Canada reduces WJC roster to 27

BOISBRIAND, Quebec -- Four players were cut from Canada's 2016 National Junior Team Selection Camp on Tuesday.
Forwards Nicholas Merkley (Arizona Coyotes), Brett Howden (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Austin Wagner (Los Angeles Kings), and defenseman Victor Mete (Montreal Canadiens) were cut, reducing Canada's roster to 27 with one day remaining in the four-day camp.

There are five cuts to be made to reduce the roster to 22 for the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship, which will be held in Montreal and Toronto from Dec. 26-Jan. 5.
Howden, Mete and forward Nicolas Roy (Carolina Hurricanes) scored for Canada in a 3-0 win against a team of U Sports (formerly CIS) all-stars at Centre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau on Tuesday.
Canada, which defeated the U Sports all-stars 5-3 on Monday, has 15 forwards, nine defensemen and three goalies remaining in camp heading into its exhibition game against the Czech Republic on Wednesday.
Here are five things we learned Tuesday:
1. Canada coach Dominique Ducharme felt the level of competition the U Sports all-stars provided helped move the selection process along.
"I really like the fact that they came in with a good team from all across the country, the best players in university hockey, and they gave us two good games and they were really good evaluation for our guys," Ducharme said. "And really good tools, also, as a team to get better, and I thought that's what we did from [Monday] night. Collectively, I think we grew into our game, we got better, and individually, I liked the way our guys reacted.
"You know, you come in the first day like that, the first game, and some guys had good games, some others, maybe a little bit less. They know themselves, and to have a chance to come back and make it even better if they were good, or bounce back if they didn't think they had a good game. Well, that was a perfect day for that."
2. There are three goalies vying for two spots, giving Canada competition at that position in selection camp for the first time in four years. Carter Hart (Philadelphia Flyers) saved all 14 shots while playing 60 minutes in the two games, including four shots in the first half on Tuesday.
Connor Ingram (Tampa Bay Lightning) made 11 saves in the second half and shared the shutout with Hart. On Monday, Ingram played for U Sports and saved 24 of 29 shots. Michael McNiven (Montreal Canadiens) saved 24 of 27 shots for U Sports on Tuesday after making 10 saves on 13 shots for Canada in the second half on Monday.
"It's tough, and that's why it's hard to do a goaltending evaluation with three goaltenders because you don't know the quality of shots that you're going to get," Canada head scout Ryan Jankowski said. "But I think we've seen over the two games, at least with McNiven and Ingram bouncing back and forth, that it gives us the opportunity to make some decisions hopefully after (Wednesday) on the right two goaltenders."
3. Forward Pierre-Luc Dubois (Columbus Blue Jackets) felt the first two games provided an opportunity to evaluate potential roles.
"I think it was a really good indication of our team play," said Dubois, who was selected by Columbus in the first round (No. 3) of the 2016 NHL Draft. "We have a lot of skill guys. Every guy, when they go back to their teams, they're the focus of their teams. But when you come here, some guys who were offensive guys on their teams have to block some shots and play (penalty killing), and I think the past two games we really did a good job on that. And if you want to win the tournament, you can only lose one game, maybe. You need 13 forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies to win, so I think these past two games were really good for that."
4. Forward Blake Speers (New Jersey Devils) assisted on Roy's second-period goal Tuesday in his first game since he broke his wrist Oct. 27. Speers practiced with the team Monday after skating on his own when camp opened Sunday.
"Honestly, it felt about as good as I could have ever pictured it," Speers said. "I think right from warmups I got some pretty good confidence in it, and I got some good shots off. It was nice to get into the game finally and I was able to find some open plays early and build my confidence early, and it kind of built throughout the game."
5. Speers' assist came on a stretch pass he banked off the boards to linemate Mathieu Joseph (Tampa Bay Lightning), who skated behind a U Sports defenseman to take the initial shot that led to Roy's goal. Joseph was selected by Tampa Bay in the fourth round (No. 120) of the 2015 NHL Draft.
"He is a guy who can score, and he can block shots, kill penalties and forecheck," Dubois said. "When you play a tournament you need guys like that to win."