The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan has weighed into the fray of Red Wings pundits examining Detroit’s 9 participants in the 2022 World Junior Championship, and here are a couple of pertinent takes:
► Canada: Defenseman Donovan Sebrango and goaltender Sebastian Cossa. This will be an interesting situation for Sebrango, who already has two seasons of pro experience in Grand Rapids and will be an alternate captain for Canada.
Sebrango, 20, is excited to impart what he’s learned in the American League to his Canadian teammates.
“In the room you try to be a leader and just lead by example and take it day by day,” Sebrango said. “They’re still the same age as me, so you don’t want to come in like you’re better than them. I just try to show them what pro hockey is like and what it takes to get there. On the ice, you’re playing against the best players in the world in your age group, so it’s not a huge adjustment. I just try to bring my leadership and experience playing against men and hopefully that takes us to gold.”
Cossa, a 2021 first-round pick, was 33-9-3 with a 2.28 goals-against average and .913 save percentage for Edmonton in the WHL, pacing the team to the Memorial Cup before being eliminated.
“It was a lot of experience for me and it was really good,” Cossa said of the long season.
The pressure of representing Canada is something Cossa values.
“Being a goalie, it’s being the last end-all or be-all. I like that about the position, for sure,” he said.
Continued; it remains to be seen whether Cossa will actually play for Canada, whose presumptive starter is Dylan Garand…
