Exhilaration and heartbreak, just a hotel room apart.
That's what it's like every year when Team Canada makes its final cuts before the World Junior Hockey Championship.
Manitobans were on opposing ends of that emotional spectrum in Regina yesterday, Travis Hamonic, from St. Malo, getting the best news of his young life, Winnipeggers Cody Eakin and Scott Glennie getting some of the worst.
Brandon Wheat Kings forward Brayden Schenn, from Saskatoon, made the team, too.
We'll let Hamonic, a 19-year-old defenceman, take us through his emotions, first.
CHEWING HIS NAILS
Up until 2:30 a.m. on the last night of selection camp Tuesday, chewing his nails along with his roommate, Jared Cowen, Hamonic says he finally went to sleep, only to wake up before 6.
"I crossed my fingers and went back to sleep," Hamonic said.
A knock on the door woke him up at 9:15.
"Al Murray (Team Canada scout) is standing there with two duffel bags, one for me and one for Jared," he said. "And he had a big smile on his face. So we just started laughing right away. It was that moment where you realize you're on the team.
"At that moment you're thinking of all the things you've done throughout your career to be there."
And all the people who helped him get there.
His mom. His brother and sisters. His coaches. His Western League billets in Moose Jaw. God.
Most of all, his dad.
Gerald Hamonic died of a heart attack nine years ago. His son likes to remember him by writing "dad" on the knob of his sticks.
Yesterday, he was thinking how his dad would be reacting to the news he'd made Team Canada.
"He'd be probably taking it the same way my mom did," Hamonic said. "Well, obviously not to that extent. She was crying when I called. My mom was a bit hysterical. It's a dream come true to her and the rest of the family.
"He's a big part of this. He'd be ecstatic. They'd be jumping in the car and making it to Regina together. I wish he was here to see it, but I know he's still watching."
So were some 235 people who e-mailed or texted Hamonic in the first couple of hours after the news broke.
"The support from Manitoba has been huge," he said.
As pumped as Hamonic was, Eakin and Glennie would have been equally devastated.
Glennie was the hard-luck victim of a concussion suffered in an intra-squad game the night before.
Eakin, one of the top goal scorers in the country, simply the victim of the numbers game.
"I can't say I've ever been cut before," Eakin told reporters in Regina. "It's disappointing and I'll take a while to think about it."
Hamonic knows the feeling. He's been there, a late cut a year ago.
"Unfortunately I was in their shoes last year," he said. "Both those guys are great friends of mine. It's hard and you learn a lot from it. There's no doubt in my mind those guys will be key contributors next year."
As 18-year-olds, they'll get another chance.
Hamonic wouldn't have.
Another reason yesterday was as good as it gets for him.
Especially when it all started to sink in.
"You realize you're not only playing for yourself or your province," he said. "You're playing for your country."
On home soil, no less.
Team Canada opens the tournament Dec. 26, against Latvia.
You can bet the Hamonic clan will be there. One of them watching from the best seat in the house.
And from a hotel room in Regina, Boxing Day never looked so good.
"Whenever you make the world junior team," Hamonic said. "That's obviously something really special."
paul.friesen@sunmedia.ca
