75 CHL players set to begin 2014 WU17 in Cape Breton
SYDNEY, N.S. – The first puck is ready to drop at the 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. All 10 teams take to the ice for pre-tournament action Saturday night before the tournament begins Sunday.
The 27-game tournament will be centred out of the Centre 200 in Sydney, N.S., and Emera Centre Northside in North Sydney, N.S., with the Civic Centre in Port Hawkesbury, N.S., hosting two preliminary round games and two placement games. Those three communities, along with Eskasoni, N.S., and Louisdale, N.S., will host pre-tournament games on Saturday.
The 10 teams are divided into two groups. Group A will feature the Czech Republic, Pacific (Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Yukon), Quebec, Sweden and West (Manitoba, Nunavut, Saskatchewan), while Atlantic (New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island), Germany, Ontario, Russia and the United States will comprise Group B.
75 CHL players will compete in the event including 22 on Team Pacific, 20 on Team Ontario, 16 on Team Quebec, nine on Team West, and eight on Team Atlantic.
Atlantic (8):
William Bower (Moncton Wildcats)
Luc Deschênes (Charlottetown Islanders)
Adam Holwell (Moncton Wildcats)
Philippe Myers (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies)
Nathan Noel (Saint John Sea Dogs)
Andrew Picco (Rimouski Oceanic)
Will Thompson (Saint John Sea Dogs)
Nicholas Welsh (Shawinigan Cataractes)
Ontario (20):
Jesse Barwell (Mississauga Steelheads)
Kyle Capobianco (Sudbury Wolves)
Lawson Crouse (Kingston Frontenacs)
Sean Day (Mississauga Steelheads)
Sam Harding (Oshawa Generals)
Graham Knott (Niagara IceDogs)
Travis Konecny (Ottwa 67’s)
Matthew Kreis (Barrie Colts)
Adam Laishram (Belleville Bulls)
Justin Lemcke (Belleville Bulls)
Mitchell Marner (London Knights)
Hayden McCool (Niagara IceDogs)
Garrett McFadden (Guelph Storm)
Brett McKenzie (North Bay Battalion)
Blake Speers (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds)
Matthew Spencer (Peterborough Petes)
Mitchell Stephens (Saginaw Spirit)
Dylan Strome (Erie Otters)
Troy Timpano (Sudbury Wolves)
Mitchell Vande Sompel (Oshawa Generals)
Pacific (22):
Tyler Benson (Vancouver Giants)
Nick Chyzowski (Kamloops Blazers)
Ty Comrie (Tri-City Americans)
Kevin Davis (Everett Silvertips)
Giorgio Estephan (Lethbridge Hurricanes)
Joe Gatenby (Kelowna Rockets)
Glenn Gawdin (Swift Current Broncos)
Matteo Gennaro (Prince Albert Raiders)
Brendan Guhle (Prince Albert Raiders)
Jansen Harkins (Prince George Cougars)
Noah Juulsen (Everett Silvertips)
Nick McBride (Prince Albert Raiders)
Nick Merkley (Kelowna Rockets)
Brad Morrison (Prince George Cougars)
Adam Musil (Red Deer Rebels)
Brady Reagan (Regina Pats)
Chaz Reddekopp (Victoria Royals)
Ty Ronning (Vancouver Giants)
Zach Sawchenko (Moose Jaw Warriors)
Braylon Shmyr (Brandon Wheat Kings)
Tyler Soy (Victoria Royals)
Parker Wotherspoon (Tri-City Americans)
Quebec (16):
Anthony Beauvillier (Shawinigan Cataractes)
Jason Bell (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles)
Callum Booth (Quebec Remparts)
Jérémy Bouchard (Chicoutimi Sagueneens)
Simon Bourque (Rimouski Oceanic)
Guillaume Brisebois (Acadie-Bathurst Titan)
Alex Dostie (Gatineau Olympiques)
Olivier Galipeau (Val-d’Or Foreurs)
Julien Gauthier (Val-d’Or Foreurs)
Brandon Gignac (Shawinigan Cataractes)
David Henley (Val-d’Or Foreurs)
Bradley Lalonde (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles)
Nicholas Meloche (Baie-Comeau Drakkar)
James Phelan (Shawinigan Cataractes)
Jérémy Roy (Sherbrooke Phoenix)
Nicolas Roy (Chicoutimi Sagueneens)
West (9):
Ethan Bear (Seattle Thunderbirds)
Terrell Draude (Calgary Hitmen)
Jesse Gabrielle (Brandon Wheat Kings)
Cameron Hebig (Saskatoon Blades)
Keegan Kolesar (Seattle Thunderbirds)
Troy Murray (Kootenay Ice)
Meyer Nell (Red Deer Rebels)
Braden Purtill (Tri-City Americans)
Tate Olson (Prince George Cougars)
CLICK HERE FOR THE 2014 WORLD UNDER-17 HOCKEY CHALLENGE SCHEDULE
The gold medal game will be held Jan. 4 at 5 p.m. AT/1 p.m. PT and will be shown on TSN/RDS, Hockey Canada’s official broadcasters. All other games at the tournament, including 20 preliminary round games, three placement games, both semifinals and the bronze medal game, will be available live through FASTHockey webcasts at www.hockeycanada.ca/wu17.
Ticket packages are now available in all three host communities – Sydney (12 games, $99), North Sydney (15 games, $99) and Port Hawkesbury (five games, $50). For more information on tickets, including how to purchase, CLICK HERE.
The event brings together the top players in the world born in 1997 or later. The under-17 program is the first step in Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence. Many players who compete at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge go on to represent Canada with the National Men’s Under-18 Team, National Junior Team and National Men’s Team.
Nineteen of the 21 players who were selected for Canada’s National Junior Team and are currently playing in the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship in Malmö, Sweden, played at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. Since the first under-17 tournament (then known as the Quebec Esso Cup) in 1986, more than 1,200 NHL draft picks have played in the tournament, including 10 of the last 13 first-overall selections (Ilya Kovalchuk, 2001; Rick Nash, 2002; Marc-André Fleury, 2003; Alexander Ovechkin, 2004; Erik Johnson, 2006; Patrick Kane, 2007; John Tavares, 2009; Taylor Hall, 2010; Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 2011; Nathan MacKinnon, 2013).
For more information on the 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca/wu17, or follow along via social media at www.facebook.com/worldu17 or www.twitter.com/hc_wu17.