Article

By Ryan Walter
Courtesy Hockey Now

34 years ago I played as a 19 year old in the World Junior Tournament in Montreal. My World Junior experience started in August of that season in Toronto, where a 16 year old from Ontario named Gretzky came to training camp to try to make the team. That training camp was tough! The best of the best were squeezed from 50 players to 24 spots on the final roster. Hockey greats like Bobby Smith, Wayne Babych, Mike Gartner, and of course, Wayne Gretzky, ended up playing for this team and the most unthinkable thing for a Canadian World Junior Team happened… we placed third and only won the Bronze medal.

That team was actually the first year that The Canadian Hockey League (as it was called in those days) brought together an all-star selection of players. Previously, the teams who won the Memorial Cup were given the honour of competing on the World Stage the following season. Hockey Canada has done an amazing job developing the World Junior property. Winning Gold is burned into the hearts of each Canadian player participating on our collective behalf. With such a talented roster, it was heartbreaking to finish 3rd. Lou Holtz, the great football coach, said, “You have to have talent to win, but you can lose with talent, and that’s where coaching can make the difference.” We had one of those amazingly talented teams that never quite hit our stride.

What does the World Tournament do to and for young Junior players? For starters, before I tried out to make the World Junior team I didn’t have an agent. After I captained the team, I had every agent in the country calling. This gives you insights into the hidden back-door pressure that hides in the minds of these young Juniors. Players’ future NHL careers are enhanced or exacerbated by the way they play during this Christmas holiday tournament. I mentioned that I played with a young Wayne Gretzky. Wayne was well-known before the World Junior Tournament, but after he led the tournament in scoring as a 16 year old, he became world-renowned.

Christmas is a perfect time of the hockey season to hold such an important tournament for everyone but the players’ families. Our family found it difficult to split up at Christmas. Christmas weather is hockey weather, though, and I can recall the cold and snow of Montreal as I walked from the hotel to the Forum. The eastern weather was such a change from my Vancouver (and Seattle, where I was playing) rain that it, along with the excitement of actually competing in the World Junior Tournament, made that Christmas one that I will remember forever.

As you watch the World Junior tournament this season, enjoy the drama, but remember the person inside the player. Away for Christmas, feeling intense career-pressure at the age of 19, trying to assimilate onto a new team, sensing that Gold is the only acceptable result, these young players are learning to deal with many heavy emotions while trying to stay light on their feet. We ask these kids to grow up quickly. At the age of 53 (and still unsure of what I want to be when I grow up) when I look back on my World Junior experience, these are the feelings and emotions that I remember. At the time I thought that the scores and results were so important, but 34 years later, I only remember how I felt!