Minnesota Wild Assigns Mathew Dumba to Canadian National Team

Oct 28, 2013; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild defenseman Mathew Dumba (55) against the Chicago Blackhawks at Xcel Energy Center. The Blackhawks defeated the Wild 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

It’s officially…well…official. The Minnesota Wild announced today that the team has assigned the 2012 7th overall pick Mathew Dumba to the Canadian National Junior Team in order to participate in the 2014 Under-20 World Junior Hockey Championships.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Dumba. “It’s a great opportunity for me to just go out there and experience everything about that. I haven’t had the chance to play at the World Junior level thus far, so I’m looking forward to it and I can’t wait to get started.”

After being the final cut from Team Canada the past two years, the dynamic young defenseman will earn top minutes on Canada’s No. 1 defensive pairing. In addition, Dumba stands a good chance of slapping on a letter to the front of his sweater as an assistant captain or captain for his now former WHL coach Brent Sutter who has been tabbed as Canada’s head coach for the tournament.

“It’s going to be a good experience for me to play at my age group,” said Dumba. “I hope I can go in there and just be the best I can be, show my skills and show that I deserve to be there; I wanted to be there last year and the year before that.”

In 13 games as a rookie with the Minnesota Wild this season, Dumba has scored a power play goal and an assist for two points and a negative-5 rating while skating an average of 12:26 in ice-time per game.