CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada’s national men’s team program has its sights set on next season, extending invitations to 34 goaltenders to its annual Program of Excellence Goaltending Camp – taking place June 9-12 at the Markin MacPhail Centre in Calgary.

Owen Sound Attack netminder, Michael McNiven – a prospect of the Montreal Canadiens – was one of the goalies invited and will be participating in the U20 portion of the camp.

The 19 year old Georgetown, ON native is coming off of his 2nd full season in the OHL and his first as a starting goaltender. After going undrafted in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, McNiven was signed to an Entry Level Contract by the Canadiens and would go on to post a solid 21-8-7-3 record with a 2.94 goals against average and .902 save percentage in 53 games for the Attack.

McNiven also played for Team OHL in the 2015 CHL Canada/Russia Series, a stepping stone to making Hockey Canada’s national teams.

The camp brings together some of best netminding talent in the nation with top Canadian instructors from across North America, and kicks off the evaluation period for summer development and selection camps at the under-17, under-18, and under-20 levels.

Candidates for inclusion in Canada’s National Junior Team summer development camp include 10 of the top under-20 talent. Meanwhile, eight Canada National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team hopefuls are also set to take part, and 16 contenders in the under-17 group.

“The Program of Excellence Goaltending Camp has allowed us to develop our top talent – both on and off the ice, using world-class goaltending instructors from across North America,” said Scott Salmond, Hockey Canada’s vice-president of hockey operations and men’s national teams. “The line-up of instructors are able to breakdown each goalie’s game, sharpen their skills and give them every opportunity to develop their talent and grow as a player.”

Overseen by Hockey Canada’s director of player personnel, Ryan Jankowski and goaltending consultant, Fred Brathwaite, the camp includes both on- and off-ice sessions with instruction from: Kory Cooper (Mississauga, OHL), Dan DePalma (Kamloops, WHL), Brad Kirkwood (Hockey Canada), Phil Myre (Saginaw, OHL), Stéphane Proulx (Gatineau, QMJHL) and Paul Schonfelder (Ottawa, OHL).

Also included in the three-day camp are members of Hockey Canada’s goaltending advisory board, who will work with the players and instructors: Dave Alexander (Syracuse, AHL), Brady Robinson (Lehigh Valley, AHL), Dwayne Roloson, (Anaheim, NHL), Mike Valley (Dallas, NHL), Andrew Verner, (Peterborough, OHL), and Rick Wamsley (Hockey Canada).

Wamsley will serve as lead for the U17 goaltenders, with Schonfelder taking on the role for the under-18 group. Other instructors and advisors will rotate through each group accordingly.

For more information on Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow along via social media at Facebook, Twitter or Twitter.com/HC_Men.