World Juniors Preview: Canada vs. Czechia

Three gamers, one minor hockey crew and a legacy that continues to be
constructed. After first becoming a member of forces in minor hockey, Brandt Clarke, Brennan
Othmann and Shane Wright have taken the hockey world by storm and are
reunited once more to compete for gold on the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship.

In 2016, Clarke had simply moved from Ottawa to Toronto forward of his U14 AAA
season. He joined the Greater Toronto Hockey League’s (GTHL) Don Mills
Flyers, the place he was launched to 2 different gamers that have been new to the
crew: Othmann and Wright.

“I really didn’t know who both of them [was], I simply knew a few of the
different guys on Don Mills,” Clarke explains. “But we clicked straight away, we
have been the brand new guys. We talked, we gelled early and there’s only a connection
there. They’re two particular gamers.”

Othmann and Wright had beforehand performed in opposition to one another, however by no means on
the identical crew. During a spring match, Flyers head coach Marc Slawson
identified Wright to Othmann, saying he would doubtless play with him.

“I checked out Shane on the ice and also you routinely noticed that he stood out,
and I used to be excited watching him play,” Othmann says. “He’s a very good
participant.”

On the ice, the three Don Mills Flyers shortly gained chemistry with every
different.

“I think we fed off each other really well,” Wright says. “We understood
the place one another have been on the ice, we’re reacting and studying off one another
on the ice. We simply at all times had that chemistry.”

The crew was a drive to be reckoned with. During the three years Clarke,
Othmann and Wright wore the Flyers brand, they gained three consecutive GTHL
championships, the 2018 All-Ontario U15 AAA Championship and the 2019 OHL
Cup after going 30-0-3 within the GTHL throughout the 2018-19 common season.

But the crew additionally confronted adversity. In the center of its U15 championship
marketing campaign, Flyers goaltender Roy Pejcinovski was killed in a triple murder
alongside along with his mom and 13-year-old sister, Vana, in Ajax, Ont.

“In that state of affairs, you both come collectively otherwise you unfold aside, and our
crew clearly got here collectively,” Othmann says.

“It was definitely something that still sticks with us every day,” Clarke
provides. “I still think of Roy every single day.”

With Pejcinovski of their hearts, Don Mills continued to play for its
netminder all through the rest of its time collectively, culminating within the
2019 OHL Cup. Although the Flyers trailed the Toronto Red Wings (who
included World Juniors teammate Adam Fantilli) 4-1 after the primary interval,
they battled again to push the sport to time beyond regulation.

“Clarke stole the puck from the opposite crew and gave me somewhat high-flip
move,” Wright explains. “I skate onto it, and we had a 2-on-1 with me and
[Othmann]. I handed it and he did the remaining.”

OT glory for the Don Mills Flyers!

Shane Wright makes a 2-on-1 move to Brennan Othmann who buries it to crown @GTHLHockey’s @03DMF the 2019 #OHLCup powered by @UnderArmour Champions. pic.twitter.com/tOIlvpr7eu

— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) March 19, 2019

“That recreation was so particular. We got here in with a variety of adversity and we wished
to win that for our goalie Roy and his household,” Othmann says. “It’s form of
humorous occupied with it: Clarkey to Shane, Shane to me. In that method, it
seems to be cool on the field rating. That’s my favorite reminiscence of the Flyers and
it’s my favorite reminiscence with these two.”

After the OHL Cup, the trio went off on their very own hockey journeys. All
three gamers have been chosen within the prime 4 picks of the 2019 OHL Priority
Selection. Wright grew to become the fifth participant granted exceptional-player standing
and was chosen first by the Kingston Frontenacs. Othmann was taken second
by the Flint Firebirds and Clarke was grabbed fourth total by the Barrie
Colts.

“It’s kind of crazy,” Clarke says. “We’re all first-round picks. We’re all
going to different locations across the continent, however once we obtained the phrase that
all three us of have been going to be again collectively and play on the worldwide stage
like this, it was actually cool. We’re all texting one another straight away…
after I noticed them within the airport, I went up and gave them a hug.”

The 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship marks the second time the Don Mills
trio has reunited on the worldwide stage. In 2021, they gained gold on the
IIHF U18 World Championship. Wright co-led the Canadians in scoring with 14
factors and a Canadian file 9 targets, Othmann had three targets and three
assists and Clarke chipped in with two targets and 5 helpers.

Although their groups are unfold out throughout North America (all three have been
first-round NHL picks as effectively), the three Flyers stay in contact. They have
an energetic group chat, they’ll make time to go {golfing} or skate collectively, or
play the NHL sequence video video games to remain linked. But regardless of the
distance, the connection stays simply as sturdy because it was at Don Mills.

“That chemistry has stayed the same, just like how we were in minor,”
Wright says. “It’s at all times going to be there, that bond and that belief [we
have].”

To be capable of play in a number of world championships along with two of
your buddies out of your minor hockey crew is an unlikely feat. But Clarke,
Othmann and Wright every push one another to be the perfect they are often—and that
payoff is clear on the ice.

“To do that with Shane and Brennan, the 2 guys I think about like brothers
to me, it’s actually particular,” Clarke provides.

“Those two have been great the whole way since I’ve been 14,” Othmann says.
“It’s been a loopy few years. It’s been ups and downs for all of us however at
the identical time, it’s been an unbelievable journey and it’s been an
unbelievable time with them. To cap it off on the World Juniors, it’s going
to be one thing particular.”