Timmins Rock goalie Dryden Riley makes a save during Canada East’s 8-0 loss to the United States during 2024 World Junior ‘A’ Challenge action at the Camrose Recreation Centre, on Dec. 9. Riley was one of only three NOJHL players chosen to participate in the tournament, won by the United States who defeated Sweden 7-4 in the gold medal game. Riley and his Canada East teammates dropped a 5-2 decision to Canada West in the bronze medal game. FILE PHOTO/HOCKEY CANADA jpg, TD, apsmc
Dryden Riley and Brandon Perry returned home from the 2024 World Junior ‘A’ Challenge without a medal, but both Timmins Rock representatives on Canada East found the experience to be golden.
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
Riley, the Rock’s 2007-birth-year goalie, was one of only three NOJHL players chosen to attend the Canada East selection camp, along with Espanola Paper Kings forward Cameron Menard and Greater Sudbury Cubs forward Mason Walker, both of whom also made the roster.
Perry, the Rock’s coach and general manager, served as one of two assistants to Canada East coach Bruce Richardson, of the LHJAAAQ’s Valleyfield Braves.
Heading into the selection camp, Riley was among four goalies looking to secure one of the two spots between the pipes for Canada East.
He earned his spot on the squad by outplaying Carter Nadon, of the OJHL’s Haliburton County Huskies, and Brett Ruddy, of the CCHL’s Hawksbury Hawks.
As a result, Riley joined Noah Tegelaar, of the OJHL’s Collingwood Blues, in the Canada East crease for the tournament.
“It was awesome,” he said, describing his first trip to Alberta.
“I played half of our first exhibition game (against Canada West), so I could showcase my skills and I ended up getting a shutout, which is always a good start and the coaches must have liked that.
“I definitely had my work cut out for me, but it was a great experience.”
With the selection camp experience under his belt, Riley played half of Canada East’s 5-1 pre-tournament loss to Sweden, giving up three goals on the 19 shots he faced in his 30:00 of action, while Tegelaar was beaten twice in 21 shots over his half of the contest.
That led to Tegelaar getting the start as Canada East opened tournament action with an 8-0 loss to the eventual gold medal winning United States squad, on Dec. 9.
After his creasemate was beaten six times on 32 shots in 42 minutes, Riley came on to finish up the contest, yielding a pair of goals on 10 shots.
That would prove to be his only tournament action, as Tegelaar held the crease the rest of the way, as Canada East beat Canada West 6-1, on Dec. 10; lost 5-2 to Sweden, on Dec. 12; dropped a tough 3-2 semifinal decision to the United States, on Dec. 14; and suffered a 5-2 setback against Canada West in the bronze medal game, on Dec. 15.
“It is unfortunate I didn’t get to play quite as much, but I was just grateful to have made the team,” he said. “Being one of two goalies in all of eastern Canada in Junior ‘A’ hockey was a pretty good accomplishment.”
Even though Riley’s action was limited, he had an opportunity to face some of the best shooters in the world, not to mention some of the top snipers from his own team, during the selection camp and Canada East practices.
“The United States has a very highly skilled team,” he said. “You could tell they had a lot of chemistry and it really looked like they had played together before. They are all good players from the USHL (United States Hockey League), a few of whom have been drafted to the NHL. It was pretty cool to have those guys shooting on me.
“In the game (against the United States), it seemed to be very high paced and fast. I had to be at the top of my crease because if I gave them anything, they were going to score.
“There was one nice backdoor pass I made a nice save on, but I let in a couple of tough goals. The second one was a nice fake shot, deke between the legs, but the first one was a backdoor pass where I made the first save but the rebound, I couldn’t get.
“During the selection camp, I faced some great shooters as most of our guys are committed to Division I (NCAA schools in the United States) to play hockey in the future.
“With Brandon Perry there, as well, practices looked very similar (to Rock practices) and it was a great experience to have my great teammates shooting on me for a couple of weeks straight in practice.”
Even the guys playing on Canada East’s fourth line were some of the top scorers from the league’s they came from before making the squad.
“They were guys who were first liners from the squads they came from, really high end teams,” Riley said. “They were used to being on the power play, getting first-line minutes, all of that, and they were on our third or fourth line.”
