Bishop honoured to play in Super Series games
Clark Bishop already has plenty of international playing experience under his belt, and he’ll put it to good use later this month.
Bishop was one of four Cape Breton Screaming Eagles forwards named to the 2014 Subway Super Series. He and Julien Pelletier will skate for Team QMJHL, while Max Lazarev and Evgeny Svechnikov will be on the opposing Team Russia roster.
Bishop said the ribbing with his Russian teammates has already begun.
“Me and Pelts have already been giving it them a little bit,” said the 6-0, 192-pound native of St. John’s, N.L. “We’ve been joking around a lot about it, so I’m looking forward to playing against them.”
Bishop is all too familiar with facing Russian competition. He’s represented Canada at the under-18 level, medalling twice. The Screaming Eagles also made a pre-season trip to Ufa, Russia, to play in the Junior Club World Cup.
He expects tough competition Nov. 18 in Bathurst, N.B., and Nov. 20 in Rimouski, Que., and hopes to take a step closer to the world junior level.
“The hockey bumps up a bit. It’s more intense,” he said. “You go up a level of hockey I think, there are 18 and 19 year olds pretty much. Russia is a tough team and it’s always a good game between Canada and Russia. I think it’ll be a good game and the speed and intensity level is going to be really high.”
It’s been a big year for Bishop on and off the ice.
The 18-year-old was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in the fifth round, No. 127 overall, in the 2014 NHL Draft in June. He skated with the team at the rookie tournament in Traverse City, Mich., and was the youngest player in attendance.
Bishop was then invited to the Carolina’s main camp where he got to rub shoulders with NHL regulars.
“One practice, we had a little scrimmage after and I’m sitting with Jordan Staal on the bench,” he said. “I’ve always seen those guys on TV growing up and here I am sitting on the bench next to one of these guys. It was pretty cool.”
Bishop was also named team captain of the Screaming Eagles this season upon his return from Carolina’s camp. He spent last year as an alternate captain and inherited the ‘C’ worn by graduating defenceman Stephen Woodworth.
“We felt having someone, and Kyle Farrell is in that group, too, that has been here for the tough years. When Clark came in at 16, we didn’t make the playoffs and Kyle was on that team and so were Tim (Simard) and Julien (Pelletier) in a certain way,” Screaming Eagles head coach and general manager Marc-André Dumont said when asked why he chose Bishop for the role. “We wanted someone that knew were we came from and be one of the guys to lead the way where we were going. His experience also with Carolina, he has the tools, the drive and the passion to continue our development and be part of the leadership group.”
Already leading by example, Bishop is fourth in team scoring with nine goals and eight assists for 17 points in 17 games this season. He’s well on his way to eclipsing his career high of 33 points (14 goals, 19 assists) from last year.
