"I'm still not over it, I think," said Strome, who was Arizona's first-round pick (No. 3) in the 2015 NHL Draft. "Hopefully I'll be over it on January 6th."
Strome had an assist in seven games with the Coyotes this season before he was returned to Erie of the Ontario Hockey League. He is a strong bet to play for Canada at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship in Toronto and Montreal, which will host the gold medal game at Bell Centre on Jan. 5.
Chabot, who played one game for the Ottawa Senators before he was returned to the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, is grateful to be among the group of five that has a shot at redemption on home ice.
"Everybody wants to play in the World Junior Championship once, and us, we have the opportunity to play a second time, and in Montreal on top of that," said Chabot, who was Ottawa's first-round pick (No. 18) in the 2015 draft. "So for sure we remember what it was like to lose against Finland last year. Nobody liked that, so we're looking forward to the tournament getting underway. When we talk among those of us who were there last year, everyone is eager, everyone is excited, and we're going to do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen again."
Ryan Jankowski, Canada's director of player personnel, likened his returning players' experience and motivation from the 2016 tournament to what several Canada players faced when Montreal and Toronto hosted the tournament in 2015. That team, featuring Connor McDavid, won the gold medal at Air Canada Centre after Canada finished in fourth place the previous year in Sweden.
"Well they're hungry, especially not winning last year and being in the situation that they were in Finland," Jankowski said. "And for them to come back and teach the rest of the group what the tournament's like and what it's like to lose, and that feeling that sits with Dylan Strome and Mathew Barzal and Mitchell Stephens, they're hungry to win. And that's a difference when you come back from a losing team, probably no different than Curtis Lazar, Sam Reinhart and Connor McDavid two years ago in Montreal."
Canada coach Dominique Ducharme was an assistant on Dave Lowry's staff last year. He has a clear idea of how he wants his team to play once the final roster is determined at the end of the four-day camp.
"When we don't have the puck we want to be getting that puck back as quick as possible," Ducharme said. "We want to be pressuring the puck and taking time and space away from the other team, and when we have it, we want to be responsible. We want to be using our skills, we want to be making plays, you know, we want to be a complete team. It sounds pretty simple but it starts by the way the guys are raising their game and bringing their best game."
There are six NHL players eligible to play for Canada who are not available, including McDavid, who leads the League with 38 points in his second season with the Edmonton Oilers.
"I would take Connor back, but we'll be OK," Ducharme said. "No, we're really happy with the guys we have here. We feel we're going to be a strong team and we're concentrating on that."
Forwards Mitchell Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Travis Konecny of the Philadelphia Flyers, Anthony Beauvillier of the New York Islanders and Lawson Crouse of the Coyotes played for Canada in 2016.
Strome was asked if he thought Crouse and Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun, who is also eligible, might be made available by the Coyotes to play for Canada.
"That's not up to me," Strome said. "Obviously it would be nice for them to get here but they're both doing pretty good."
There are no players at Canada's camp who are eligible for the 2017 NHL Draft. Brandon Wheat Kings forward Nolan Patrick, who is projected to be the first player picked in 2017, was invited but is unavailable to take part because of an upper-body injury that has sidelined him since Oct. 11.
