By / Mike Beasley
The Drive for Five has begun for Canada’s World Junior Team.
Thirty-eight players were invited to Canada’s 2009 Selection Camp at a press conference on Dec. 3 at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.
Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League made the announcement as Team Canada will attempt to win their fifth Gold medal in a row when the tournament begins in Ottawa on Dec. 26.
The Selection Camp will take place at Scotiabank Place and the Robert Guertin Arena in Gatineau, Quebec from December 11 to 15.
Canada will play two exhibition games at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto starting with a match-up against Sweden, the 2008 Silver medalists, on Dec. 19, followed by a match versus Finland two days later.
Canada will play their final tune-up versus Slovakia at Cops Coliseum in Hamilton on Dec. 23.
Of the 38 players invited, four won gold medals at the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championships in Pardubice, Czech Republic last year. Thirty-one of the players named to the selection camp roster were drafted in either the 2007 or 2008 NHL Draft, including thirteen first round selections and eight second round selections.
Zack Boychuck, (Lethbridge Hurricanes)...Thomas Hickey, (Seattle Thunderbirds)... PK Subban, (Belleville Bulls) and John Tavares (Oshawa Generals) were members of the 2008 squad.
For Hockey Canada, the selection camp roster is never an easy chore for Al Murray, the head scout for Canada’s men’s national teams.
“We had 65 viable candidates to be invited to this camp but we had to make some difficult decisions,” Murray said. “There is so much talent in Canada that selecting a team like this is very often a difficult process.”
Pat Quinn, the man who will be guiding Team Canada at this years’ World Championship is very impressed with the talent he has to work with at this tournament.
“I’m impressed with the level of skill that these players have and the depth of our youth,” Quinn admitted. “Canada can play tactically and technically with any country in the world. But what will separate us from the rest is that we’ll play the Canadian way which I fully expect our boys to do.”
Canada opens the tournament against the Czech Republic on Dec. 26.
The forward group consists of Jamie Arniel, Jamie Benn, Zach Boychuk, Matt Calvert, Patrice Cormier, Stefan Della Rovere, Chris DiDomencio, Matt Duchene, Jordan Eberle, Tyler Ennis, Angelo Esposito, Taylor Hall, Cody Hodgson, Nazem Kadri, Evander Kane, Riley Nash, Brayden Schenn, Brett Sonne, John Tavares, and Dana Tyrell.
On the back end, the D unit consists of Keith Aulie, Tyler Cuma, Ryan Ellis, Cody Goloubef, Travis Hamonic, Thomas Hickey, Kevin Marshall, Tyler Myers, Alex Pietrangelo, Brendan Smith, Jared Spurgeon, PK Subban, Colten Teubert, and Patrick Wiercioch.
The goaltending battle will be between Jake Allen, Chet Pickard, Tyson Sexsmith, and Dustin Tokarski. |