By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
Two well-known local hockey players are off to South Korea for the Gangwon 2024 Youth Olympic Games where they will don maple leaf jerseys as a key part of the 18-strong Team Canada men’s hockey team.
Twins Liam and Markus Ruck are two of only nine forwards chosen from across Canada to represent the country as part of Team Canada.
The Youth Olympic Games are the world’s largest multi-sport event for high-performance young athletes aged 15–18. Gangwon 2024 runs from Jan. 19 to Feb. 1, and will feature 1,900 athletes from around the world. It will be the fourth edition of the Winter Youth Olympic Games and the first in Asia.
The twin’s mom, Nina Ruck said they received a letter in the spring saying they had been shortlisted for the team and would be watched over the coming months. “So they didn’t actually have to try out, they were just selected by a huge panel of scouts that are with Team Canada,” Nina said.
And realizing what is surely every young Canadian hockey player’s dream – to wear the Team Canada jersey – is not lost on the two 15 year olds.
“It’s really exciting, the first time to put on the Team Canada jersey, I can’t wait,” says Markus. “Ever since we were small watching Canada play on TV, just growing up watching them and now finally we’ll get to put it on.”
Liam agrees, “we’ve always dreamed of putting on that jersey and that experience is going to be unbelievable,” he says.
When asked if there is added pressure representing the country Liam says, “definitely a little bit nervous for sure but it’s also really exciting so we’re just going to go out there and play our game.”
With not a lot of lead time ahead of the tournament the two boys said there won’t be much time to get in sync with the other team members other than a bit of practice and an exhibition game in Victoria.
The team heads for Asia on Jan. 23 and Nina and husband Derek along with their youngest son will follow, in time to cheer on the team.
With four players from BC, Liam and Markus are already familiar with the other two as well as a couple from Alberta.
“We’ll get to meet some new people, we already know a couple of the guys so we’re comfortable going in and it should be fun,” Liam said.
“One of the things the boys are also excited about is that one of their best buddies from Penticton – Mathis Preston – is also on the team,” Nina adds.
“They’ve been playing together on and off since they were about 5 years old,” and the three South Okanagan boys are line-mates for the tournament. “So it’s a little bit of comfort and I think it puts them at ease,” she added.
All three of the boys are part of the Okanagan Hockey Academy and the Canadian Sport School Hockey League U18 (CSSHL-U18). The other BC player is defenceman Ryan Lin from Richmond.
Of the 18 players, eight are from the Ontario Hockey Federation, four are from BC Hockey, three are from Hockey Alberta, While Hockey New Brunswick, Hockey Nova Scotia and Hockey Québec are represented by one player each.
Practising wearing the Team Canada jersey in their younger days, this time it’s for real.
When asked about the competition Liam said they’re not familiar with the other teams, other than the fact the US team “looks pretty good”. Six teams are competing in two groups: Canada, South Korea and Finland are in one and the US, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are in the other.
This will be their first time to Asia which the boys say is a bonus. “The hockey part is going to be super fun, but also going to visit a new country is a little bonus,” Markus said, adding they’ve only been overseas once and that was to Portugal a couple of summers ago.
When asked what their friends and teammates here in the South Okanagan think about it all, Liam said, “everyone’s pretty excited about it and happy for us and they’ll all be watching and seeing how we do.” Markus agrees adding, “Everyone’s super excited for us.”
The two are thankful for support over the years from the community. “Thanks for everything, all the support at the arena – the guys who let us stay out on the ice longer than time – and some great coaches as well, everyone has been just great.”
The six-team tournament will be played with standard rules with two modifications: at the last Youth Olympics Lausanne 2020, teams played three 15-minute periods (instead of 20 at more senior levels) with no overtime, and minor penalties last for 90 seconds rather than the usual two minutes.
Team Canada has participated in the men’s hockey tournament at each Winter Youth Olympic Games to date, winning the bronze medal at Innsbruck 2012 and Lausanne 2020, and the silver medal at Lillehammer 2016.
The Youth Olympics hockey will also feature a 3-on-3 tournament with eight teams in a single group with two matches played at the same time in each end-zone of the rink, with matches being played cross-ice. Players will play three periods of 16 minutes, with two-minute intervals.
The 3-on-3 tournament takes place from Jan. 20-25, with the six-team tournament lasting from Jan. 27-31 (a reminder for anyone wanting to watch live streaming that South Korea is located in the GMT+9 time zone).
Team Canada hits the ice for their first game on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. (3 a.m. Jan. 27 PST) against South Korea. Monday, Jan. 29 at 8 p.m. (3 a.m. PST) will see Canada play Finland with semi-finals on Tuesday, Jan. 30 and the medal round on Wednesday, Jan. 31.
For the Ruck family it’s probably fair to say life revolves around hockey.
Action from all 13 competition days at Gangwon 2024, including the 11 days featuring ice hockey matches, will be streamed live on Olympics.com with dedicated feeds, as well as on the official Olympics app for mobile devices. CBC will also be streaming from Gangwon.
“Congratulations to the tremendous athletes, coaches and staff who have been selected to represent Canada in men’s hockey at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games,” said Katherine Henderson, president and chief executive officer of Hockey Canada and co-chair of Canada’s Winter Caucus of Sport.
“Wearing the Maple Leaf at the Games is an incredible honour and we know fans across our country will be cheering on this group and the rest of Team Canada on as it goes for gold.”
Similarly Lisa Weagle, Team Canada’s Gangwon 2024 chef de mission added: “These young athletes are the future of Canadian hockey and represent the skill, sportsmanship and excellence that define our nation’s passion for the sport. As chef de mission for Team Canada, my message to each of the athletes is to play with heart, seize the moment and represent Canada with pride.”
Liam and Markus were both selected in the first round of this spring’s Western Hockey League Prospects Draft by the Medicine Hat Tigers.
In the Canadian Sport School Hockey League, Liam led all scorers with 90 points (53 goals, 37 assists) in just 27 games. Markus was second with 87 points (22 goals, 65 assists) as the pair linked up to devastating effect for Okanagan Hockey Academy.
