Subway Super Series can be a ticket to the World Juniors

Don't think for one minute that the Subway Super Series is a bunch of meaningless exhibition games.

The annual showcase event that pits teams from each of the three leagues in the Canadian Hockey League against a touring team of Russian nationals is one of the final steps in Hockey Canada's selection process for their final camp before the World Junior Championships in December.

For some players, this series can earn them a ticket to that camp.

Recent examples are Wayne Simmonds, who used a strong showing in the series to earn a berth on Canada's National Junior Team in 2008. Last year, Stefan Della Rovere of the Barrie Colts also used the tournament as a launch pad into an impressive camp that earned him a roster spot for Team Canada.

"This event can be a springboard for these players," said Peterborough Petes' General Manager Jeff Twohey, who was part of the selection committee for the OHL team that was announced this week. "These games are a great opportunity for some players that maybe aren't already on the radar."

The Subway Super Series opens November 16 in Drummondville, QC and continues two nights later in Shawinigan before shifting to Ontario for games in Barrie on November 19 and Windsor on November 23. The series concludes in British Columbia with games in Victoria on November 25 and Kelowna on November 26.

All six games will feature coaches from Canada's World Junior Team and Hockey Canada head scout Al Murray will travel to all six games in the series to get a final read on the players he intends to invite to the final selection camp.

This is the seventh year that the CHL has hosted the Canada-Russia event and the showcase has preceded five straight gold medals for Canada.

"It's been very effective for us," Murray said. "It's a great opportunity for us to look at the top 80-90 players that are eligible for our team over a short period of time against a real quality opponent. It's always nice to get as much information as you can and the fact that we've been able to see them all against a good international teams has been a very effective evaluation tool for us."

Mississauga St. Michael's Majors' head coach Dave Cameron was an assistant coach for Team Canada last year and said that this tournament was a good opportunity to see how some of the Canadian prospects interacted with each other. He will be behind the bench again this year as an associate coach with head coach Willie Desjardins of the Medicine Hat Tigers and assistants Steve Spott of the Kitchener Rangers and Andre Tourigny of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

"It's a very exciting time and an exciting thing to be involved in," said Cameron, who will join Spott behind the Team OHL bench for both games in the Subway Super Series. "I can just imagine the anticipation of this event and how those buildings will be rocking. Personally it's good to see a lot of these players in this event. What a great opportunity for these young men to represent their club and country."

The 2009 Subway Super Series marks the seventh straight year that teams of CHL All-Stars have competed against Team Russia in preparation for the World Junior Hockey Championships. This season, Canada will be competing for a record sixth straight gold medal at the 2010 tournament in Saskatoon and Regina, SK.

Photo by Aaron Bell/CHL