Colts’ Ekblad named CAN U18 Captain
BRECLAV, Czech Republic – Head coach Dale Hunter announced Sunday that defenceman Aaron Ekblad (Belle River, Ont./Barrie, OHL) will serve as captain of Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team at the 2013 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament, which begins Monday in Breclav, Czech Republic and Piestany, Slovakia.
In addition, Hunter also announced that two players will serve as alternate captains during the tournament: forward Sam Bennett (Holland Landing, Ont./Kingston, OHL) and defenseman Joe Hicketts (Kamloops, B.C./Victoria, WHL).
CLICK HERE FOR CANADA’S NATIONAL MEN’S SUMMER UNDER-18 TEAM ROSTER
Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team will begin its quest for a sixth consecutive gold medal on Monday, Aug. 5 (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT) when it faces the Czech Republic in Group A action in Breclav. It will be the first of three games in three days for Canada, which faces Sweden on Tuesday and Switzerland on Wednesday during the preliminary round.
The top two teams from Group A and Group B will cross over for the semifinals on Friday, Aug. 9 before the gold medal game and bronze medal game on Saturday, Aug. 10.
CLICK HERE FOR THE 2013 MEMORIAL OF IVAN HLINKA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Canada played one pre-tournament game, beating Slovakia 3-1 on Saturday in Piestany. Canada outshot the Slovaks 50-17 and led 2-0 just 14 minutes in on its way to victory. Spencer Watson (London, Ont./Kingston, OHL) scored twice and Michael Dal Colle (Vaughan, Ont./Oshawa, OHL) had a goal and an assist to lead the Canadian offence.
There will be no TV or radio coverage of the 2013 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament, but fans can follow all of the action with live updates at www.hockeycanada.ca. Hockey Canada’s official website is also the place to find game summaries, stories and other features.
For more information on Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team and Hockey Canada, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca, or follow along through social media at www.facebook.com/hockeycanada, www.twitter.com/hockeycanada and www.twitter.com/hc_men.