Congratulations to Broncos Captain Cody Eakin for being invited (as we all suspected) to Team Canada’s selection camp for the World Junior Championship. Eakin was a final cut from last year’s roster and was dynamite in the summer camp this year.
This is a no brainer for Team Canada. Eakin nearly scored 50 goals last year in the WHL. I don’t have to describe his skill set for Broncos fans… they see it every night. In addition to what he brings offensively you can’t ignore that he’s on the first unit of the league’s top ranked penalty kill. That kind of two-way responsibility is huge in being able to play a big role on Team Canada. He’s also trusted enough as a leader and character player to wear the “C” for the Broncos.
Eakin normally plays up the middle. However, this summer he lined up at LW at the World Junior camp and was very impressive during a couple of scrimmages. We also see him occasionally move to wing here in Swift if Coach Lamb decides to unite him with Dowling late in the game. He certainly has the flexibility to move around the line-up depending on what Canada needs.
There is still a lot of work for him to do at camp, but I would be shocked if we didn’t see #21 wearing the red and white on Boxing Day. He just brings too much to the table for Canada’s coaching staff to ignore.
He won’t be going anywhere just yet. Eakin will be in the line-up for all the games this week. He’ll take off for camp in the middle of the BC road trip. As much as the Broncos will miss him on the ice during the tournament, I’m sure everyone will be rooting for him to take his rightful spot on the team.
Best of luck Cody!
In addition to Eakin, 16 other WHL players got invited to the selection camp. You can see that list by clicking here to go to the WHL site. That’s an impressive total for the dub. Nearly half of the players invited to the camp this year come from out west.
One of the names left off the list that is surprising some people? Brandon forward Scott Glennie didn’t get the invite. He scored 89 points last season on very good Wheat Kings club and is again one of the most dangerous forwards in the league. I think no matter who Hockey Canada invites there are going to be some people who are shocked and upset about guys who didn’t get the call. We just have way too much talent in this country to have a list that everyone agrees with. Guys like Brandon Ranford from Kamloops, Tye Rattie from Portland and Stefan Elliot from Saskatoon are missing as well.
The positive thing for Brandon is that they’ll have their most talented forward all throughout December while their divisional rivals could be missing guys like Eakin, Carter Ashton, Quinton Howden and Curtis Hamilton. It might give the Wheat Kings a chance to play catch up.
I’ll be chatting with Eakin this afternoon and we’ll have that audio for you tomorrow morning on our Golden West Radio sportscasts.
Shawn Mullin's Swift Current Broncos Blog 