CONNOR MCMICHAEL TO PLAY FOR TEAM CANADA WHITE AT 2017 WORLD UNDER-17 HOCKEY CHALLENGE
With the puck set to drop on the tournament in two weeks, the 23 OHL players on the three teams will face competition from the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States in their quest for a gold medal.
OHL Players at the 2017 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge:
Team Canada Black (7):
Defencemen:
Thomas Harley (Mississauga Steelheads)
Forwards:
Tag Bertuzzi (Guelph Storm)
Hayden Fowler (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds)
Blake Murray (Sudbury Wolves)
Aidan Prueter (Saginaw Spirit)
Jamieson Rees (Sarnia Sting)
Philip Tomasino (Niagara IceDogs)
Team Canada White (8):
Defencemen:
Mitchell Brewer (Oshawa Generals)
Nathan Staios (Windsor Spitfires)
Forwards:
Joe Carroll (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds)
Graeme Clarke (Ottawa 67’s)
Ethan Keppen (Flint Firebirds)
Connor McMichael (Hamilton Bulldogs)
Cody Morgan (Kingston Frontenacs)
Nicholas Porco (Saginaw Spirit)
Team Canada Red (8):
Goaltenders:
Luke Cavallin (Flint Firebirds)
Defencemen:
Evan Brand (Kingston Frontenacs)
Colton Kammerer (Sarnia Sting)
Forwards:
Brandon Coe (North Bay Battalion)
Mitchell Russell (Owen Sound Attack)
Ryan Suzuki (Barrie Colts)
Keean Washkurak (Mississauga Steelheads)
Nick Wong (Oshawa Generals)
The players were selected by Brad McEwen (Whitewood, Sask.), Hockey Canada’s head scout, in consultation with U17 POE management group lead Steve Staios (Hamilton Bulldogs), along with regional scouts Carl Bouchard (Quebec), Barclay Branch (Ontario), Barclay Parneta (West), Kevin Mitchell (Atlantic) and Darrell Woodley (Ontario).
“This has been a lengthy process from the initial 111 players invited to our summer development camp to narrowing it down to the 66 on our three teams,” said Shawn Bullock, Hockey Canada’s senior manager of hockey operations and men’s national teams. “Our management group and scouting staff have assembled three competitive teams which will wear the Canadian jersey with pride at this prestigious, international competition.”
The tournament officially kicks off Nov. 5 at the Encana Events Centre in an all-Canadian affair as last year’s silver-medallist, Team Canada Black, takes on Team Canada White at 2:30 p.m. MT (4:30 p.m. ET). The opening day concludes with Sweden facing Russia at North Peace Arena in Fort St. John.
Single-game tickets are now available – $5 for pre-tournament games, $15 for preliminary-round games, $20 for quarter-finals, $25 for semifinals and the bronze-medal game and $30 for the gold-medal game. In addition to the single-game tickets, fans can take advantage of a variety of ticketing options, including the ‘Family 4-Pack’. For more information on tickets, pricing or how to purchase, CLICK HERE.
TSN and RDS, the official broadcasters of Hockey Canada, will air the semifinal from Dawson Creek and the bronze- and gold-medal games; please check local listings for details.
More than 1,600 NHL draft picks have suited up since the inception of the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in 1986 (previously known as the Quebec Esso Cup), including 13 of the last 16 first-overall draft picks (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; Connor McDavid, 2015 and Auston Matthews, 2016).
For more information on the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow along via social media on Facebook and Twitter.