Islanders’ Matthew Schaefer, Bo Horvat about to find out Team Canada fate

CHICAGO — This time last year, Matthew Schaefer was representing Team Canada on home soil at the World Junior Championship.

That tournament ended badly for Schaefer, who broke his collarbone, and for Canada, which finished fifth, but the 18-year-old still remembers the noise at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

“It doesn’t even feel real when everyone’s on their feet the whole game,” Schaefer said Tuesday before the Islanders faced the Blackhawks. “It’s awesome.”

So, to have the chance to wear the maple leaf again, except this time for Olympic gold?

“I don’t think there’s one person in the world who would say no to their country,” Schaefer said. “Especially Canada. We got a great country, a great hockey country. If you get the opportunity, everyone would love to do that and it would be such an honor. Great experience.”

Schaefer and Bo Horvat alike will be waiting for calls from Team Canada management Wednesday morning, with Hockey Canada set to announce its Olympic roster at a press conference in Minneapolis, where World Juniors are currently being held, at noon.

“Obviously focused on the task at hand tonight and everything, but it’s always in the back of your mind,” Horvat said. “Obviously you want to be on that team and representing your country. I feel like I’ve given myself every opportunity, every chance to try and solidify and make their decision hard and give myself a chance.

“Whatever happens, happens. I’m just gonna be proud to be Canadian either way. If I get to be there, it’d be a dream come true. At the same time, there’s so many great hockey players in this country that we’re gonna have a great team no matter what.”

Horvat appears to be in decent shape to make the roster, likely on a role that will see him play fourth line and penalty-killing minutes, or perhaps be the extra forward.

Whether Schaefer makes it will come down to whether Canada wants to keep its same eight defensemen from the 4 Nations Face-Off or bump one off.

If either of them aren’t named to the initial roster, there’s a good chance they will be on call as a potential injury fill-in.

Schaefer would not be the only 18-year-old to ever play for Team Canada at the Olympics — Kirk Muller (1984), J.J. Daigneault (1984) and Eric Lindros (1992) have done so — but he would be the youngest ever Canadian to represent the country at a best-on-best Olympic tournament.

That title is currently held by Drew Doughty, who was 20 at the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

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“If I get a call, great. If not, I’m just playing with the Islanders and I’m just focusing on this,” Schaefer said. “… There’s a lot of great Canadian defensemen and a lot who are in the NHL. I’m just gonna play my game and just worry about what we got going on there.”

All federations need to submit their rosters Wednesday, but the U.S., Sweden and Finland are waiting until Jan. 2 to formally announce their rosters.

As it relates to the Islanders, that means Emil Heineman and Simon Holmstrom, who are both in the Team Sweden mix, will learn their fates soon as well.

Swedish assistant general manager Josef Boumedienne met with all three of the Islanders’ Swedes — Heineman, Holmstrom and Adam Boqvist — earlier in the season when he was in New York. Heineman, who has excelled in a top six role with the Islanders, has put himself firmly into the conversation for Tre Kronor whereas Holmstrom’s potential inclusion likely comes down to whether Sweden feels the need for another penalty killer and defensive presence.

“Dreaming of it,” Heineman said. “It would be fun. Like any kid that dreams of playing in the Olympics, I still do.”