Smith named alternate captain for Canada’s National Junior Team

Spokane Chiefs captain Ty Smith will take on a leadership role with Canada at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Wednesday, Smith was named an alternate captain for Canada’s entry at the annual showcase of the world’s best junior hockey talent. Barrett Hayton was named team captain while Joe Veleno and Ty Dellandrea were also named alternate captains.

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound product of Lloydminster, Alta. will be part of a leadership group for Canada at an international tournament for the fifth time. He captained Canada to a silver medal at the 2016 Youth Olympic Winter Games, led Canada Black to a silver medal at the 2016 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, and also led his nation’s entry into the 2018 IIHF Under-18 World Championship. He served as an alternate captain at the 2017 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, winning a gold medal with Canada.

Named captain of the Chiefs at the start of the 2018-19 Western Hockey League Regular Season, the first-overall selection from the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft and New Jersey Devils prospect has tallied 193 points (30G-163A) in 215 WHL regular season games. He also has 16 points (3G-13A) in 22 WHL playoff games.

Last month, Smith captained Team WHL at the 2019 CIBC Canada Russia Series.

Named the recipient of the Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy as WHL Scholastic Player of the Year in 2018, Smith was also named the recipient of the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy as WHL Defenceman of the Year in 2019 as well as taking CHL Defenceman of the Year honours.

Canada opens their round-robin schedule at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship on Thursday, December 26 (11:00 a.m. MT) against the United States.

𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨.

🇨🇦’s National Junior Team to be led through the 2020 #WorldJuniors by:

©️ – Barrett Hayton
🅰️ – Joe Veleno
🅰️ – Ty Smith
🅰️ – Ty Dellandrea pic.twitter.com/YdQdABr4zy

— #WorldJuniors (@WorldJuniors) December 25, 2019