18-year old Ryan Murray wins international call from Team Canada before NHL opportunity – NHL News
Appearing to be one of the rarest moves, Team Canada took on board the undrafted young player, Ryan Murray, merely with the side to help with preparations for the International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Hockey Championships, currently ongoing in Sweden
and Finland.
Before Murray, the only players who played for Canada while they were yet to start their careers in the National Hockey League (NHL) were Jordan Eberle and Jonathan Toews.
However, there was a clear difference in case of these two players as they had already been drafted into the professional league and were waiting to start off their NHL campaigns when they got the chance to play for Canada instead.
Murray, meanwhile, is waiting for the draft season to join a professional team, been weighed as the second overall pick.
Hence, his international ice hockey career has begun well before the domestic professional league.
All other players in the squad are representing different NHL franchises and have many years of professional hockey league experience on their resumes.
Murray is said to be lucky to have won an out-of-the-way opportunity, which should help him boost his ratings for the draft market.
It is also a rare feat for the player, who happened to be with the team to provide help during the training and practice sessions. His luck has struck following a sudden injury to defenseman, Marc Methot.
One of the supporting factors for the 18-year-old player is that he earlier represented Canada in the Under-18 World Ice Hockey Championships, so he has exposure of international ice hockey to some extent.
Team Canada is facing Team USA in their second game of the championships on Saturday, May 05, 2012.
The championships, which also feature teams from Europe, started on Friday, May 04.
Both teams won their respective opening games; Team Canada defeated Slovakia, 3-2, and Team USA beat France with the final score of 7-2.
The teammates have welcomed inclusion of the draft prospect into the national side, hoping he will have a role in wins of the team in the event.
Tags: