VIENNA, Austria – It was 3:30 a.m. when nature called Jamie Fraser.
“I got up to use the restroom and when I do that I use my phone for light,” said Fraser, a defenceman with the Vienna Capitals of Eishockeymannschaft, the Austrian Elite League who just lost out in the best-of-seven league final.
“I noticed I had an e-mail. It was from Jim Nill,” he said of the G.M. of Team Canada to the IIHF World Championship that begins May 1 in Prague.
“He wrote to tell me that they were short a defenceman and wondered if I’d be interested in practicing with the team starting here Saturday night and playing with them against Austria here Wednesday.