Spruce Grove, Alta. – A group of 44 invitees will gather in Calgary from Dec. 3-5 at the Markin MacPhail Centre at WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park for the Team Canada West selection camp. The players will participate in games and practices before departing for Bonnyville on Dec. 6.
The players were selected from the CJHL’s five western Junior A leagues: Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), Manitoba Junior Hockey Leauge (MJHL), Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) and Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL). The Team Canada West coaching staff, led by Rick Swan (Sherwood Park, Alta./Bonnyville, AJHL) and director of operations Kevin Saurette (Brandon, Man./MJHL), will use the selection camp to make final evaluations before naming the Team Canada West roster.
“After months of work put in to identifying players, our group is excited to bring a talented group together for selection camp, and we look forward to helping assemble Team Canada West for what should be a highly-competitive international tournament in Bonnyville,” said Saurette. “We know these 44 players will bring a competitive and hard-working attitude to camp as we look to select our 22-player roster for the 2018 World Junior A Challenge.”
Among the invitees are Spruce Grove Saints goaltender Matt Davis, defenceman Tanner Hickey, defenceman TJ Lloyd and forward Parker Saretsky.
Team Canada West will open its tournament against the United States at 7 p.m. MT on Dec. 9 at the R.J. Lalonde Arena in Bonnyville.