Music: {allcanada} Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Shining at World Juniors

Monday, December 31, 2012

{allcanada} Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Shining at World Juniors

2011 was a fantastic year for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on almost every level. He had a strong season in the WHL with the Red Deer Rebels, earning a total of 31 goals and 75 assists for 106 points and, as a result, was selected as the 1st overall pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers. By all accounts, it was an incredible year for the young Burnaby, BC native.

The one thing that Nugent-Hopkins could not add to his 2011 achievements list, however, was a making the Team Canada roster at the2011 World Junior Hockey Tournament. Though he was one of the final cuts, he never laced up with the squad that included names like Eric Gudbranson, Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn.

Following an impressive training-camp with the Oilers to kick-off the 2011-12 NHL season, Ryan was named as a member of the NHL squad and ultimately played the full season for the Oilers. That meant he was not made available to suit up for Team Canada at the 2012 World Juniors. It didn't look like Nugent-Hopkins would ever get his chance to play in the world class event.

Fast forward to 2012-13. With the NHL owners' lockout in full-swing, Ryan was once again given the opportunity to play for his country at the World Juniors, something that many Canadian kids dream of. After his impressive rookie NHL season with the Edmonton Oilers in 2012, Nugent-Hopkins not only secured his spot on Canada's 2013 World Junior squad – he was named Captain.

Coach Steve Spott made a good choice too, because Nugent-Hopkins' WJC debut has been nothing short of spectacular. In their opening game against Germany, Nugent-Hopkins led the team to a 9-3 victory with five points – a Canadian World Junior record for points in a single-game. By Friday, December 28th, Nugent-Hopkins and his Canadian teammates had improved their tournament record to 2-0 after defeating Slovakia 6-3 in a tense game that had emotions running high. Nugent-Hopkins has shown to his teammates and to the rest of the international junior hockey world exactly why he was the top draft picka couple of years ago, as his skating and vision with the puck are untouchable.

His play has led Canada to strong back-to-back wins to open the tournament, with Nugent-Hopkins and his teammates pulling out a 2-1 win over the United States and then defeating Russia 4-1 to close out the opening round of play.

With Nugent-Hopkins leading the way for an impressive supporting cast of Canadian teammates, the young Oilers forward is hoping to bring home a gold medal for his country, something that Canada has not accomplished in the past three tournaments.

Nugent-Hopkins has been waiting for this moment for a long time and is determined to help his team do everything it can to make that dream come true.