In this photo: Michael Fora of the Kamloops Blazers will represent Switzerland at the 2015 World Junior Championship, which gets underway on Boxing Day in Toronto and Montreal. Allen Douglas/KTW
National duty beckons for a pair of Kamloops Blazers.
Defencemen Patrik Maier and Michael Fora will play for their countries at the 2015 World Junior Championship, which gets underway on Boxing Day in Montreal and Toronto.
Fora will take to the ice for Switzerland and Maier will suit up for Slovakia.
“It’s something special,” said Fora, the 6-foot-3, 205-pound rearguard from Bellinzona.
“This is a great opportunity for me.”
Maier, 18, has played for Slovakia before, the Bratislava product having donned his country’s colours at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, the under-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament and the IIHF Under-18 World Championship, among other international events.
The world juniors will mark 19-year-old Fora’s first experience with the Swiss national team.
Four years ago, he suffered a groin injury that kept him away from hockey for a year.
When he returned, Fora made the switch to defence from forward and it took time to adjust to the position change.
He did not crack Switzerland’s roster when eligible to play in the under-18 world championship.
“I wasn’t really confident or prepared for doing the U-18s,” Fora said.
“That’s the reason why I didn’t make it. I wasn’t really as good a player as I am now.”
Patrik Maier of the Kamloops Blazers. Allen Douglas/KTW
Kamloops selected Maier sixth overall and Fora 66th overall at the CHL Import Draft in the summer.
Both blue-liners have been bright spots on a team that has struggled since its hot start to the WHL campaign.
Fora, who has four goals and 20 points this season, said his time in the Tournament Capital has been key to his development.
“If I would have played in Switzerland this year, I couldn’t really grow up as a hockey player,” said Fora, who received the good news in an email from the Swiss national team.
“Coming here was a great chance. Hockey’s big here in Canada and I can really improve my skills and learn a lot of things that in Switzerland I couldn’t.”
Maier, 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, has three goals and six points in 33 games.
The Blazers will be without Fora for six WHL matchups.
He will not play tonight (Dec. 16) against the Kootenay Ice and will not return until until Jan. 9, when the Kelowna Rockets are in town.
Maier will be out of the lineup for Kamloops’ first four games after the Christmas break and will also return against the Rockets on Jan. 9.
Nolan Kneen, 15, is travelling with the Blazers on their Central Division road trip, which wraps up on Wednesday, Dec. 17, in Medicine Hat, and Kamloops will likely call up another D-man after the Christmas break.
Kneen became the highest bantam draft pick in Blazers’ history when he was selected third overall on May 1 in Calgary.
Dawson Davidson, 16, is among the prospects who might join the club after Christmas. He is playing this season with the Moose Jaw Generals in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League.
Brady Gaudet, the 20-year-old defenceman who’s been out of the Blazers’ lineup with a shoulder injury since Nov. 8, is making strides in his recovery and might return after the holiday break.
Slovakia kicks off the world juniors against Canada in a Group A matchup at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Dec. 26.
Switzerland will open its tournament with a tilt against the Czech Republic in a Group B game at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Dec. 27.
Maier and Fora have already been trading jabs, each with differing opinions on what would happen if their countries were to meet in a playoff showdown.
“We’ve talked a little bit,” Fora said with a laugh.
“We’re saying ‘My country’s better.’ Everyone wants to win against each other.”
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