For Troy Bourke it's shaping up as a spring to remember.
The Prince George Cougars' forward was one of seven Western Hockey League players named to Canada's national men's under-18 team for the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World U18 championship, April 12-22, in Brno and Znojmo, Czech Republic.
Bourke received the call from Hockey Canada less than a week after his 18th birthday
"It was a nice little birthday gift for me," said Bourke. "Whatever role they give me I'll just embrace it, whether it's a defensive role or an offensive role or fourth line or first line, it doesn't really matter.
"Whatever they give me and tell me to do, I'm going to do it to the best of my abilities," he added.
After taking the WHL by storm as a 16 year old where he put up 19 goals and 42 points in 68 games, Bourke was a bright spot on the Cougars' team in a trying season in which the team iced a youthful lineup - most nights one-third of the team was 16 - as they finished 24-46-0-2.
In his sophomore season with the Cougars, Bourke led the team in points (56) and assists (38) and was tied with 20-year-old forward Spencer Asuchak for the team-lead in goals with 18. In two seasons, with the Cats the left-winger has racked up 40 goals, 101 points in 144 games.
Canada finished fourth at the under-18 tournament in 2011, as Team USA captured its third straight gold medal. The last time Canada won gold was in 2008, which featured the Buffalo Sabres' Tyler Myers and Cody Hodgeson, Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall of the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers' rookie Brayden Schenn. Pat Quinn coached the team while 2012 head coach Jesse Wallin was an assistant.
No matter how Canada fares this month in the Czech Republic Bourke will likely hear his name called in Pittsburgh at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, June 22-23 as many NHL scouts have said Bourke will probably be drafted in the third or fourth round.
Michelle Bourke was fielding multiple calls Wednesday from various media outlets and friends who wanted to speak with her son after word of his overseas trip was made public. The proud mom said there's a simple reason why her son finds success on every team he plays on.
"He's always been a team player and never thought anything past the next year," said Michelle. "If he made a triple-A team or whatever."
Bourke only missed one Cougars' game last season and his parents are just happy their son's hockey career has left him relatively free of injuries.
"We were always just grateful he stayed in the lineup and stayed healthy," said Michelle.
In 2011 the Onoway, Alta., farm boy attended the under-18 camp but was cut from the tryout, so having the second chance and getting the phone call Sunday from Hockey Canada was thrilling.
"It's an exciting feeling to represent your country in any way that you can," said Bourke. "I've been looking forward to this team and I was pretty happy to make it."
He said playing in another Hockey Canada event wet his appetite for future hockey tournaments.
"Going to the U-17 was a good accomplishment for me; it was a fun tournament to go to," said Bourke, who played for the bronze-medal winning Team Pacific at the 2010-11 tournament held in Winnipeg over Christmas. "And getting cut from the U-18 team was just the spark for me to really want to make it and I think it kind of helped in me becoming a little bit of a better player."
Bourke was in Toronto on Wednesday with his under-18 teammates preparing to take off for his first overseas adventure. Other WHL players named to the team include: defencemen Damon Severson (Kelowna Rockets), Josh Morrissey (Prince Albert Raiders) and Mathew Dumba (Red Deer Rebels); and forwards Branden Troock (Seattle Thunderbirds), Mike Winther (Raiders) and Sam Reinhart, a 16-year-old with the Kootenay Ice.
"I know some of them a little more than the others but I'm looking forward to meeting everyone," he said.
The rest of the team is made up from players from teams out of the playoffs in the Ontario Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Hockey Canada has reserved three spots to add players at a later date.
The team leaves Toronto on Friday night after spending today enjoying the sights at the Hockey Hall of Fame and practicing at the Air Canada Centre, where the NHL's Maple Leafs play home games.
Canada opens the world championship April 12 in Brno against Denmark. Other teams they'll face in the preliminary round are the Czech Republic, Finland and the United States.
"I'm just going to enjoy the experience," said Bourke.
