From coaches to players, nobody has done what Kurt Keats has done for Team Canada West.
The 1995-born BC Hockey League star is in his unprecedented third year with the team and along with Powell River Kings teammate, 17-year-old Carmine Buono, was trying to add a gold medal to his silver and bronze at the World Junior A Championship (WJAC).
He was on a select team of players from five western junior A leagues including BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Superior International Hockey League.
First step was to be one of the 40 players invited to camp but, for Keats, the final roster is limited to just five 19-year-olds.
“He knew it was going to be tough,” said Kings’ head coach and general manager Kent Lewis, “and I know from coaching it you have to be really picky for that age group.”
Lewis recalls the first time Keats appeared at WJAC. “I was there as a guest coach after the year I coached and he was there for the first time,” he recalled. “He was just a little buzz-saw. He was obviously always around the puck and always caught my eye. To do three is pretty special, so hopefully the medal is the right colour.”
Asked if that was the most important thing to take out of the tournament Lewis said, “When I coached I always stressed to our kids to have no regrets and work hard. It’s a tough competition and just to be there three times, with a chance to do it, is pretty cool.”
Keats was the captain last year but this year he is letter-less and Lewis understands that move.
“He felt a lot of pressure last year, being the captain,” he explained. “Really all the club wanted him to do was just go out and play—don’t be burdened by anything—and ‘C’ or no ‘C’ he is a leader on that team.”
Keats, too, understood the huge hurdle to overcome when it was suggested a month ago that, because he was the captain last year, he would be a lock to make the team. “It’s going to be difficult,” Keats predicted, “there are no guarantees.”
Well he did survive the cut and Lewis, was not surprised at all. “He’s good in all areas of the game,” he said, “but he also works hard and he cares. He is one of those guys that, every night, brings a solid effort and he’s just a neat kid.”
Keats’ experience spoke for itself and he embraced his role as a mentor. “Just because you’re not wearing a letter doesn’t mean you’re not a leader,” he said in a recent Hockey Canada interview. “What I can pass on to the guys is to just keep them calm, talk to them and tell them what it’s like and what’s coming.”
He displays such maturity at such a young age and yet it never gets old for the 19-year-old veteran. “It’s super special putting on that Maple Leaf,” he said, “a feeling I’ll always cherish and always remember.”
Another King on the roster, Buono, played regularly in the tournament and Lewis smiled, thinking of the young defenceman’s developing career. “He’s tickled at being there and he’s earned it,” he said. “Carmine is an old-school defenceman who moves the puck well and that’s what probably caught the eye of the coaches there.
“Maybe he isn’t fun to play against, and he’s got a nasty side to him. If other players are thinking about him all the time then he’s doing his job.”
As it turned out Canada West struggled and finished last in the tournament. They lost to Denmark 3-2 and beat Russia in a shoot-out 3-2 in the preliminary round, then lost 4-2 to Canada East and finally 3-2 to Switzerland.
USA won gold and Denmark in its first appearance took silver. Russia won bronze.
