It's the final day of the U18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup selection camp for Team Canada and Cochrane's Tyrel Bauer plans to do what he has done all camp.

"I'm going to play my game," says Bauer, 17, who has just finished his first full season on defence for the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds. "There's a lot of good players here. The competition is tight and the coaches have been stressing habits. I think that's kind of my game--my simplicity and my physicality--so I've been playing my game and having some fun."

The Cochrane player, who shined with AAA hockey teams here since bantams, is one of just 44 competing for a spot on the national team that will be heading to Europe to play in Breclav, Czech Republic, and Piestany, Slovakia, Aug. 5 to 10.

Having a shot at representing the nation is special, he says.

"It's an honour anytime you can play for the Maple Leaf. It's the best-on-best here, 44 of our best in Canada, so it's very special and very humbling to be a part of it. I'm going to do my best to go forward."

It's more than a selection camp, though. Like all Hockey Canada programs, it's about developing skills. No matter what is announced tomorrow, Bauer knows there's he'll gain plenty from the five-day camp.

"Hockey Canada has a lot of amazing resources that we can access," he says. "There are a lot of top-notch officials, coaches, managers, stuff like that and a lot of great players, too. So you learn how to perform under pressure in a short-term competition like this. For me, I'm going to take away what I learned, where I stack up against these guys, what I can do better and hopefully give myself the best chance to be on this team."

Team Canada head coach Michael Dyck knows well the play of Bauer. As head coach of the WHL's Vancouver Giants, he saw Bauer often during WHL regular season and playoff action. He's impressed with what he saw from Bauer at this camp so far.

"He has played well. He's a character guy. He's a really solid defenseman, he defends extremely well, he's physical and he's very hard to play against."

Come tomorrow, the final roster will be named. The players aren't making it easy to decide. 

"We want speed, we want skill, we want guys who are going to compete, we want sense, guys who play fast and play smart and, obviously, team guys."

"We've got some really tough decisions to make. It's not only a really good group, but it's also a really deep group. There's not much stuff separating the top players and the depth guys."

Canada has won the U18 tournament 22 times in its 28-year history. The Russians are the only other team to have won it more than once.

"Team Canada has done very well in this tournament," Dyck says. "We have a standard that we have to live up to and we knew that coming in. The expectations are going to be high and they should be. We have a very good group to work with and we're looking forward to taking this group overseas and competing."

Life with the Seattle Thunderbirds

The 6'3, 205 lb defender played 64 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds last season after getting a brief taste of the WHL the season before.

There is a steep learning curve when you make the jump from midget play to the WHL, he says.

"You take a lot from the season. You get through the grind and have some fun with the guys while doing it. You bring back whatever you can for stuff like this camp and be at your best."

"When we're down there, our life is hockey with a small social life on the side."

It was a rollercoaster season for the Thunderbirds and the highlight has to be a 13-day road swing which built momentum late in the season. That included an important win against the Prince Albert Raiders. 

"We went into the PA barn and beat them, which hadn't been done a lot before. That turned around our season and we ended up to climb into a wild card spot. It was a pretty exciting back half."

He says the hockey culture is growing in Seattle and expects it will continue to expand with a future NHL franchise announced.

He says the T-Bird fans are the best.

"Our fans are amazing. They're very supportive. They cheer loud. I think we have the best fans in the Western Hockey League and around the division, too."

"The culture is growing, for sure. Seattle just got an NHL team, I think that's going to help in the surrounding the communities. We go out and we help promote the game and it's going to be fun going forward."