Dec. 30—MINNEAPOLIS — Canadian World Junior coach Dale Hunter hinted to Keaton Verhoeff during Sunday’s practice that his time might be coming soon.
After Monday’s pregame morning skate, it became official.
“I was pretty excited to see my name on the lineup,” Verhoeff said.
Canada officially registered Verhoeff with the IIHF on Monday afternoon and the UND freshman defenseman made his World Junior Championship debut on Monday night.
Verhoeff, a scratch for Canada’s first two games, tallied an assist in the first period and registered a plus-2 rating as Canada dominated Denmark 9-1 in 3M Arena at Mariucci.
“Building up the anticipation here the past two games, just watching the guys play, it’s been awesome for those guys to have success,” Verhoeff said. “To be able to have an opportunity tonight was fun. It’s a special game to get into. Watching this tournament growing up, it’s something special. Being able to get into a game in front of my family was awesome.”
Verhoeff played 4:38 in the first period, 4:09 in the second and 6:11 in the third.
Hunter was pleased with Verhoeff’s World Junior debut.
“He was good,” Hunter said. “He was good and solid. He played well and no defensive (issues). He was good.”
Verhoeff said he stayed ready during practices.
“Obviously, it’s a long tournament and you never know what’s going to happen,” Verhoeff said. “Just getting on the ice, I had an opportunity to get some work there, working out a little bit to make sure I stay in shape, those are the big things I was thinking about.
“Then, the hockey part of it, just watching video and when we’re in video sessions, making sure I’m focused in and paying attention to the little details of the game. That was huge for me.”
Verhoeff, 17, became the sixth-youngest defenseman to ever play for Canada at the World Junior Championship behind Jay Bouwmeester (2000, 2001), Chris Joseph (1987), Matthew Schaefer (2025), Scott Niedermayer (1991) and teammate Carson Carels, who is just four days younger.
Canada plays Finland at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in its final pool play game.
The Canadians sit one point ahead of Finland in Group B. A victory would clinch a quarterfinal against Wednesday’s Slovakia-Switzerland loser.
Canada’s quarterfinal game will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
