It was supposed to be a two-day road trip. But when Jake Virtanen sat down to pack, he grabbed the biggest suitcase he could find and stuffed it with enough clothes to last a month.
After all, you never know when your bus road back to Utica will turn into a flight to Finland.
“I packed a decent amount of stuff, just in case,” said Virtanen, a native of Abbotsford, B.C. “My mom helped me, so that’s got to help a little bit.”
The extra clothes will come in handy. Shortly after helping the Utica Comets come from behind to defeat the Toronto Marlies 5-4 in overtime on Sunday, the Vancouver Canucks announced that Virtanen would be loaned to Team Canada for the world junior championship.