Team Canada finally complete as call-up Nelson arrives following 'whirlwind' day
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Team Canada held a media availability at their hotel in Gothenburg, Sweden on Tuesday morning.
Ty Nelson was on a family vacation in Pittsburgh when he got the call to join Team Canada.
"We watched the Penguins game and were going to watch the Steelers game, but then I got the news about 10, 15 minutes before I was about to walk out the door for the Steelers game," the North Bay Battalion defenceman said. "Packed up the car and was on the road to Toronto within 20, 30 minutes. It was a whirlwind day."
Nelson boarded a flight in Toronto at 4 pm on Sunday. He landed in Gothenburg a little after 3 pm on Monday. He would have arrived sooner, but his connecting flight was delayed.
"We were flying into Gothenburg and the winds were too heavy," the 19-year-old said. "We landed, but then had to go right back into the air. It was a pretty scary day, not going to lie. Then we were in Stockholm for about an hour and a half. Luckily, we were able to land in Gothenburg when we flew back. It was about a 45-minute flight so not too bad."
The delay meant Nelson, a Seattle Kraken prospect, missed Monday's practice. He will suit up for Team Canada on Boxing Day without having skated with the team beforehand.
"Got on the bike for about 20 minutes yesterday just flushing the legs out and did a lot of stretching and then hammered sleep," he said. "I slept a lot last night, which was great, but up early this morning."
Nelson usually sleeps eight hours the night before a game but got 10 hours of shuteye last night.
"Looking forward to getting a pre-game meal and then a nap in me for sure," he said.
Nelson has racked up 31 points in 28 games with the Battalion this season. After getting released at the selection camp on Dec. 13, the 5-foot-10 blueliner thought his World Junior dream was over.
"You never want to get cut," Nelson said. "They put together one heck of a team. You can see the roster. So, I mean, just being recognized to go to camp, it was an honour. I wished the team nothing but the best when I didn't make it. Now, being able to be here and along for the journey, I'm super grateful and super blessed."
Nelson's favourite World Junior memory is actually connected to overseas tournaments.
"Just waking up early with my dad when it was over here in Europe and it's the early games," he said. "I remember one year we got up at 5:30 to watch a game on Boxing Day. That's probably one of my favourite memories."
Now, he'll play in the Boxing Day opener.
"I bring a lot of energy," Nelson said. "I like to be a vocal leader and just try and do whatever the team needs to be successful. That's the type of player I want to be to this team."
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Hockey Canada needed to add Nelson and Brantford's Jorian Donovan to the roster after defencemen Tanner Molendyk (fractured wrist) and Tristan Luneau (illness) were ruled out.
Luneau, who has been playing for the Anaheim Ducks this season, had to be hospitalized.
"He's one my good friends," said 6-foot-7 defenceman Maveric Lamoureux. "I'm pretty close with him. Not having him here is tough for us. He's such a good player too. He would've been great for us. Of course, it's a bit of motivation for us to go and win it for him."
At Monday's practice, Canada's defence looked like this:
Denton Mateychuk - Lamoureux
Jake Furlong - Oliver Bonk
Donovan - Noah Warren
"I feel like with me and [6-foot-6] Warren, we'll bring physicality and big size," said Lamoureux. "Then we have a guy like Denton Mateychuk, who is so good with the puck, so intelligent. We have Nelly, who just got in, Dono too, great d-men, smart. Bonk will be on the second power play and is smart with the puck. Then we have Furlong, who is so good defensively. I'm happy with the group we have. We'll do great things."
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After dealing with adversity in pre-tournament play, Canada is eager to start the tournament.
"Pretty excited," said feisty forward Easton Cowan. "I'm glad it's an afternoon game because I think all the guys are ready to get going here."
Cowan and roommate Carson Rehkopf spent part of Monday night watching the preview videos on TSN's website.
"I was telling Razor, you hear that intro and it gets you that much more excited," the Toronto Maple Leafs prospect said. "We're all pumped to get going today."
It's possible Cowan, 18, may have seen TSN director of scouting Craig Button picking Canada to finish with the bronze medal.
"People may think we're the underdogs, but we leave that to the side and play our game and we'll be good," Cowan said. "We're a relentless team out there. We got that dog-on-a-bone mentality. We got a lot of skill. Some people are sleeping on ya and some people believe in ya. You push that aside and play your game."
Cowan is used to dealing with doubters. He was playing junior B hockey with Komoka Kings of the GOJHL in 2021-22 before making the jump to the London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League and getting picked in the first round of the 2023 NHL draft.
Cowan will start the World Juniors on a line with Matt Poitras and Matt Savoie. Cowan matched up against Poitras last season when the Whitby, Ont. native played for the Guelph Storm.
"He was always on our pre-game video with how good he is," Cowan said. "He's smart, makes good cutbacks, slip passes, so he's really good and Savvy's super fast too, so I feel we complement each other very well."
After a sluggish start at selection camp, Cowan feels his game is rounding into form.
"It's gotten better," he said. "Obviously, I had a tough camp there, but each and every day I feel I've gotten better. Yesterday at practice I felt pretty good, smooth, you know, crisp passes so I'm ready to get going here today."
Cowan is looking forward to facing off against Finnish winger and London teammate Kasper Halttunen.
"He's one of my best friends," Cowan said. "It will be cool to play him. He's close to home. This is his style. He's used to the big rink. I'm excited to see him out there and play against him. We have to watch out for him on the power play. He's got that good shot. So, yeah, it should be fun."
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Team Canada lines at Monday's practice:
Minten - Geekie - Dumais
Cowan - Poitras - Savoie
Wood - Celebrini - Yager
Allard - Beck - Danielson
Rehkopf
Mateychuk - Lamoureux
Furlong - Bonk
Donovan - Warren