21 CHL Players Named to Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team Pre-Competition Roster
Wednesday April 7, 2016
Calgary, AB – Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Hockey League, announced Thursday 21 players to take part in Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team pre-competition camp in Winnipeg in preparation for the 2016 IIHF U18 World Championship.
CHL talent on the roster includes three goaltenders, six defencemen and 12 forwards.
Goaltenders:
Michael DiPietro (Windsor Spitfires)
Evan Fitzpatrick (Sherbrooke Phoenix)
Stuart Skinner (Lethbridge Hurricanes)
Defencemen:
Jake Bean (Calgary Hitmen)
Jakob Chychrun (Sarnia Sting)
Nicolas Hague (Mississauga Steelheads)
Markus Phillips (Owen Sound Attack)
David Quenneville (Medicine Hat Tigers)
Logan Stanley (Windsor Spitfires)
Forwards:
Jared Anderson-Dolan (Spokane Chiefs)
Will Bitten (Flint Firebirds)
Maxime Comtois (Victoriaville Tigres)
Jordan Kyrou (Sarnia Sting)
Pascal Laberge (Victoriaville Tigres)
Beck Malenstyn (Calgary Hitmen)
Michael McLeod (Mississauga Steelheads)
Antoine Morand (Acadie-Bathurst Titan)
Michael Rasmussen (Tri-City Americans)
Mason Shaw (Medicine Hat Tigers)
Owen Tippett (Mississauga Steelheads)
Gabe Vilardi (Windsor Spitfires)
CLICK HERE FOR CANADA’S NATIONAL MEN’S UNDER-18 TEAM ROSTER
Hockey Canada’s director of player personnel, Ryan Jankowski, built the roster with support from head coach Shaun Clouston (Viking, Alta./Medicine Hat, WHL) and assistant coaches Serge Lajoie (St. Albert, Alta./University of Alberta, CWUAA), Jarrod Skalde (Niagara Falls, Ont./Guelph, OHL), and national team alumnus Ryan Smyth, who is part of Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence management group. Jankowski evaluated the players during the 2015-16 season, following them alongside numerous other candidates during league play, as well as in international competition.
“Bringing the players together in Winnipeg gives the team a chance to gel before we travel to Grand Forks, and allows some of our up-and-coming players to gain some valuable experience working with our coaching staff and playing two exhibition games against international teams,” said Jankowski. “We’re looking forward to a great week in Winnipeg, and hope the fans will come out to watch a preview of the world-class hockey we’ll all be able to enjoy in Grand Forks, and on TSN.”
The roster includes three goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards, as well as:
- six CHL players (Bean, Bitten, Kyrou, Malenstyn, McLeod, and Quenneville) who won a gold medal with Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team at the 2015 U18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup in the Czech Republic and Slovakia last summer; and
- eight players (Comtois, DiPietro, Anderson-Dolan, Morand, Phillips, Rasmussen, Tippett and Vilardi) who participated in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, B.C., last November.
The roster includes select under-age players invited to play in pre-tournament games to gain added experience in international competition. Players from across the CHL that have been eliminated from playoff action will be added to complete the roster for the tournament.
Canada will play a pair of pre-tournament games in Winnipeg, facing the Czech Republic on April 10 (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT) before taking on Sweden on April 12 (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT). Tickets are $10 and available for purchase at the MTS Iplex on game day.
Canada opens the 2016 IIHF U18 World Championship, hosted in Grand Forks, N.D., from April 14-24, on April 15 against Denmark; it will also play the Czech Republic, Finland, and Slovakia in preliminary-round action. TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will broadcast 12 games, including all Team Canada match-ups.
Canada has won seven medals at the IIHF U18 World Championship, including three gold medals (2003, 2008 and 2013).
For more information on Hockey Canada and the Program of Excellence, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow along via social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Twitter.com/HC_Men.