UFA, Russia — Not two weeks ago, Mark McNeill was at home in Edmonton, wondering if he had let the chance of a lifetime slip through his fingers.
The Prince Albert Raiders captain had been cut at Canada’s selection camp and was trying to get through the Western Hockey League’s winter break without thinking too much of what could have been.
That changed when Charles Hudon suffered a back injury during the Canadian team’s preparation in Finland. Canada head coach Steve Spott placed a call to McNeill and got the 19-year-old’s father, Bernie, on the phone. Spott told the older McNeill that his son would be needed for the 2013 World Junior Championship.
