Canada’s Matthew Schaefer anxious for world juniors to start

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Remember the name Matthew Schaefer.

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Barring the unforeseen, it would appear there’s a good chance you’ll be watching him play in the NHL, and representing Canada at international competitions, for the next 20 years.

Dave Cameron will cringe at those words. As the coach of Canada’s team at the world junior championship, he’d rather limit the hype on his youngest players to keep them focused as the home team sets out to bounce back from last year’s fifth-place finish in Sweden.

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To that end, he should have made Schaefer and Gavin McKenna healthy scratches for Monday’s final pre-tournament tuneup before Thursday night’s opener against Finland.

Not only did they dress, but they were the two best players on the ice, as McKenna had two goals and Schaefer had a pair of assists in the 3-2 victory over Czechia.

If we were picking the three stars, Schaefer would have been the first, as he was exceptional at both ends of the ice.

Asked afterward what the 17-year-old Erie Otter showed him, Cameron was brief.

“Yeah,” was the response. “He’s a good defenceman.”

So we’ve heard.

Schaefer, who was selected first overall by Erie in the 2024 Ontario Hockey League draft, Canada winger Porter Martone and American centre James Hagens are widely considered the top three players available for next June’s NHL draft.

All things equal, most GMs would prefer Schaefer, a 6-foot-1, 162-pounder, because of the position he plays, as good teams like to build from the back end out.

While McKenna, who turned 17 last week, is being talked about as the potential top pick of the 2026 draft, Schaefer’s Sept. 5 birthday means that, had he been born just 11 days later, he would have had to wait until the same year to be available to NHL teams as well.

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Schaefer, of course, will fill out his lanky frame. But his mind is already strong. What’s impressive about the Stoney Creek product — other than his skating, hockey sense and other obvious skills — is his character. The kid is mentally tough.

If you haven’t heard his story, Schaefer’s mother, Jennifer, died in February with breast cancer. She was 56 and the two were very close.

On Dec. 20, after the Canadian roster was finalized, Matthew spoke bravely and with love about how his mom would play mini-sticks with him when she wasn’t putting on goalie pads and taking his shots in the driveway.

One night earlier, Schaefer suffered another tragic and personal loss when Jim Waters, the owner of the Otters, was killed by a heart attack at the age of 73.

“Jim and his wife, Sheila, were two big parts of my life,” Schaefer said unwaveringly after the Czechia game Saturday. “When I came down to Erie, they just made me feel so at home, and I got really close with them. I got to see him before I came to the world juniors. It was definitely sudden, but I don’t know, life just goes the way it does, everything happens for a reason.

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“It’s very sad to lose him, but I know he’s going to be with my mom,” he added, “and I’m always going to play for him and my mom now. They are two big parts of my life.”

Schaefer’s father, Todd, and brother Johnny are among family members in town to watch him play in the biggest tournament of his life.

“It’s the first Christmas without my mom, so it’s good to kind of get away from the house,” said Schaefer. “And what other way to spend it than at the world juniors, right? That’s every kid’s dream. I’m just looking forward to getting under way here.

“Obviously, I think about it every day,” he added of her passing. “And I know she’s always going to be with me. I think she’s a big part of why I’m here. I’ve got her strength, she was always helping me and getting me in the right way.”

Asked about his level of comfort playing on such a big stage, playing with and against guys almost three years older than him, Schaefer didn’t blink.

“I feel so good, but honestly, I think it’s my teammates that help out a lot,” said Schaefer, who was paired with Team Canada veteran Oliver Bonk in a tandem that should start the tournament together. “They find me. I find them. They’re always in the right spot. So it’s very easy to play with them.

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“(Bonk) was here last year, so I’m definitely learning a lot, and he’s taking me under his wing, for sure. It’s definitely good to have him there and play with him. He’s a great player.”

Schaefer is one too, and he’s going to get even better. Just watch.

AROUND THE WORLDS:  Expect the Finns to put up a good fight against Canada. They haven’t got a medal at the world juniors since Finland, in 2022, but they do have seven players returning from last year’s fourth-place-finishing squad in Goteborg. Finland split its pre-tournament games with a 6-0 win over Slovakia and a 5-2 loss to the defending champion Americans. They are led by centre Konsta Helenius, a well-rounded player who was a first-round pick (14th overall) of the Buffalo Sabres last June and has scored 17 points (six goals) in 28 games with the AHL’s Rochester Americans.

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