The Belleville Bulls' assistant coach is the head coach of Team Ontario's entry at the World Under-17 Challenge in Timmins, ON and wants to extend Ontario's championship winning streak to three straight years.
Grimes, who was an assistant coach for Ontario in the past two events, will be behind the bench when Ontario opens the World Under-17 Challenge on Tuesday in Timmins, ON against Finland with a roster full of many of the Ontario Hockey League's top 16 year old players.
"I like the team," Grimes said before leaving for the tournament on Christmas Day. "I think that everyone selected on this team has a real good chance of helping us. We think there are four or five guys that have been left off our list that could have really helped us too.
"We think there is a lot of depth and we plan to use that to our advantage so that we can use four lines, use seven defencemen and keep everybody going at a high tempo and get contributions from everybody."
Team Ontario boasts firepower up front in OHL first round picks like Matthew Puempel of the Peterborough Petes, Boone Jenner of the Oshawa Generals, Alan Quine of the Kingston Frontenacs and Daniel Catenacci of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, who was the first overall pick in the OHL Priority Selection last May.
As impressive as the OHL squad is up front, they may have even more talent on the blueline. The team boasts six OHL first round picks on defence, including Ryan Murphy of the Kitchener Rangers, the third overall pick last May, and Justin Sefton of the Sudbury Wolves, the fifth overall pick.
In net, Ontario's roster includes Bulls' first round pick Tyson Teichmann as well as Chris Festarini of the Port Colborne Pirates, a fifth round pick of the Erie Otters last May.
The Ontario players assembled in Toronto for a one day camp on December 21 and got back together to travel to Northern Ontario on Christmas Day. They will hit the ice together for an exhibition game against Russia on Monday.
"There was a lot we packed into that one day to get everybody on the same page," said Grimes, who played in the tournament for Team Atlantic before joining the Bulls as a rookie centre more than 20 years ago. "What we're going to do for systems and what to expect. It's building. We've got to see if we can get everyone on the same page and in the same direction and use our talent."
Jeff Reid of the Owen Sound Attack and Troy Smith of the Kitchener Rangers are with the team as assistant coaches while OHL Central Scouting Director Rob Kitamura is the Director, Operations.
Ontario has won two straight gold medals at the World Under-17 Challenge and would equal their own record of three straight tournament wins set in 1995-1998. Ontario beat Team Pacific in the gold medal game last year in Port Alberni, BC with players like John McFarland of the Sudbury Wolves, Tyler Seguin of the Plymouth Whalers and Ryan Spooner of the Peterborough Petes in the lineup. In 2008, they beat the U.S.A. in the championship finale in London, ON with players like Taylor Hall and Ryan Ellis of the Windsor Spitfires, as well as Matt Duchene of the Brampton Battalion. Ryan O'Reilly of the Erie Otters was the team captain.
Grimes said that he thinks this year's squad has just as much talent as the two previous years.
"We think we have a talented bunch and we want to have systems that are not necessarily too complicated so they can get them and show their talents," Grimes said. "If they're thinking too much about if they're in the right place, they're not going fast, they're not physical and they're not thinking about winning the game. We really want to get this thing down quickly so that guys can start to show their talent early."
Grimes said that the physical style that Ontario has played during the past two tournaments will continue this year in Timmins.
"For Ontario, one of our biggest attributes has been showing size and strength and being very physical early," Grimes said. "It's a year-long preparation for a 10 day event."
After Tuesday, Ontario returns to action on Wednesday against Quebec. They have an off day on Thursday before games against Sweden on New Year's Day and Team West on Saturday. The playoff round begins on Sunday and the medal games will be played on Monday.
