Derek Roy (Photo: Bill Wippert)

Before Derek Roy began piling up points for the Buffalo Sabres, he enjoyed a standout junior hockey career that included an appearance on the international stage.

The Sabres center played in the 2003 IIHF World Junior Championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Roy was in his final year of major junior hockey eligibility when he got the call to join Team Canada’s squad. 

“When I played in the world juniors, it was in Canada, so it was a great experience playing for my own country on home ground,” said Roy.  “Going out there, seeing how electrifying it is and how enthusiastic everyone is puts lot of pressure on you at that young age, but it was fun.”

It was an easy decision for Team Canada to add Roy to its team since he was a big contributor for his major junior team, the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League.  In 242 career OHL games with the Rangers, Roy scored 335 points and helped his team win the Memorial Cup in 2003. Although Roy enjoyed success in the OHL, he quickly learned that the World Junior Championship is a completely different level of hockey.

“When you’re playing junior hockey, you're playing against some players that aren’t so good, but when you’re in the World Juniors level, every player is good, which is the same with the NHL. There are no bad players out there or easy shifts, so it’s a learning experience and it goes to show you how every shift counts,” said Roy.

Roy took the representation of his country seriously and recorded a goal and two assists in the tournament while winning 59-of-82 faceoffs (72%). Roy was productive for Canada, but he admits the excitement was hard to put aside while wearing his nation’s colors.

“There are a lot of good hockey players, and emotionally when you're young and playing for your country, it’s hard to control your emotions," recalled Roy.  "You're going out there playing as hard as you can, as best as you can, while representing your country with respect.”

Team Canada was looking as good as advertised and went undefeated in the preliminary round  to grab the top seed in its bracket.  In the semifinals, the team edged the United States by a 3-2 score to advance to the championship game where they lost a hard-fought contest to Russia and went home with silver medals.  Despite falling just short of the gold, Roy was proud of his team’s accomplishment.

“The silver wasn’t the medal we were going for, but I’m proud of how we worked hard in the tournament,” said Roy. “It was a rough experience to lose at that age, but it puts things into perspective that you just have to go out and work harder.”

While Roy was fortunate to play for his country in Canada in 2003, many Americans will have the same privilege this year.  The 2011 IIHF World Junior Championship is coming to Buffalo this winter, and Roy expects to see another enthusiastic crowd like he saw in Halifax.

"Buffalo’s a great hockey town, so a lot of fans will be at the games.  The U.S. will be represented well, and Canada is so close, so I assume they will have a good turnout as well”.  Roy also encourages the fans to come see the tournament.

“The fans can expect to see good hockey, good young talent, and future NHL stars.  We all played in there, the Ovechkins, Crosbys, Kovalchuks, and it’s good to see them when they’re young and are developing into NHL hockey players.”