Like most Canadians with even a passing interest in hockey, Dennis Cholowski looks forward to the annual ritual of watching Team Canada going for gold in the IIHF world junior championship.

Chances are the captain of the Prince George Cougars will be watching this year's team burst through the pack all the way to the gold-medal game in Buffalo.

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Ever since the tournament officially started in 1977, Canada has won it 16 times, more than any other country, and has achieved runner-up status nine times, including last year's shootout loss to the United States in the final.

That history of hockey success never fails to boost Cholowski's national pride but he can't help but think about how close he came to helping Team Canada write the next chapter. The 19-year-old Langley native was one of 10 defenceman invited to the world junior team camp last week in

St. Catharines, Ont., but was cut from the team Thursday.

"It was fun, I enjoyed it," said Cholowski.

"Seeing those guys before, I got to hang out with them a little bit and obviously the result wasn't the way I wanted it to be, but what am I going to do now. For sure it'll be bittersweet, I'll get to watch it but obviously I'd like to be there and it's frustrating at the same time."

Cholowski practiced twice with the world junior team and played two exhibition games against a U Sports (university) all-star team.

"I thought I played really well but I guess I can't do anything about the result now," said Cholowski on Wednesday from Omaha, Neb., where he's visiting his girlfriend Brooke. "I'm just going to go back to Prince George and focus on the season."

Cholowski knew he was in tough to crack the roster with three returning defencemen - Jake Bean (Calgary Hitmen), Kale Clague (Brandon Wheat Kings), Cal Foote (Kelowna Rockets). D-men Cale Makar (Boston University), who went fourth overall in the 2017 NHL draft to Colorado, and former Penticton Vee, Dante Fabbro (Boston University) also survived the cuts.

Fabbro hurt his foot stopping a shot in a college game and attended the Hockey Canada camp but has been shut down for the pre-tournament games and has been replaced by Josh Mahura (Regina Pats), who had been cut on Friday. A final decision on Fabbro's tournament eligibility will be made before the roster is submitted on Dec. 24.

After missing one Cougar game, Cholowski returned to the lineup Friday in Kent, Wash., where they lost 5-3 to the Seattle Thunderbirds. They Cats went on to lose 4-0 in Everett on Saturday and suffered a 2-0 defeat Sunday afternoon to the Vancouver Giants in Langley, Cholowski's hometown.

"The Everett one wasn't our best game but the other two we deserved a better fate for sure," said Cholowski. "We played really well and worked hard against Seattle and Vancouver and just didn't get the bounces. If we play like that in the second half (of the season) we'll be alright."

The Cougars (12-17-3-2) currently rank last in the Western Conference but are just five points behind Seattle for the final wild-card playoff spot, with 38 games remaining on the schedule. The Cats will gather for practice at CN Centre on Dec. 26, then head to Victoria for games against the Royals Dec. 27 and 28. They also play back-to-back games in Vancouver, Dec. 30 and Jan. 1 before returning home.

Drafted 20th overall in the 2016 NHL draft by the Detroit Red Wings, Cholowski gave up his three remaining seasons of college eligibility when he signed an entry-level contract with Detroit over the summer and joined the Cougars, who picked him in the 10th round of the 2013 bantam draft.

Cholowski's participation in the world junior camp was not his first national team/international hockey experience.

In 2015, when he was still with the Chilliwack Chiefs of the BCHL, Cholowski, Fabbro, Makar, Tyson Jost and Blake Hayward (who now plays for the Prince George Spruce Kings) were part of the Canada West team that won gold at the World Junior A Challenge in Coburg, Ont. They beat Russia 2-1 in the final.

In November, Cholowski played for Team WHL in the 2017 CIBC Canada-Russia Series and had one assist in two games.

Now one of the highest-scoring defencemen in the WHL, Cholowski has thrived as a first-year Cougar. Through 31 games, he has eight goals and 19 assists for 27 points and is third in team scoring, just two points behind Cougars' points leader Jared Bethune.

Known as a strong two-way defender with the ability to generate offence with his fluid skating stride and puckhandling skills, Cholowski has been give free reign to go deep into enemy territory when he thinks the time is right. While he sometimes gets caught at the blueline, creating an odd-man rush the other way, Cholowski is usually fast enough on his feet to atone for his mistakes.

"It's really just trying to find the perfect balance right now between offence and defence," he said. "I try to be as offensive as I can whenever I can. I'm going to try to be a leader on and off the ice. The last couple games we haven't scored any goals so I'm going to try to ramp up the offence and generate some more goals and try to stay sound defensively. Goaltending is probably the most important position and our goalies have been playing well lately and if they can keep that up I think we'll start stringing some wins together."

The younger son of John and Natalie Cholowski says it's been a smooth adjustment playing for the Cougars, where he feeds off the knowledge passed down by two former NHL defenceman - head coach Richard Matvichuk and assistant Shawn Chambers.

"I'm really enjoying it in Prince George, I really like the coaches and the players are all really nice too," Cholowski said.

"It's great having two former NHL'ers and Stanley Cup winners, that's always going to help. They're really nice guys, really laid back, but at the same time if you do something wrong they're going to tell you."

The WHL trade deadline is fast approaching on Jan. 10 and the Cougars will play seven games leading up to that date before they have to decide if they want to make any moves. Trading Cholowski, who will likely turn pro next season, to a team loading up for an extended playoff run this spring could give the Cougars a valuable younger asset or two to contribute to the team for next two or three seasons.

"You try to not let those thoughts get in your head, you just try to focus on what the team's doing now, but you never know what can happen," said Cholowski.

Team Canada played the Czech Republic in a pre-tournament game Wednesday in London, Ont., and will face Switzerland Friday in Hamilton. The Canadians open the tournament Dec. 26 against Finland.

Cougars winger Vladimir Mikhalchuk and Team Belarus open against Sweden at

11 a.m. PT on Dec. 26.