The players who competed together 15 years ago with the future world hockey stars – Ilya Chetvertak and Ukrainian Oleksei Vorona – will face each other.
D. Zubraus leads the prestigious tournament
Every year, the Pee-Wee tournament is held in the Canadian city of Quebec, where thousands of the most talented players from all over the world face each other on the ice. Dainius Zubrus, who reached the NHL in the strongest league on the planet for a long and successful time, was probably the first Lithuanian to appear in it.
Back in 1991-1992, he represented the Ukrainian “Druzhba-78” team, and a few years later he opened the door to the NHL. However, while playing in the NHL, he did not forget this youth team and the Lithuanians. In 2009, three Lithuanians Ilja Četvertakas, Edvinas Boroška and Dominykas Škadauskas went to this tournament on the initiative of the current president of the association “Hockey Lietuva”.
One of them – I. Chetvertakas, still defends the honor of the Lithuanian national team. Remembering the invitation to the tournament, he emphasized that it was D. Zubrus himself who opened the way for Lithuanians to this event.
“This is the legendary Canadian children’s Pee-Wee tournament, in which Dainius Zubrus once participated with the Ukrainian team. He also played in the “Druzhba-78″ team and, as far as I know, it was he who wanted Lithuanians to participate in the ranks of this team. Dainius invited the most talented players at the time who could go to the tournament”, said the forward of the national team after the fourth match of the World Championship.
The Lithuanians integrated well into the team and are still remembered by the Ukrainians who participated in the tournament. When asked about the tournament, Oleksejs Vorona somehow remembered the fact that they had rubbed shoulders with the Lithuanians in the tournament.
“The so-called “select” of the best Ukrainian players was gathered in the team. We had guys from Kiev, Kharkiv, Ilya, Edvinas and Dominykas joined us for the tournament. The team was very cool in the tournament, we didn’t have any weak links. It’s just a shame that when we were leading 3-2 against the eventual winners from Detroit, we let go in the last 7 minutes and lost. But we played in the legendary “Coliseum” and the memories remained for a lifetime,” the Ukrainian recalled.
The fact that almost half of the current NHL players tried this tournament in their youth speaks best about the level of this tournament. According to I. Chetvertak, at that time he did not think about the fact that some of the players he met on the ice would one day open the doors of the strongest league on the planet.
“I found out about the fact that future NHL stars played there only this year. There were top level players who are now some of the best in the world. I remember that upon arrival you had to sign a card, and in the canteen there is an exhibition with the cards of those hockey players who later played in the NHL. Many future superstars visited there, so our year was not exceptional. A lot of talent participates there every year, so it’s not surprising that they reach this level.”
The team includes a future NHL superstar
During the trip to Canada, Lithuanian and Ukrainian players shared the dressing room with the current ice hockey superstar. Auston Matthews – the most productive player in the NHL this season – also played in the team at that time.
According to I. Chetvertaks, the coaches were talking about his talent even then, and it could be seen by the players themselves on the ice. True, at that time, both representatives of our country and Ukrainians showed not much worse results.
“The coach also singled this out for us. He used to say that this is a player of extraordinary talent. And we saw it outside the field as well, where he used to sing and in other ways showed that he is a creative person. His physical preparation also showed a lot of promise, you can’t say that he was head and shoulders above the others, but you could see that he would have a good future. But at that time we could really play together. At that time, both Edvin and I could score goals, and there was a more productive player than him in the team.”
A. Matthews’s personality also stuck with O. Voronai. According to him, the 12-year-old player was already surrounded by scouts who promised him a great future.
“A. Matthews joined us regularly and participated in other tournaments. Although he was not a “super athlete” and was not the strongest on the ground, everyone could see his talent on the ice. At the time, I thought he was a guy with great technique and a “golden” head. Even then, scouts from the U-18 or even U-20 teams would come to him, repeating that they were waiting for him in their team and giving advice on what he still needed to improve.”
Former colleagues will face a deadly battle
15 years ago, I. Chetvertakas and O. Vorona, who only dreamed of playing for their country’s national team, will face each other on Friday at the Twinsbet Arena in Vilnius. According to the striker of the Lithuanian national team, it is very nice to see that his former teammate has reached the level of his country’s national team, and seeing him is fun to remember the game together.
“It’s nice to see that the players we played with then reached the national team. Although we do not maintain a close relationship, we do not forget each other and say hello when we meet somewhere. It’s always nice to see that your former teammates are still playing and doing it successfully, so it’s nice to shake hands and remember those times,” said I. Chetvertaks about his former colleague.
In the match against Ukraine, the Lithuanian national team hopes to have a yet-to-be-revealed trump card – a full stand of the “Twinsbet” arena. According to I. Chetvertaks, our national team is already experienced and knows what it means to play such matches. As a result, they will be able to cope with the excitement, and with the support from the stands, you can support the Ukrainians, who were considered the favorites of the tournament.
“We will have to pull together and make things even better.” The matches we’ve played so far haven’t really matched the level of Friday’s match. It will be necessary to prepare psychologically, because we know the opponents, the coaches will make a deeper analysis, so our attitude will be very important.
The support of the stands will also be very important, we would like to fill them with fans so that we can hold our own and give them a good fight. We will definitely be able to do that, we will manage the stress, because we are already an experienced team that has played matches of this level many times. The most important thing is to prepare, recover and go to fight.”
The matches of the “2024 IIHF World Ice Hockey Championship Division I, Group B” tournament in Vilnius will end with the match between Lithuania and Ukraine. The team that wins this match will not only win the gold, but will also advance to the Division I Group A tournament.
