Frank Corrado cut from Canadian junior squad
Cam Charron
December 13 2012 04:23PM
The first cut at Team Canada's camp is: Frank Corrado#WJC2013
— Sunaya Sapurji (@sunayas) December 13, 2012
This tweet from Sunaya Suparji of Yahoo! Canada was sent out just as Bob McKenzie was on a live-taping of Sportscentre discussing how Canucks prospect Frank Corrado was practically a sure bet to make the Canadian IIHF U-20 world championship team.
Unfortunately, it was not to be. McKenzie was just as shocked as everybody, but Corrado responded with class, and you'd expect from a media-trained Canadian hockey player:
@tsnbobmckenzie thanks Bob, appreciate the kind words, have a good one , wish all the best for Team Canada
— Frank Corrado (@frankcorrado22) December 13, 2012
He scored twice at the junior camp, once in the intrasquad scrimmage Tuesday night, and again Wednesday afternoon in the game against the University of Alberta. That said, Corrado plays a position that Canada happened to be quite deep at, even after injuries to Ryan Murray and Xavier Ouellet.
He had this to say to media (transcribed from TSN):
It was a tough decision, and they said it was one of the toughest ones they had to make, so you can always take that, but obviously I'm not on the team but I thought it was a good camp nonetheless.
I feel like I played well, I played my game, I stuck to my game plan, and there's not much else I can say. I worked as hard as I can and not the result they wanted.
I'm guessing a lot of kids were told that they were one of the toughest cuts to make. Time for Frankie to accept his fate as a Canuck prospect:
@frankcorrado22 Might as well #embracethehate , member of the Canucks after all.
— Taj (@taj1944) December 13, 2012
Frank Corrado was drafted in the 5th round of the 2011 Entry Draft. Never a big name, he has improved dramatically at the OHL level, with 24 points in 33 games so far this season and being a rock solid player in his own end, who has drawn rave reviews from OHL scouts and coaches throughout the season. Vancouver hasn't had a Canuck prospect on the team since Cody Hodgson in 2009.
Earlier:
- Will Frank Corrado make the team? (Evidently, no)
- Prospect Profile: Frank Corrado
Show how much of a charade these camps are. I wouldn't at all be surprised to see MacKinnon also cut and Dumba make it onto the roster.
Man I'm pretty surprised, I have to say.
Canada's doomed without The Corrado Kid.
why are people so shocked, a lot of people didn't think he had a chance at the beginning of camp and all of a sudden in 3 scrimmage games change your minds that much? small sample size much or you guys just giant homers?
Amazingly, I'm with Mantastic on this one. Corrado may have played well in the camp, but they knew as much about him before the camp as they did at the end. If you are picking based on three games...yikes.
As a coach, when assembling a squad before a big tournament, you start with the players you know are you going to be your best. The guys on the fringes, you have to be more delicate but as a general rule I look towards players who still have room to grow. Was there a sense that Corrado was going to get even better, and more than his competitors?
The team deviated from my projection of having Dumba in that last spot, but they gave it to Wotherspoon. There was probably an argument to give it to Corrado.
Seems like Corrado's very respected around the 'O'. Just think... in an NHL year, Ryan Murphy isn't here, Dougie Hamilton isn't here, and Frank Corrado is on it. Just one of those things.
Knowing his game and Wotherspoon's, that was the last decision made, I'd bet.
@Cam Charron
I was very impressed by Wotherspoon when he played against the Giants for Portland.
@Cam Charron
Yeah. Flames fans are surprised Wotherspoon made it. The brass may have gone with "type/role" for that final roster spot - pure stay-at-home, defensive guy.