Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Hockey League, announced
Thursday the three Canadian rosters for the 2014 World Under-17 Hockey
Challenge, scheduled for Nov. 2-8 in Sarnia-Lambton, Ont. Of the 66 players
named to the roster, Lethbridge Hurricanes rookie goalie Stuart Skinner will
suit up for Team Black.
The 1998-born Skinner recorded his first
career WHL win Tuesday night after making 50 saves in a 4-3 shootout win over
the Calgary Hitmen.
The tournament will be the first to feature three
Canadian national teams – Black, Red and White. From 1986 to 2014, Canada was
represented by five regional teams: Atlantic, Ontario, Pacific, Quebec and
West.
“It is an exciting day for Hockey Canada and the Program of
Excellence,” said Scott Salmond, vice-president of hockey operations and
national teams with Hockey Canada. “This is a tremendous group of 66 players we
have named today, and we’re confident they will represent their country with
pride and passion as we kick off a new era for the World Under-17 Hockey
Challenge.”
The 66 players were selected by Ryan Jankowski, Hockey
Canada's director of player personnel, together with Joël Bouchard, a member of
Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence management group, and regional scouts
Donald Audette (Quebec), Brad McEwen (West), Kevin Mitchell (Atlantic) and Kyle
Raftis (Ontario).
Players were evaluated with their club teams early in
the 2014-15 season, at Canada’s national under-17 development camp in Calgary,
Alta., in August, and during the 2013-14 season, including at three regional
under-16 events: the Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup, OHL Gold Cup and QMJHL
Excellence Challenge.
The 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge will bring
together the top players in the world born in 1998 or later. The under-17
program is the first step in Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence. Many players
who compete at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge go on to represent Canada
with Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team, National Junior Team and National
Men’s Team.
Since the first under-17 tournament (then known as the Quebec
Esso Cup) in 1986, more than 1,300 NHL draft picks have played, including 11 of
the last 14 first-overall selections (Ilya Kovalchuk, 2001; Rick Nash, 2002;
Marc-André Fleury, 2003; Alexander Ovechkin, 2004; Erik Johnson, 2006; Patrick
Kane, 2007; John Tavares, 2009; Taylor Hall, 2010; Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 2011;
Nathan MacKinnon, 2013; Aaron Ekblad, 2014).
The views expressed on this blog are those of the moderator and contributors and are not endorsed by 94.1 CJOC or the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Good on Skinner......solid as a rock last night, and the impressive thing is that he did not get flustered after the Hitmen went up 3-0.
ReplyDeleteRobson said he could be a franchise goaltender. Might be a correct prediction on his part.
Let's hope Skinner sticks with the U-17 team.
RJS
Not to put pressure on Skinner. But I am one of the few (maybe the only) that believe the Boes trade was Robson’s better moves. As evidenced last evening, Skinner has the makings to be an Elite goalie in this league and potential to be a star at the next level. For a rebuilding team that never addressed the Goalie position in countless drafts, to end up with Skinner, Franklin and Alldridge for the 6th pick is great value. I think we either use Alldridge for what he is or move him for a late pick.
ReplyDeleteI am also factoring in that we have yet to have any of our top five draft picks from the recent drafts stay with us.
Time will tell.
Either or Great effort by the team and Skinner last night. Congrats on the invite.
Long Run
Good on ya Skinner!
ReplyDelete-cc
trade skinner for scotch
ReplyDeleteAmazing kid! Can't wait to see him light it up Friday night. Way to be Skinner!
ReplyDelete