NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale spoke with Red Wings prospect and USA World Junior Championship goaltender Trey Augustine about his status as a wily veteran on this year’s U.S. WJC team:
“I just feel old now,” Augustine said with a grin. “I kind of felt young at the start, like I was a little above my level, but now I just feel comfortable, feel like I’m one of the old guys on the team.”
And that’s good news for the U.S. National Junior Team because having a savvy veteran in net at the most prestigious hockey tournament for under-20 players is a huge bonus.
Augustine (6-foot-1, 193 pounds), chosen by the Detroit Red Wings in the second round (No. 41) of the 2023 NHL Draft, might be the best at his position among the 10 countries participating in the tournament in Ottawa from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5. He’s who national junior team general manager John Vanbiesbrouck calls a unique player.
“We’ve only had a couple guys get this much experience when it comes to World Under-18 Championship, World Juniors, and when you have that level of experience, it means a lot,” said Vanbiesbrouck, a retired goalie and 2007 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductee. “He’s already a mature kid, but I see more maturity in him. I see he’s very comfortable, but as a player, he’s elite. He’s got the mentality for goaltending, for the position, to move on after negative things and that’s hard qualities to teach young guys. He’s ready to play, starts on time … the sky’s the limit.”
Jack Campbell (2010-12) and Alan Perry (1984-86) are the only other United States goalies to see action in three straight World Junior events. Augustine is 8-1-0 with a 2.20 goals-against average and .911 save percentage in 10 tournament games.
“I always say I’m a competitive, athletic goalie,” Augustine said. “I just kind of use my skating to kind of put myself in position to make saves. That pretty much describes my game.”
Continued; I cringed a bit writing “wily veteran” about a 19-year-old, but here we are.
