White quietly leads Canada
28.12.2002. Wharnsby, Tim. The Globe and Mail

 When a candidate for the Canadian junior hockey team plays his final game for his club team before departing for the selection camp, it's common for the player to mail in his effort.

In most cases, he is trying to avoid injury, looking ahead to an important career opportunity. But that wasn't so for defenceman Ian White, the first hero to emerge from the 2002 Canadian team after a two-goal, one-assist effort in Canada's 8-2 victory against Sweden in the opening game of the world championship at the Halifax Metro Centre on Thursday.

On Dec. 8, White's second-place Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League were in a heated contest against the first-place Red Deer Rebels. With six minutes remaining in the game and the outcome in doubt, White jumped up into the play to create a 2-on-1 break. After receiving the puck, he made a move that froze the opposing defenceman, then he shifted into the slot and scored his 10th goal of the season to clinch the match.

"It was a tremendous goal," the Broncos' coach and general manager, Brad McEwen, said. "But it was the kind of play we have come to expect from Whitey. He is no doubt our most consistent player. Even his average games are pretty good."

White could be excused for being nothing more than an average player this year. In May, a month before the Toronto Maple Leafs selected the native of Steinbach, Man., in the sixth round of the National Hockey League draft, White's mother, Dianna, was diagnosed with cancer.

But the close-knit family fought the disease together. Dianna underwent six months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and after the treatments ended recently, she appears to be winning her battle. Dianna and her husband, Allan, have made the trek to Halifax from Steinbach, about 30 minutes drive southeast of Winnipeg, and were able to celebrate their son's grand effort with him.

"It has been a battle," White said. "But she has strong enough character to survive."

Something that obviously has rubbed off on her 18-year-old son, a quiet, unassuming teenager who lets his play on the ice do his talking.

When White was a peewee (age 12), he played on a summer all-star team that was coached by current Los Angeles Kings bench boss Andy Murray and former Winnipeg Jets standout Thomas Steen. Some of White's more high-profile teammates included Murray's son Brady, Craig Carlyle, son of former Jets defenceman Randy Carlyle, and Steen's son Alex, another Maple Leafs pick, who is playing for Sweden in the world tournament.

The all-star team won its fair share of games and tournaments, and for White, it was the turning point in his fledgling career.

"It was definitely a boost to my confidence," said White, one of five Maple Leafs prospects on the Canadian team.

Still, White wasn't selected until the fifth round by the Broncos in what McEwen calls "a great find."

Last year was White's breakout season. He scored 32 goals, breaking Craig Millar's Swift Current record for goals by a defenceman by one.

The 5-foot-9, 182-pound blueliner possesses a big-league shot from the point, a skill he developed on the family's back-yard rink in Steinbach.

"Everybody sees his offensive exploits, but he is very responsible in his own end," McEwen said. "He plays against all the other teams' top players. He has great skill and vision."

McEwen describes White as low key, a player who quietly and efficiently goes about his daily business. He is involved with local charities in Swift Current, something that reflects well on his parents.

Dianna and Allan often make the 12-hour drive by car from Steinbach to Swift Current for weekend games. Along with a brother, Jonathan, the White family attended games in 1999 when the world junior tournament was in Winnipeg.

But in Halifax, the tournament has taken on new meaning for the Whites.

And just with Dianna in the stands, the tournament was off to a good start for the family. The two goals, one assist and the victory were just a bonus.

The skinny: In all likelihood, Germany will play Belarus to see who stays in the A Pool for next year's tournament.