Game Day: Canes' vs. Oil Kings......National Junior Team Selection Camp Announced

The Lethbridge Hurricanes will shoot for their 4th win in a row tonight and 6th in their last 7 games as they welcome the Edmonton Oil Kings to the Enmax Centre. Including tonight, these two teams will play 3 times over the next week and a half. These are very important games for the Canes'. Lethbridge is battling the Oil Kings for positioning the Eastern Conference standings as the Hurricanes try to make up more ground on the rest of the teams in the East. The last time these two teams met in Lethbridge a few weeks ago, the Canes' came out with a win. It was their first victory after struggling over the month of October. Since then, Lethbridge has dropped only one game. In that game versus Edmonton, Oil Kings coach Steve Pleau blew up on the bench after the officials threw one of his players out of the game after fighting with tape on his hand.

The Hurricanes have been doing a lot of good things lately. Players are going to the net, there are more point shots from the defence, and quicker, crisper passes resulting in more scoring chances. This is what the Hurricanes will need to continue doing in order to be successful. A number of players have stepped up their game and the team has been playing more defensive hockey and with a lot more confidence. There appears to be more attention to detail with the club too. I mean doing the little things than can be the difference in winning or losing. I've also noticed Lethbridge has started to correct some of those mistakes we saw earlier on in the season.

These two teams will meet again Saturday in Edmonton and then again December 14th at Rexall Place. Tonight's game is a 7 o'clock start from the Enmax Centre. The pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30.

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Here's a Press Release on the Team Canada Junior Selection Camp

OTTAWA, ON – Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) announced on Wednesday that 38 of Canada’s best junior-aged hockey players (born in 1989 or later) have been invited to take part in Canada’s National Junior Team selection camp from December 11-15, 2008 at the SBP Arena in Ottawa, ON and the Robert-Guertin Arena in Gatineau, QC.

Of the 38 players invited, four won gold medals at the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship in Pardubice, Czech Republic. Thirty-one of the players named to the selection camp roster were drafted in either the 2007 or 2008 NHL Entry Draft, including thirteen first-round selections and eight second-round picks.

Hockey Canada may add additional players prior to the opening of the selection camp on December 11, in the event that any NHL teams loan Canada’s National Junior Team junior-aged eligible players currently playing in the NHL.

“On behalf of Hockey Canada, I would like to congratulate the players named today, along with their club teams, their parents and all the minor hockey coaches and officials who helped them along with the way,” said Brad Pascall, Hockey Canada’s senior director of men’s national teams. “I would also like to make special note of the great partnership that Hockey Canada has with the Canadian Hockey League, which is essential to the success of the Program of Excellence.”

“Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence, which includes our under-17 and under-18 programs, has provided many of these players with the preparation and experience to deal with the rigors of the upcoming World Juniors and high-paced international competition,” said Al Murray, Hockey Canada’s head scout for men’s national teams. “The quality and skill of the 38 players invited to the camp next week is a testament to the hard work, commitment and development of all those involved in the Canadian minor hockey and junior hockey system.”

Murray traveled coast to coast during the first part of the 2008-09 hockey season assessing players in preparation for the selection camp.

Canada will play its first game of the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship on Boxing Day, December 26 versus the Czech Republic, a game that will be broadcast LIVE by TSN/RDS and on The FAN Radio Network (check local listings).

Canada has medaled at ten straight IIHF World Junior Championships including gold medal performances in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, silver medals in 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2004 and bronze medals in 2000 and 2001.


Canada’s 2009 NJT Selection Camp Breakdown ‘By The Numbers’

Returning 2008 National Junior Team players – 4
· Zach Boychuk, Thomas Hickey, PK Subban, John Tavares

Players who took part in the ADT CHL Canada/Russia Challenge – 29
· G – Allen, Pickard, Tokarski
· D – Aulie, Cuma, Ellis, Hamonic, Hickey, Marshall, Myers, Pietrangelo, Subban, Teubert
· F – Arniel, Benn, Boychuk, Calvert, Cormier, Della Rovere, Duchene, Eberle, Ennis, Esposito, Hall, Hodsgon, Schenn, Sonne, Tavares, Tyrell