Even during their tournament opening game against the United States back on Dec. 9, Riley could tell they were the team to beat.
“They were a strong team and they had strong goaltending,” he said. “Their goalies were very skilled and I noticed that right away. That is usually what makes or breaks a team. Sweden had a great team and so did Canada West, but their goalies just weren’t quite as strong as the United States. I think that’s what ended up pushing them to winning the gold medal.”
After being mentored by veteran goalie Patrick Boivin, now a current Rock assistant coach, last season, Riley enjoyed the opportunity to be part of the Canada East tandem with Tegelaar, who played in the NOJHL with the Blind River Beavers last season.
“He won a bunch of awards and had an amazing year last season and he has been really hot at the start of this campaign, so I was really looking forward to meeting him and seeing what he does. Since he is older than me, he has a little more experience.
“It was great meeting him. He is a very nice guy. Watching him out there on the ice was great. I try to take one thing from every goalie I watch and since he is a taller guy, he is very good at reaching out with his legs on backdoor plays. When I was watching the United States goalie, I noticed he is very good at playing the puck. So, I tried to take little things from each goalie to add to my game.”
Riley had his own cheering section at the games in Camrose.
“My parents did end up coming out after they found out I made the team,” he said. “I called them and they got a flight out and I have a friend who had moved to Edmonton, who I knew from back home, and they came, as well. It was great to get to see everyone again.”
Since it was Riley’s first trip to Alberta, it was a unique experience for the Belleville product.
“I would have loved to have gone to Banff, or somewhere in the mountains, but we did have some team bonding,” he said. “We went out bowling and I went out to an elementary school with some of the other guys and played around with the kids.
“Other than that, we mostly hung out together. There was a mall near our hotel, so we would head over there and just try to bond, as a team, so we would have that chemistry and team-first mentality.”
While Riley was 100 per cent focused on the job at hand with Canada East, he did keep track of what was happening with the Rock during his time away from the NOJHL squad.
“Me and Coach Perry watched the games (on FloHockey) and were checking the scores all the time,” he said. “It was tough to see the boys had such a tough time (one win in five games). They tried as hard as they could and they were good games. We just didn’t quite perform our best and it came back on us and we ended up losing.”
Riley is still young enough to be able to qualify for the Canada East team that will compete at the 2025 World Junior ‘A’ Challenge and if he gets a chance to earn a spot on that squad he is confident what he learned this year would provide him with a leg up.
“I think it would be a little less stressful because I already know the rundown of what goes on,” he said. “Next year my goal, if I make the team, would be to hopefully be the starter, play lots and win gold.”
The experience of being part of Canada East and playing in the 2024 World Junior ‘A’ Challenge lived up to all of Riley’s expectations and then some.
“Going into it, I was thinking it was going to be a lot, but it turned out to be even more amazing,” he said. “The level of maturity from the players and the level of professionalism from the staff, the coaches, the rink management, all of the scouts there, was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I am so glad I got to experience it.
“I loved playing in that (Canada East) jersey, even the practice jerseys, with the maple leaf on them. I did get to keep my Canada East jersey, so that is a great keepsake to have. I am going to get it framed and I will have it forever. Even though we didn’t end up winning (the gold medal), it will definitely be a memory I will cherish for a long time.”
Riley and Perry returned to practice this week, in preparation for a big encounter with the arch rival Hearst Lumberjacks at the McIntyre Arena on Friday, at 7 p.m.
It will be the team’s final game before the NOJHL’s annual Christmas break.
After Friday night’s game, Riley will be leaving to return home to Trenton to spend Christmas with his family.
“All of our family gets together, my mom’s side and my dad’s side, and we have Christmas dinner, exchange gifts and I am looking forward to that,” he said.
“I know I saw my parents last week, but I will get to see my sister and the rest of my family.”
For Perry, the 2024 World Junior ‘A’ Challenge was his first experience with Canada East and he loved every minute of it.
“Obviously, it was a tremendous honour to represent our country and the experience was fantastic,” he said.
“I took in a lot of information and it was nice to work with some high end players, play some competitive hockey.”
