Ryan Nugent-Hopkins puts on impressive show during Team Canada’s National Junior exhibition matchup
Edmonton Oilers first overall pick of the 2011 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, put on an impressive performance during Team Canada’s national junior team development camp exhibition matchup at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada, on Saturday, August 8.
Over 2,000 fans attended the display of Canadian talent in order to see their future city superstar perform in front of them for the first time after being picked in June by Oilers.
It might have just been a demo match for the fans, but it certainly did not disappoint, having had much physical contact and fast paces moves, it seemed more like an international matchup rather than something which is part of practice.
Nugent-Hopkins, who was part of team white, scored two goals within a 3:08 timeframe during the last period which ultimately led them to win the match 5-4 over team Red.
"After the second period, I had to relax myself and calm down a little bit, just regroup", Nugent-Hopkins said. "We still had 20 minutes left. When we pulled to within 4-3, I just had to find some extra gear if I could. I thought our line (with Phillip Danault
and Jaden Schwartz) did well in last few minutes".
It was uncertain who would be playing on which side of the White vs. Red matchup, but it was announced earlier in the day that Nugent-Hopkins would be White, along with forwards, Quinton Howden, Jaden Schwartz, Matt Puempel, Phillip Danault, Greg McKegg
and a number of other players.
Team White goalies were Tyler Bunz and Scott Wedgewood.
On the other side, most prominent was Ottawa Senators prospect, Mark Stone who scored two goals of his own along with Florida Panthers third overall selection, Jonathan Huberdeau and Jamieson Oleksiak, who both scored a single goal.
"It's always nice to score goals in a short tournament like this and I was playing with two great players (Jonathan Huberdeau and Ryan Johansen)", Stone said.
Being the fourth and second last exhibition game on schedule, the Canadian national team will close-up the practice sessions on Sunday at the Casman Centre in Fort McMurray before the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) championships begin.
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