Canadian Rosters for 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge
Thursday October 2, 2014
SARNIA, Ont. – Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Hockey League, announced Thursday the three Canadian rosters for the 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, scheduled for Nov. 2-8 in Sarnia-Lambton, Ont.
The tournament will be the first to feature three Canadian national teams – Black, Red and White. From 1986 to 2014, Canada was represented by five regional teams: Atlantic, Ontario, Pacific, Quebec and West.
CHL Players in 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge:
Goaltenders:
Reilly Pickard (Baie-Comeau Drakkar)
Stuart Skinner (Lethbridge Hurricanes)
Defencemen:
Jake Bean (Calgary Hitmen)
Kyle Clague (Brandon Wheat Kings)
Samuel Girard (Shawinigan Cataractes)
Ryely McKinstry (Vancouver Giants)
Jacob Neveu (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies)
Tyler Nother (London Knights)
Reagan O’Grady (Kingston Frontenacs)
Forwards:
Tyler Benson (Vancouver Giants)
Matthew Hotchkiss (Guelph Storm)
Pierre-Luc Dubois (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles)
Pascal Laberge (Gatineau Olympiques)
Felix Lauzon (Victoriaville Tigres)
Beck Malenstyn (Calgary Hitmen)
Christopher Paquette (Niagara IceDogs)
Zach Poirier (North Bay Battalion)
Cliff Pu (Oshawa Generals)
Brandon Saigeon (Belleville Bulls)
Sam Steel (Regina Pats)
Lucas Thierus (Sherbrooke Phoenix)
Nolan Volcan (Seattle Thunderbirds)
Goaltenders:
Evan Fitzpatrick (Sherbrooke Phoenix)
Dylan Wells (Peterborough Petes)
Defencemen:
Guillaume Beck (Victoriaville Tigres)
Sean Day (Mississauga Steelheads)
Thomas Gregoire (Sherbrooke Phoenix)
Victor Mete (London Knights)
Logan Stanley (Windsor Spitfires)
Matthew Timms (Peterborough Petes)
Forwards:
William Bitten (Plymouth Whalers)
Logan Brown (Windsor Spitfires)
Tye Felhaber (Saginaw Spirit)
Noah Gregor (Moose Jaw Warriors)
Samuel Guilbault (Charlottetown Islanders)
Tyler Hylland (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada)
Jake Kryski (Kamloops Blazers)
Adam Mascherin (Kitchener Rangers)
Michael McLeod (Mississauga Steelheads)
Nolan Patrick (Brandon Wheat Kings)
Miguel Picard (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada)
Mason Shaw (Medicine Hat Tigers)
Givani Smith (Barrie Colts)
Goaltenders:
Samuel Harvey (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies)
Ryan Kubic (Vancouver Giants)
Defencemen:
Josh Anderson (Prince George Cougars)
Gabriel Bilodeau (Val-d’Or Foreurs)
Jakob Chychrun (Sarnia Sting)
Luke Green (Saint John Sea Dogs)
Josh Mahura (Red Deer Rebels)
David Quenneville (Medicine Hat Tigers)
Forwards:
Jonathan Ang (Peterborough Petes)
Travis Barron (Ottawa 67’s)
Dillon Dube (Kelowna Rockets)
Brett Howden (Moose Jaw Warriors)
Tanner Kaspick (Brandon Wheat Kings)
Alexander Katerinakis (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada)
Jordan Kyrou (Sarnia Sting)
Jordan Maher (Acadie-Bathurst Titan)
Hunter Moreau (Rimouski Oceanic)
Michael Pezzetta (Sudbury Wolves)
Taylor Raddysh (Erie Otters)
“It is an exciting day for Hockey Canada and the Program of Excellence,” said Scott Salmond, vice-president of hockey operations and national teams with Hockey Canada. “This is a tremendous group of 66 players we have named today, and we’re confident they will represent their country with pride and passion as we kick off a new era for the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.”
The 66 players were selected by Ryan Jankowski, Hockey Canada’s director of player personnel, together with Joël Bouchard, a member of Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence management group, and regional scouts Donald Audette (Quebec), Brad McEwen (West), Kevin Mitchell (Atlantic) and Kyle Raftis (Ontario).
Players were evaluated with their club teams early in the 2014-15 season, at Canada’s national under-17 development camp in Calgary, Alta., in August, and during the 2013-14 season, including at three regional under-16 events: the Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup, OHL Gold Cup and QMJHL Excellence Challenge.
The 24-game World Under-17 Hockey Challenge will be centered out of the RBC Centre, home of the OHL’s Sarnia Sting, but will also feature games at The Shores Recreation Centre in Lambton Shores, Ont. Those two communities, along with Petrolia, Ont., and Watford, Ont., will host pre-tournament games on Oct. 31.
CLICK HERE FOR THE 2014 WORLD UNDER-17 HOCKEY CHALLENGE SCHEDULE
Full-tournament ticket packages are now on sale in both host communities; 12-game packages in Sarnia are available for $215, while an 11-game package in Lambton Shores is on sale for $185. Lambton Shores package holders can add tickets to the bronze medal game and gold medal game in Sarnia for an additional $60.
For more information on tickets, including how to purchase, call (519) 541-1717 or visit the RBC Centre box office.
The 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge will bring together the top players in the world born in 1998 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 Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team, National Junior Team and National Men’s Team.
Since the first under-17 tournament (then known as the Quebec Esso Cup) in 1986, more than 1,300 NHL draft picks have played, including 11 of the last 14 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; Aaron Ekblad, 2014).
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.
