WORLD U17 WRAPS FOR PACIFIC AND WEST

The Prince Albert Raiders’ Josh Morrissey scored a power play goal 3:12 into overtime to give Pacific a 5-4 win over Quebec and fifth place at the 2012 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge on Tuesday night in Windsor.

The game was a rematch of last year’s bronze medal game in Winnipeg, Manitoba, also won 5-4 in overtime by Pacific. It’s the third year in a row these Canadian teams have met in the playoff round at the U17 tournament. Team Pacific has won all three.

Matt Needham (Penticton, B.C./Kamloops, WHL), Macoy Erkamps (Ladner, B.C./Lethbridge, WHL), Greg Chase (Sherwood Park, Alta./Calgary, WHL) and Nicolas Petan (Delta, B.C./Portland, WHL) had the other goals for Pacific, which scored four second-period goals to turn a one-goal deficit after one period into a two-goal lead through 40 minutes. Pacific has not finished outside the top half of the final standings since 1997, when it was sixth.

Team Pacific finished the round robin with a 3-1 record defeating Team West (5-2), Czech Republic (4-0), and Russia (4-3) before falling to the USA (4-2) on January 2, eliminating them from medal contention.

The 2012 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge brings together the top players in the world born in 1995 or later. The tournament is made up of 10 teams; five (5) from Canada – Quebec, Ontario, Pacific (Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Yukon), Atlantic (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island) and West (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nunavut), and five (5) International teams –  Germany, Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic and the United States.

CLICK HERE FOR TOURNAMENT STATS AND SCORES

Team Pacific is comprised of 11 players from BC and 11 players from Alberta. Each province held a provincial camp over the summer to identify a set number of players. These players were evaluated during the first part of the club team season by a selected group of high performance evaluators.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE TEAM PACIFIC ROSTER

Team Pacific has included some of the top hockey players that Canada has ever produced.  Some notable graduates who have competed on Team Pacific include:

• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 2010
• Joe Sakic, Team Pacific 1986
• Jarome Iginla, Team Pacific 1994
• Brent Seabrook, Team Pacific 2002
• Dion Phaneuf, Team Pacific 2002
• Mike Green, Team Pacific 2002
• Evander Kane, Team Pacific 2008

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 the National Men’s Under 18 Team, National Junior Team and National Men’s Team.