Josh Brook didn’t make the team out of the selection camp, but the Moose Jaw Warriors defenceman is excited about the opportunity in front of him.

Brook is representing Team Canada at the 2016 Ivan Hlinka U18 Memorial Cup after being named to the team as an injury replacement last week.

“It’s a big honour to be chosen, even after an injury,” said Brook following Canada’s 3-2 overtime win over Slovakia in the tournament opener on Monday. “I’m super happy to be here and looking forward to the rest of the tournament.”

The 17-year-old is heading into his second season with the Warriors after a solid, but injury-plagued rookie season.

This is the second chance he’s had to represent Canada after taking part in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge last year with Canada Red, finishing in fourth place.

He said that getting the chance to play for Canada’s under-18 team has an even more special feel to it.

“It’s always a huge honour to represent Canada, but it’s a little bit bigger than representing for the Under-17s because there’s only one team this time,” said Brook. “I’m happy to be here.”

Brook felt that he had a strong selection camp as he battled it out with 44 other players from across Canada for a chance to go for gold at the annual summer under-18 tournament in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

He was named to the team after an injury to Jacob Paquette.

“I thought I had a good camp, but was inconsistent with my play,” Brook said. “I thought all-in-all that I didn’t do too bad.

“I’m just trying to keep it simple now and earn the coaches trust,” he added. “I’m going to play my game with a bit of offence, but mostly focused on defence.”

Team Canada, who has won eight straight gold medals at the tournament, was given a bit of a scare in their opening game on Monday as they needed overtime to get past Slovakia.

Victoriaville’s Maxime Comtois scored his second of the game with 29 seconds to go in the 3-on-3 extra frame to lift Canada to the win.

“We have a lot more to offer, but it’s just the start and we’re just going to keep getting better,” said Brook.

Canada opened the game with two goals in the first period from Mississauga’s Owen Tippett and Comtois, but they couldn’t extend their lead past the two-goal mark.

Slovakia pulled within one when Michal Ivan scored just past the midway point of the third period and then with 1:02 to go in regulation, Filip Krivosik scored the equalizer for the Slovaks.

“We stuck to our game plan in the first period, kept the puck low, kept it cycling and got pucks to the net, but we got away from that in the second and third,” said Brook. “We just need to play like we did in the first and we’ll be okay.”

The Canadians outshot Slovakia 17-4 in the opening frame and 43-23 overall in the game.

Canada will now take on Russia in their next round robin game on Tuesday at 3:30 a.m. Saskatchewan time.