Hockey in Canada is somewhat a tradition for most of us and given the talent of the up and coming young players, it’s not too surprising that we continue to look forward to the U-17 Hockey Challenge.

Canada currently has 66-player on the roster, that include 19 players currently playing for or drafted by one of the Western Hockey League’s 22 Member Clubs. Get yourself on this one website and you need not worry about that piquing, nagging sense of which the best player in the roster is.  

They have been selected to represent Canada at the 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, set for Nov. 3-10 in Saint John and Quispamsis, N.B.

The 66 players 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.

Featured among the 19 WHL players named to the roster are 10 of the top 11 players selected from the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft, including first overall selection Kaiden Guhle (Sherwood Park, Alta. / Prince Albert Raiders).

Overall, 14 of the 22 first-round selections from 2017 WHL Bantam Draft were named to the roster by Hockey Canada.

In November 2017, six WHL players won silver as part of Canada Red at the tournament, held in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, B.C.

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.

He had assistance from U-17 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 kicks the event off with the games played at the Harbour Station in Saint John (Nov. 4) playing against the Czech Republic at noon.  

This will be followed up by an all-Canadian match between Team Canada Black and Team Canada White at 4 pm.

Thanks to Taylor Rocca, Senior Manager, Communications, WHL