PRINCE GEORGE — In five years helping coach and manage the Portland Winterhawks, Travis Green’s powerful junior teams were dotted with superstar prospects like Ryan Johansen, Seth Jones, Nino Niederreiter and Derrick Pouliot — all top-10 draft picks in the National Hockey League.
And none of them, Green said Friday, loved the game more or worked harder at it than Sven Baertschi.
“He wasn’t a second fiddle to anybody,” Green explained. “He was a kid who loved coming to the rink, loved playing the game, loved working really hard. He stayed extra, went on the ice early, couldn’t get enough of the game.