Giants captain Sourdif watches the last series of big games before team Canada calls

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This final key week for the Vancouver Giants could be the last for a while with team captain Justin Sourdif on board.

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Vancouver will visit the Kelowna Rockets on Wednesday, with a 10-7-1-0 record in that game.

The Giants follow by hosting the national No. 2 Kamloops Blazers (17-2-0-0) on Friday (7:30 p.m., sportsnet650.ca ) at Langley Events Center and then face national No. 3 Everett Silvertips (16-1-1-1) on Saturday (6:05 p.m., sportsnet650.ca ) at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett.

Vancouver will then meet the Blazers again next Wednesday (7 p.m., sportsnet650.ca ) at the Sandman Center in Kamloops. General manager Barclay Parneta expects Sourdif, as well as head coach Michael Dyck, to be with the Giants for that game before taking off the next morning for the opening of the Canadian world youth team selection camp, which begins Thursday in Calgary.

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Sourdif, a Surrey forward and Florida Panthers prospect, was one of 35 players named by Hockey Canada on Wednesday to the proving ground. Dyck is in his second consecutive season as an assistant coach.

If Sourdif makes the final roster, he will miss at least 10 games with the Giants. The juniors of the world run from December 26 to January 26. 5 in Edmonton and Red Deer.

“Going to camp is one thing. I’m going to try and make the final team, ”Sourdif said in an interview with Giants player Dan O’Connor after Vancouver’s morning skating on Wednesday in Kelowna. “It is a great honor to be on the 35-player roster. It is something that is not taken lightly. “

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There have been multiple reports outside of summer camp about Sourdif, a 2020 Panthers draft third-round pick, fitting perfectly in a line with NHL first-round players Cole Perfetti (Winnipeg Jets, 2020) and Kent Johnson (Columbus Blue Jackets, 2021). ). Perfetti is one of three eligible returnees.

Parneta said earlier this season: ” I think it opened the eyes of some people who may not have been familiar with him before their time. “

Being in line with Perfetti and Johnson at summer camp could bode well for Sourdif. A definite advantage in his favor is that he is solid defensively and capable of playing a closing role for Team Canada if asked to do so. He has also lined up on both center and wing for the Giants.

“I just wanted to get in there and impress as many people as possible to get another chance to be on this list,” Sourdif said Wednesday of his thoughts on summer camp. “There were a lot of skill players there. It was a really good opportunity to play with some of those guys. “

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The Giants did not have to worry about covering Dyck during the junior worlds last year because the WHL had not started their season at the time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To make up for Dyck’s loss this time around, Vancouver announced Wednesday that it had hired 36-year-old former Chicago Blackhawks defender Brent Seabrook as interim assistant coach to Keith McCambridge, the Vancouver associate coach who takes the reins with Dyck.

Seabrook is still on the Tampa Bay Lighning payroll as a player, but he’s on their long-term injury list due to hip problems.

There are multiple connections between Seabrook and the Giants, the most notable being that he played as their junior for the Lethbridge Hurricanes when Dyck was an assistant coach there. Seabrook told O’Connor Wednesday that Dyck made the initial contact about Seabrook’s help to the Giants.

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Additionally, Seabrook’s longtime agent is Gerry Johannson, who has represented various Giants over the years and whose Edmonton-based company now has former Giants general manager Scott Bonner. And the Seabrook family is from Tsawwassen and the Giants have been based there since its inception. It is the hometown of the team’s owner, Ron Toigo.

NEXT GAME

Wednesday

Vancouver Giants at Kelowna Rockets

7:05 pm Pacific Time, Prospera Place . Online: watch.chl.ca

“Hopefully I can do a good job giving back to the kids and trying to help them in their hockey careers and their future,” Seabrook told O’Connor.

“I will try to share my experiences and my knowledge to the best of our ability.”

To further complicate this week, the Giants had to depart Tuesday for Wednesday’s game in Kelowna via the US due to road closures as a result of recent heavy rains. The Blazers could be dealing with something similar for their trip to Langley on Friday.

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When asked how he wanted his team to cope with the week’s hectic schedule and travel conditions, Dyck said he would keep things simple and not look too far ahead. He pointed to the fact that Vancouver was heading into Wednesday’s game against Kelowna on a three-game winning streak that followed a four-game losing streak.

“We like the feeling we have now compared to the feeling we had a week ago, so we want to protect that feeling,” Dyck said. “We are going game by game here. That will protect us. “

Parneta said he is still waiting to find out if goalkeeper Jesper Vikman and / or winger Fabian Lysell will be in the mix for Sweden at the World Youth Cup.

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