line with Greig and William Dufour. Roy (119 points with Sherbrooke) and Dufour (116 with Saint John) finished first and second in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League scoring last season.
"They feed off each other a lot," Greig noted. "And playing with Dufour, he's such a big body, so I like playing with that. It's lots of fun."
Greig, who plays for Brandon in the Western Hockey League, doesn't speak French and sometimes feels left out of the conversation on the bench.
"Sometimes they'll be arguing and I'm sitting in the middle, but I have no clue what they're saying," Greig noted with a chuckle.
"I don't think he's very good at French," Dufour said, "but he'll learn from it, probably."
Dufour is the biggest presence on the line at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, but he's impressed with how big Greig plays.
"He's a little guy on the ice," Dufour said. "Like, he's what? Six foot, 175, 180, but he plays like a 200-pound player. He can take hits, do some big hits and protects the puck very well."
Greig happily reports he's up to 180 pounds now.
"I feel faster and stronger with everything out there," the Ottawa Senators prospect said.
It's been tough for Greig to put on pounds, but he's packed on around 10 this summer. How did he do it?
"Hard work and just pounding back the food," he said. "You get to a point where you almost want to throw up every time you eat."
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Greig can lean on his dad for extra information at the World Juniors. Mark Greig is an amateur scout for the Philadelphia Flyers.
"After every game I'll chitchat with him. He's got lots of tips and tricks for little things like faceoffs. If I want a little detail on a player, I can text him and get some insight. It's pretty nice to have a guy like that to talk to."
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Bedard attended the first day of July's National Hockey League draft to get a sense of what to expect next year when he's projected to go first overall.
"The atmosphere in the building was crazy and it was a really good experience," the 17-year-old said.
Bedard's agency, Newport Sports Management, set up some interviews with general managers in Montreal so that Bedard could also get a sense of that experience. One of the conversations was with Detroit's Steve Yzerman.
"It was really cool," Bedard said. "It was funny, I was asking him a lot more questions than he was asking me. We were talking for about an hour. He's one of the greatest players to ever play hockey, so to get advice from him and talk to him, it was really special."
What did they talk about?
"I asked him about being a leader and what advice he had on that and going into his draft year what he was thinking," Bedard said. "He answered them really well and with a lot of detail. I learned a lot from him. With the leadership stuff it's just, 'Stay being yourself. You want to push guys, obviously, but you don't want to change your personality.' For him, he was the leader of a dynasty, I'd say, so it was pretty cool to hear that from him."
Yzerman also wished Bedard luck at the World Juniors.
"He watched me a bit, he said, at U18s and World Juniors when it was going on and he said I should keep playing my game. It was nice of him to say those things and I hope I can impress him a bit this year."
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How many messages did Kent Johnson get after pulling off the lacrosse goal at the World Juniors?
"Definitely a lot," he said.
One of the messages was from former University of Michigan teammate Owen Power, who played with him at the December World Juniors. But Power, Buffalo's first-overall pick in the 2021 draft, wasn't fawning over his friend.
"He was actually chirping my mouthguard," Johnson said. "He doesn't like the blue mouthguard. I mean, I don't love it either, but it's just what I have. I just got it from Columbus. It's the only mouthguard I had in my bag."
Johnson has found a way to sprinkle a little more red into his equipment. Lizard Skins sent him some white tape with red maple leaves, which he's been using at the top of his stick.
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Ethan Del Mastro was at the Boots & Hearts music festival in Oro-Medonte, Ont. when Hockey Canada called to see if he'd be an injury replacement at the World Juniors.
"It was pretty exciting to get that call," the Mississauga Steelheads defenceman said. "My parents were more than happy to drive and come and get me. We got to watch a couple concerts, so it was a nice experience with a couple of my friends and then to get that call and talk to them about that, they were super proud. So, overall, just a great experience."
Moose Jaw's Daemon Hunt was skating on a pairing with Lukas Cormier before going down with a hand injury in the final practice of training camp. Del Mastro has quickly worked his way into that spot in Canada's top six.
"He's a player that's got size," said Team Canada assistant coach Dennis Williams, who works with the defence. "He's got range, a good stick, is strong and plays inside the dots. His real strength is knowing what he is. He does a really good job of being a good stay-at-home defenceman and allowing some of our more offensive D to join the rush and be a support for them out there."
Standing 6-foot-4, 206 pounds, Del Mastro is Canada's tallest and heaviest defenceman.
"He's filled out his body and knows how his body works," noted Othmann. "He's a big boy out there and he's super physical. He's made an immediate impact."
Hunt, meanwhile, has remained with Team Canada as he rehabs the injury and was invited to take part in one of the team pictures on Sunday.
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After dropping a heartbreaking shootout against Slovakia on Friday, Team Latvia held a players-only meeting to regroup ahead of their final preliminary round game.
"There's no real pressure," said alternate captain Martins Lavins. "That was a huge part of the meeting. There's no pressure on us at all. This is what we live for, right. We're here and we're enjoying the moment and battling as hard as we can."
Latvia upset Czechia on Sunday to claim the country's first ever preliminary-round win at the World Juniors.
"We just made history," said an exuberant Lavins. "We're super excited and, hey, we're not done yet. There's a lot of fight left in us!"
Latvia will play Sweden or Germany in a quarter-final game on Wednesday.
The Latvians only got invited to this tournament, because Russia and Belarus were banned due to the invasion of Ukraine.
"Everybody was making jokes about us," said captain Ralfs Bergmanis, who had a hat trick on Sunday. "Saying that we're just happy to be here. No, we're here to win."
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Logan Cooley raised eyebrows when he said Team USA's physical play would be the key factor on Sunday because the Swedes "don't like to go to the dirty areas."
Tomas Monten doesn't think that's a fair assessment.
"The goals we scored were from the dirty areas," Team Sweden's coach pointed out after watching his team fall 3-2. "We couldn't cut their pace. That's the big difference. Our neutral-zone forecheck wasn't good enough."
How did Team USA tilt the ice in their favour?
"We played way more physical in the second and third periods," said big winger Matt Knies. "We stopped on the puck every time. We made so much pressure for their D and they coughed up the puck when that happened."
Cooley wasn't made available to reporters after the game.
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Projected Team Canada lineup for Monday's game against Finland:
F
Othmann - McTavish - Bedard
Johnson - Stankoven - Foerster
Roy - Greig - Dufour
Cuylle - Ostapchuk - Desnoyers
Gaucher
D
Sebrango - Zellweger
Del Mastro - Cormier
Seeley - Thompson
O'Rourke
G
Garand
Cossa
Scratches: Kidney, Lambos, Brochu