Brayden Schenn played a little more than eight minutes for the Los Angeles Kings in a 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 30. And then he sat, and sat, and sat.
For the better part of a month, the talented 19-year-old centre from Saskatoon was left idle, trying not to think too much about his situation. With eight games under his belt, Schenn was approaching the 10-game threshold that would activate a year of his NHL contract and all but assure he wouldn?t return to junior this season.
So he sat, contemplating the uncertainty. Would he stay in the NHL? Would he be sent back to the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League? Would he play again for Canada at the world junior championship? He didn?t have a clue what was going to happen.
?I didn?t get told anything,? the baby-faced Schenn said in a recent interview. ?Three weeks, up until I got sent to Manchester (of the American Hockey League on Nov. 17 for a conditioning stint), came back from Manchester and I didn?t really get told anything. I?m sure they were unsure what they were going to do with me.
?Everything is going through your head when you?re not playing. . . . A lot goes through your mind.?
Some closure finally came Dec. 3, two days after Schenn returned to the Kings from his two-week stint with the Monarchs, when he was sent back to Brandon. Disappointed by the demotion, the silver lining was that he would be able to rejoin the national junior team and help try to avenge last January?s loss in the gold-medal final to the U.S.
Still, it took the fifth overall pick in the 2009 draft a while to get over the sting of being returned to the WHL and having to put off his NHL dream for another year.
?I?ll agree with them, maybe it was the right decision. I guess I?ll find out in the future,? said Schenn, the younger brother of Maple Leafs defenceman Luke Schenn. ?You can?t argue with L.A. there. They?ve produced a lot of good players. They hold my future and they?re going to do what?s best for me. The main thing is I gained experience from it. It was definitely a good experience, I enjoyed my time there. Hopefully next year I go back with the experience and crack the roster.?
His pain was the national junior team?s gain, as head scout Kevin Prendergast described having Schenn as ?an early Christmas gift.?
A solid 6-foot-1, 190-pound package of soft hands and hard hits, Schenn instantly upgraded Canada?s skill set while providing needed doses of leadership and experience. He is one of only four returning players, and has one of the best offensive pedigrees on the club.
?The first thing he brings is leadership. He?s a character kid. He?s a blue-collar player. He fits the system perfectly,? said Prendergast. ?He?s gritty. He?s got good hands. He can play the power play. He can be a very, very good penalty killer for us.?
And playing regularly again will help Schenn, who scored Canada?s first goal in a 4-1 exhibition win over Sweden on Tuesday night.
So far this season, he?s played in only the eight games with the Kings, seven more with Manchester (collecting four goals and three assists), and a pair with Brandon (scoring a goal and three assists) before joining Canada.
He said the inconsistency in his playing time hasn?t left him rusty, but a string of games will allow him to implement some of the lessons he learned in Los Angeles.
?When I was sitting out on game days, I would practise, preparing mentally for the game and working on aspects of my game that you wouldn?t get to work on in a normal practice, the down-low play and one-on-one battles,? said Schenn. ?I think L.A. did a pretty good job of keeping me focused and prepared for things like this, the world juniors.?
Schenn is familiar with all the pre-tournament talk about how this Canadian team is short on skill, how it will have to win ugly, how it?s not as talented as the American squad. The overtime loss to the U.S. and having to settle for silver at the last tournament is fresh in his mind.
?We don?t really know what kind of team we?re going to have,? he said. ?Look at our guys. We?ve got a lot of skill up front, big D-men on the back and two solid goalies as well. Maybe (the team is) not as skilled as past years but there?s definitely some skill up there.
?Last year was a tough pill to swallow there. They?re calling the Americans the favourite ? that?s fine by us. You?ve always got to prove yourself.?
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