As the puck prepares to drop on the 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge next week in Victoriaville and Drummondville, Que., 19 players who represented their province or region at past U17 tournaments will be chasing gold beginning Boxing Day at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia.
The list includes one gold medallist – goaltender Jake Paterson, who helped Ontario to the top prize at the 2011 tournament in Winnipeg – and six players who were a part of the Ontario team that reached the gold medal game in 2010 in Timmins, Ont., losing a 2-1 heartbreaker to the United States.
UNDER-17 ALUMNI ON CANADA’S NATIONAL JUNIOR TEAM ROSTER
The players were selected following a four-day selection camp in Calgary that included 36 players – 29 of whom were under-17 alumni.
The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, the first step in Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence, gives players their first international experience, pitting five Canadian entries (Atlantic, Ontario, Pacific, Quebec, West) against five teams from around the world.
In addition to the selection camp numbers, 22 players with World Under-17 Hockey Challenge experience were part of Canada’s 28-player roster for the 2012 Canada-Russia Challenge, held last August in Halifax, N.S., and Yaroslavl, Russia in place of the annual summer development camp.