Stars’ Eakin Only Manitoban at World Championship

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Stars’ Eakin Only Manitoban at World Championship

When Team Canada general manager Jim Nill selected his squad for the 2015 IIHFL World Senior Men’s Hockey Championship, he made sure there were plenty of Dallas Stars and at least one Manitoban.

Winnipeg’s Cody Eakin is the only Manitoba representative on Team Canada at the World Championships, which start this week in Czech Republic, but the fact he’s a member of Nill’s NHL Stars makes him a rather obvious choice.

Winnipeg’s Cody Eakin of the Dallas Stars (Photo by Jeff Miller).

Team Canada is already in Austria training. They’ll head to Prague on Wednesday and play their first preliminary-round game against Latvia on Friday (9:15 a.m. CDT). They’ll face Germany on Sunday (9:15 a.m. CDT), Czech Republic on Monday (1:15 p.m. CDT), Sweden on Wednesday (1:15 p.m. CDT), France next Saturday (5:15 a.m. CDT), Switzerland on Sunday, May 10 (1:15 p.m. CDT) and Austria next Tuesday, May 12 (5:15 a.m.). That will wrap up the round-robin portion of the tournament.

“This is my third time doing this and it’s one of the best teams I’ve ever been involved with,” said Nill, the former member of the Winnipeg Jets 1.0. “And I think that says a lot considering my other two experiences with Team Canada at the World Championship both resulted in gold medals.”

Nill played for the Jets from the trade deadline in 1985 until he was dealt to the Detroit Red Wings in 1988. There are no members of the Jets on this edition of Team Canada.

Eakin, meanwhile, had 19 goals and 21 assists in 78 games with Nill’s Stars this season. He is joined on Team Canada by other Stars Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza.

Born and bred in Winnipeg, the son of a Winnipeg police officer and a solid amateur player in his own right, Butch Eakin, Cody started out playing hockey like the rest of the kids in his South End neighborhood. He says that he learned to skate before he could walk.

He plied his trade in the WHL for the Swift Current Broncos for three and a half seasons before playing his last half season with the Kootenay Ice. During that time, Eakin was a point-per-game player, amassing 118 goals and 239 points in 238 career regular season games.

Stars and Team Canada GM Jim Nill at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre (Photo by Jeff Miller)

“Cody’s a good player,” said Nill, who played against Eakin’s father back when they both played in the Western Hockey League. “He is responsible in all zones, he does all the little things right and for his size he is very strong on the puck. He’s just a really responsible, solid, all-around player for us.”

It’s the 200-foot player that Nill wants with Team Canada in Czech Republic.

There is one other Manitoban with Team Canada at the Worlds. Team therapist Rob Malette is also from Winnipeg.

TEAM CANADA 2015

Goaltenders

Martin Jones North Vancouver, B.C. Kings

Mike Smith Kingston, Ont. Coyotes

Defense

Tyson Barrie Victoria, B.C. Avalanche

Brent Burns Barrie, Ont. Sharks

Aaron Ekblad Belle River, Ont. Panthers

Dan Hamhuis Smithers, B.C. Canucks

Jake Muzzin Woodstock, Ont. Kings