Playing at Budweiser Gardens is normally a routine night of hockey for Rob Thomas, Alex Formenton and Victor Mete. Wednesday night made the opportunity to take the ice at 99 Dundas Street a unique one however.
They traded their familiar green and gold uniforms of the London Knights for the red, white and black of Team Canada. Thomas, Formenton and Mete who are all NHL Draft picks were recently named to the Canadian World Junior team for this season’s tournament in Buffalo New York. Before the puck drops for real in the World Junior Hockey Championships on Boxing Day, Canada would play a tune up game against the Czech Republic in London Ontario; offering the Knights’ trio the opportunity to represent their country in their home rink.
They were even able to get dressed in the same stalls they normally occupy in the London Knights dressing room.
9,036 fans filled Budweiser Gardens and cheered start to finish as Canada routed the Czechs 9-0.
That's a wrap. Canada wins 9-0 in their 1st World Junior pre tourney game #WJC2018 pic.twitter.com/kOVi9LINkR
— Nahshon Herman (@nate_herman) December 21, 2017
“We have the best fans in the CHL, I think they showed that today. The way they cheered for us and supported us for the whole game was awesome” said Rob Thomas after he stole the show with a 4 point (1 goal, 3 assists) performance.
Thomas clicked well with line-mate Taylor Raddysh, who the St. Louis Blue’s draft pick normally would be trying to shutdown when the Knights face the Erie Otters in OHL action. “It was nice to have Raddysh on our side, we battled a lot in the playoffs last year so being able to play with him is definitely nice.”
Taylor Raddysh puts the Red & White up 5-0. Rob Thomas picks up an assist on the play giving him 4 points on the evening #TeamCanada #WJC2018
— Nahshon Herman (@nate_herman) December 21, 2017
Alex Formenton chipped in towards the offense with 2 assists on the evening. He’s on Canada’s so-called 4th line with Brett Howden and Maxime Comtois, but they were creating chances and proved that they can create offense from the bottom of the lineup. For Formenton, the rink and dressing room were the same but his jersey number 24 was something new. The speedy winger wears number 80 with the Knights, but Team Canada’s reluctance to allow players to wear high numbers is cause for the switch.
Same goes for Victor Mete, who would love to be wearing a jersey number higher than the 28 he’ll be wearing in the WJHC. The smooth skating defenseman has been wearing number 53 with the Montreal Canadiens this season. In his 3 seasons with the London Knights he wore 98.
Mete surprised many people in the hockey world when he made the NHL out of training camp in September. The Canadiens loaned him to Team Canada for the holiday tournament and can bring him back to the NHL afterwards, or assign him back to the London Knights.
Mete was happy to be playing in London again, even if it’s only temporary: “It was special. Playing my three years of junior here, coming here as a 16 year old words can’t describe it. I was excited to come back and see the fans, it was really special.” He was especially happy to be playing with Thomas and Formenton again; an opportunity he didn’t know if he would have again. Mete’s 27 games of NHL experience give him an inside track to being named to the team’s leadership group.
What would it mean to him to wear an ‘A’ or even the ‘C’ for Team Canada?
“For sure it would be special. I wore the ‘A’ last year in London so I have some experience there, but even coming down [from the NHL] I’ve seen things some other guys haven’t been exposed to yet. So it would be an honour to wear a letter, but even if I don’t get one I can still be a leader without the letter.”
Mete and the rest of his Team Canada mates won’t have to wait long to find out who the captains will be. They play another pre-tournament game Friday against the Swiss in Hamilton. Look for the leadership group to be announced between then and Boxing Day; when the puck officially drops for the World Junior Hockey Championship. Canada will face Finland at 4pm Eastern.
