O’Rourke to represent Canada at 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge
CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada announced its 66-player roster selected to represent Canada at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, set for Nov. 3-10 in Saint John and Quispamsis, N.B.
A total of 57 CHL players are included in the announcement and will be divided into three teams – Team Canada Black, Team Canada Red, and Team Canada White – and will compete against the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States in their quest for a gold medal.
Of the 57 players, 27 are from the Ontario Hockey League, 16 are from the Western Hockey League and 14 are from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
CHL Players on Canadian Teams:
Goaltenders:
Will Cranley (Ottawa 67’s)
Defencemen:
Michael Bianconi (Flint Firebirds)
Jamie Drysdale (Erie Otters)
Lleyton Moore (Niagara IceDogs)
Jake Murray (Kingston Frontenacs)
Ryan O’Rourke (Sault Ste. Greyhounds)
Michael Renwick (Hamilton Bulldogs)
Donovan Sebrango (Kitchener Rangers)
Nolan Seed (Owen Sound Attack)
Zack Terry (Guelph Storm)
Jack Thompson (Sudbury Wolves)
Forwards:
Cameron Butler (Peterborough Petes)
Quinton Byfield (Sudbury Wolves)
Will Cuylle (Windsor Spitfires)
Luke Evangelista (London Knights)
Jean-Luc Foudy (Windsor Spitfires)
James Hardie (Mississauga Steelheads)
Matthew Maggio (Ottawa 67’s)
Logan Morrison (Hamilton Bulldogs)
Cole Perfetti (Saginaw Spirit)
Jacob Perreault (Sarnia Sting)
Riley Piercey (Barrie Colts)
Dylan Robinson (Oshawa Generals)
Cameron Tolnai (Ottawa 67’s)
Tyler Tullio (Oshawa Generals)
Reid Valade (Kitchener Rangers)
Evan Vierling (Flint Firebirds)
In July, 112 players were invited to participate in Canada’s national under-17 development camp and introduced to the Hockey Canada Program of Excellence. The players chosen to represent Canada at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge were selected by Brad McEwen (Whitewood, Sask.), head scout for Hockey Canada, with assistance from U17 POE management group lead Martin Mondou (Grand-Mère, Que./Shawinigan, QMJHL), as well as regional scouts Carl Bouchard (Quebec), Barclay Branch (Ontario), Barclay Parneta (West), Darren Sutherland (Atlantic), and Darrell Woodley (Ontario).
“Any time you bring together the best young players in the country there are bound to be difficult decisions when selecting players, and we feel the 66 young men we chose exemplify the core values of the Program of Excellence,” said McEwen. “We believe that these players possess a willingness to learn and grow as they progress through our program and represent Canada, and give us the best chance to compete for a gold medal this November.”
The tournament opens Saturday, Nov. 3 at the qplex in Quispamsis when Finland takes on Sweden at 3:30 p.m. AT, followed by Team Canada Red, silver-medallist last year, facing off against Russia at 7:30 p.m. AT. The United States will kick off the action at Harbour Station in Saint John on Sunday, Nov. 4 when it plays the Czech Republic at 12 p.m. AT, followed by an all-Canadian match-up between Team Canada Black and Team Canada White at 4 p.m. AT.
TSN and RDS, the official broadcasters for Hockey Canada, will air both semifinals on Friday, Nov. 9, as well as the bronze- and gold-medal games on Saturday, Nov. 10; please check local listings for details. Media accreditation for the 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge for Harbour Station in Saint John and qplex in Quispamsis can be requested online.
After a successful ticket launch, full-event ticket packages for the 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge are sold out. A $99 Harbour Station ticket package is now available for purchase at the Harbour Station box office and includes all preliminary-round games in Saint John, as well as both semifinals and the bronze- and gold-medal games. Single-game tickets are also available for purchase starting at $13 at HockeyCanada.ca/Tickets.
The communities of Saint John and Quispamsis will receive the net proceeds from all ticket and ticket-package sales as a legacy of the event to support grassroots hockey within their communities as part of their hosting agreement with Hockey Canada. Additionally, recent editions of the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge have resulted in as much as $6 million in economic impact within the host communities.
More than 1,700 NHL draft picks have suited up since the inception of the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge (previously known as the Quebec Esso Cup) in 1986, including 13 first-overall draft picks since 2001 (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 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along via social media on Facebook and Twitter.