Perry was part of Richardson’s staff, along with fellow assistant coach Andrew Campoli, of the OJHL’s Collingwood Blues.
“Tactically, we were all kind of on the same page, in terms of how we wanted our team to play and how we see the game,” Perry said. “The best part was during the practices, early on in the week and in the selection camp, I was able to pick up different drills we used to work on certain things. I think that was the biggest thing.
“Personality wise, I think we all blended together pretty well and got along pretty well. All three of us are pretty similar in our coaching philosophies and how we like our teams to play the game. So, it was just a great collaboration. Obviously, a great experience for me.”
Perry was impressed with the quality of the players in the tournament, the ones he was coaching, as well as the teams they were playing against.
“The United States had five or six NHL-drafted players on their roster, which featured all USHL kids, which is a Tier 1 Junior hockey league, in my opinion, so they were extremely competitive,” he said.
“Their skill was incredible, the little things like their edge work, how quick they were with pucks, and stuff like that. The Swedes just played an incredible team game. They are younger and they had the (Anton) Frondell kid who is projected to go fifth overall in the NHL draft and maybe six or seven other guys you will see go in this year’s draft. So, just the skill level was top notch.
“What I learned from all the players there was just how competitive they all are, how well they use their sticks, the D especially, how well they defend with their sticks. That was the biggest thing I got from the games. The players take the game really seriously, how they prepare, how they recover after games, the way they eat, the way they study video.
“We had 13 or 14 Division 1-committed players, four guys who have played Major Junior, so the caliber of player was just high end. They were really nice to coach.
“Our team got better as the tournament went on. Obviously, we didn’t get the result we wanted but we were as competitive as anybody. Against the Swedes, it was a 2-2 hockey game until there were about six minutes left and we gave the Americans everything we had and then I think we just kind of ran out of gas when we match up against Canada West in the bronze medal game. We beat them 6-1 in the round-robin and also beat them in the two exhibition games we played in camp.”
Perry was an assistant coach with Canada East, but with his Rock GM hat on, it must have been tempting to pack a few of the players his team’s players in his luggage for the trip home to Timmins.
“Obviously, they were all great players and the Timmins Rock would be lucky to have any one of them,” he said, with a chuckle.
“What I realized (after watching them play) is our guys are not that far off. We probably have one or two guys who could have fit in that lineup. Obviously, age and the makeup of the team, play a part in how you pick the team. You are only allowed five 19 year olds and no 20 year olds. The NHL wants to see draft-eligible players.
“Our guys aren’t far off. We have some really good stars in our locker room and in our league. The Menard kid who played for us scored two goals in the tournament. We had some guys on our roster who were the leading scorers in their leagues who didn’t have two goals, so I think in terms of the caliber of players in our league, we are not that far off.
“There are definitely a few guys in our dressing room here in Timmins who could have played and could have contributed to that lineup and that’s reassuring, as a coach.”
All joking aside, getting a chance to see these players in person should prove to be an advantage in the unlikelihood any of them becomes available in the future.
“The biggest thing is you get to know them, you build those relationships over the two-and-a-half weeks we were together,” Perry said. “That’s the hardest thing to recruit is character. Getting to know these kids, they are all fantastic people and that’s the No. 1 thing we want to recruit here for our program.
“Obviously, I don’t think any of those players will become available. They are all high end players and I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them end up in Major Junior to finish the season because of the new NCAA rule changes.”
Unlike Riley, Perry and the rest of the Canada East coaching staff didn’t have any opportunities to engage in any non-hockey activities while they were in Alberta.
“It was hockey 24/seven,” he said. “It was great. Our days were pretty much on the ice, our schedules were all planned out for us. After the day, the coaches would sit in a room and watch video for hours and game-plan for the next day. For somebody who loves the game, is a student of the game, you couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Like Riley, Perry would relish the opportunity to be involved with Canada East again at some point in the future.
“Any time you get a chance to represent your country, at any level, it’s a huge honour,” he said. “Just to see how Hockey Canada officials conduct themselves, how organized they are and how professional, the resources they have for the players, it would be just as big an honour as it was this time.”
