Matteo Gennaro will make his debut on the international stage with Team Pacific at the World U17 Hockey Challenge.
The Dec. 29 to Jan. 4 tournament in Cape Breton, N.S. will feature five Canadian regional teams and the Czech Republic, Germany, Russia, Sweden and United States.
“It’s a great honour. It’s an international tournament, which is pretty special. I’m super excited and really looking forward to having the opportunity to represent my country,” said Gennaro, a 16-year-old centreman from St. Albert. “It’s great hockey and lots of it and it’s just what I’ve been looking forward to.”
Team Pacific was high on his bucket list.
“It’s always been on my mind,” said the Prince Albert Raider in the Western Hockey League. “The first goal is to try and make the WHL at 16 and once that happens you just kind of narrow it down and when you have an opportunity to make Team Pacific that’s something you look forward to. It’s another step.”
Team Pacific is comprised of 22 WHL players from Alberta and British Columbia.
“It says a lot about being selected to a team that elite,” Gennaro said. “There is more B.C. kids (13) than Alberta kids but I’m pretty familiar with them all.”
Team Pacific will compete in group A with Team West, Team Quebec, Sweden and Czech Republic.
Group B includes, Team Ontario, Team Atlantic, Russia, Germany and the United States.
Team Pacific has an exhibition on tap against Russia next Saturday before its first preliminary round contest against Team Quebec the next day.
Visit www.hockeycanada.ca for schedules and results.
This will be the last year the tournament will have five Canadian teams. Next year Canada will be represented by three national teams.
Team Pacific is coming off a fifth-place showing last year.
“I want to win gold for sure. That’s what we established as a team. We said we’re going to the tournament to win gold and it’s our goal. It would be cool to do that at an international tournament,” said Gennaro.
The former bantam AAA Sabre and midget AAA Raider will hook up with Team Pacific after scoring five goals and adding eight assists, while going minus-four with 10 penalty minutes in 32 games in his WHL rookie season with the Raiders.
“It’s been a really good experience. I’m learning a lot. It’s a new league and it’s more elite and it’s only going to make me better.”
Gennaro is gradually earning his ice time with the Raiders, ranked fourth in the eastern conference at 17-16-2.
“As a young guy you don’t have as much opportunity as the older guys but it’s been good so far and I think I’ve been doing pretty good for the opportunity I’ve got,” he said. “I haven’t seen too much special teams stuff. I’ve been the third line centre for a little while now. I’ve worked my way up from the fourth line. I’m just ready whenever there is an opportunity when they need me and just try and create energy and offence out there.”
It’s been a work in progress for Gennaro after recording nine goals and 12 assists in 30 games as a first-year midget with the Raiders last season.
“It’s a lot faster at this level and the guys are a lot bigger and a lot stronger. It’s really common to have tons of guys on a team that are like six-three, six-four and 220 pounds. It’s a bigger, more mature league so that aspect of the game has been the part that's been tough to keep me at that level,” said the six-foot-two, 179-pound skater.
Among the season highlights for Gennaro was his first WHL goal.
“I remember it pretty vividly. It was against Saskatoon and it’s one that I won’t forget for sure,” said the Grade 11 student. “I got the puck, it got chipped off the wall, and it was a one on one. I just poked it past the defenceman and I was kind of on a breakaway. I ended up shooting it and the goalie made the save and I just tapped in the rebound.
“It was pretty cool.”
