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Prince doesn't think he got fair shake with American juniors

Don Campbell, Postmedia News, December 22, 2011

OTTAWA — At least Shane Prince wasn’t left wondering whether it was worth all of the effort. For him, it wasn’t.

The Ottawa 67’s left-winger and Ottawa Senators draft pick left Alberta fuming on Thursday, lambasting USA Hockey officials after he was cut from the American team just five days before the start of the IIHF world junior championship.

“I don’t know why I expected anything else from USA Hockey . . . I don’t even know why I ever got invited,” Prince said as he waited in Calgary for a flight to take him to his family home in Rochester, Minnesota for Christmas.

“I just felt from Day 1 the team had already been picked. I just feel they had their guys picked right from the start. Some guys felt they had the team made no matter how they played. And they didn’t give the others a chance.”

Prince, 19, got the news in a Ramada Hotel conference room in Camrose, Alta., where U.S. general manager Jim Johannson stood up after a team meal, named the 23 players who made the squad and asked them to leave, and then handed plane tickets to the six who were being sent home. No reasons given, Prince said.

There was no one-on-one session with the coaches on what they didn’t do right. Not even a Merry Christmas.

Senators general manager Bryan Murray he had expected the club’s draft pick to be playing for the U.S. at the world juniors.

“I’m surprised. I certainly thought that Prince would make the team,” Murray said. “We anticipated that. We think he’s that calibre of player, but we’re not there. I don’t know what happened, if he didn’t perform to the level we thought he would or whether they just had people better.”

Murray acknowledged that, while teams generally want to pick the best players, there can be “a reward” for playing in a particular program.

Last year, Prince was in the mix for a last-minute invitation to the final training camp. It never came.

This year, he was invited to summer camp in Lake Placid, New York, survived the cuts made there and thought he was on his way to the world tournament in his final year of eligibility.

Looking back, Prince probably should have seen the writing on the wall after the Americans’ first pre-tournament exhibition game Tuesday against Russia, a 6-3 loss during which his line was on the ice for only seven shifts and had just one opportunity in eight U.S. power plays.

In the team’s second game on Wednesday against Switzerland, Prince was a healthy scratch.

It seems more than coincidental that six of seven Canadian Hockey League players who made the final cut have a previous association with USA Hockey’s national team development program. Prince, on the other hand, chose to come straight to Canada to play major junior after he was drafted in 2008 by the Ontario Hockey League’s Kitchener Rangers.

USA Hockey’s brass has been accused in the past of having a bias against players who take the Canadian option. Prince doesn’t disagree.

“When we first arrived, we were all told we would be given fair opportunity,” Prince said. “Then I get six, maybe seven shifts. . . . And then when I didn’t play the next game, I felt maybe I had an idea of what was happening.

“If that’s fair opportunity, would somebody mind letting me know that? I really thought I could be a go-to guy on this team and I was never given that chance.”

So quite unexpectedly, the 67’s will be minus just goalie Petr Mrazek (Czech Republic) and defenceman Michal Cajkovsaky (Slovakia) when they resume play Wednesday against the Kingston Frontenacs in Ottawa.

Both forward Tyler Toffoli and defenceman Cody Ceci were cut from Canada’s team last week. Traded to Ottawa from Kitchener in early 2010, Prince had a breakout year last season, eclipsing his totals from his first two seasons combined with 25 goals and 88 points. He was also a plus-43.

His improvement impressed the Senators enough to pick him in the second round, 61st overall, in last June’s NHL draft.

“I’ve been going through this kind of thing all my life — people telling me what I couldn’t do,” Prince said. “I will not let USA Hockey get me down and ruin my confidence. I will use this as fuel. I’m going to go out and play ever better.”

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
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