2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge Underway
The 27-game tournament will be centered out of the Colisée, home of the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres, and Centre Marcel-Dionne, home of the QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs. In addition, three communities – Nicolet, Plessisville and Saint-Pierre-les-Bécquets – hosted pre-competition games along with Victoriaville and Drummondville on Friday night.
The 10 teams are divided into two groups. Group A will feature Finland, Pacific (Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Yukon), Russia, Sweden and West (Manitoba, Nunavut, Saskatchewan), while Atlantic (New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island), Ontario, Quebec, Slovakia and the United States will comprise Group B.
80 players from the Canadian Hockey League are featured on the five Canadian teams:
Atlantic (9):
Goaltender:
Mason McDonald (Acadie-Bathurst Titan)
Defencemen:
Cody Donaghey (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies)
Duncan MacIntyre (Quebec Remparts)
Forwards:
Kameron Kielly (Gatineau Olympiques)
Matthew Highmore (Saint John Sea Dogs)
Nathan Yetman (PEI Rocket)
Lucas Batt (Victoriaville Tigres)
Clark Bishop (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles)
Zach Moody (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles)
Ontario (21):
Goaltender:
Brent Moran (Niagara IceDogs)
Defencemen:
Roland McKeown (Kingston Frontenacs)
Brandon Prophet (Saginaw Spirit)
Conor Cummins (Sudbury Wolves)
Aaron Ekblad (Barrie Colts)
Jacob Middleton (Owen Sound Attack)
Daniel De Sousa (Belleville Bulls)
Dylan DiPerna (Kingston Frontenacs)
Forwards:
Connor McDavid (Erie Otters)
Eric Cornel (Peterborough Petes)
Sam Bennett (Kingston Frontenacs)
Jared McCann (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds)
Niki Petti (Belleville Bulls)
Spencer Watson (Kingston Frontenacs)
Josh Ho-Sang (Windsor Spitfires)
Michael Dal Colle (Oshawa Generals)
Brett Hargrave (Sarnia Sting)
Robby Fabbri (Guelph Storm)
Dante Salituro (Ottawa 67’s)
Damian Bourne (Mississauga Steelheads)
Jaden Lindo (Owen Sound Attack)
Pacific (18):
Goaltender:
Payton Lee (Vancouver Giants)
Defencemen:
Ryan Gagnon (Victoria Royals)
Joseph Hicketts (Victoria Royals)
Riley Stadel (Kelowna Rockets)
Brycen Martin (Swift Current Broncos)
Josh Thrower (Calgary Hitmen)
Dysin Mayo (Edmonton Oil Kings)
Forwards:
Carson Bolduc (Prince George Cougars)
Conner Bleackley (Red Deer Rebels)
Thomas Foster (Vancouver Giants)
Reid Duke (Lethbridge Hurricanes)
Ty Mappin (Everett Silvertips)
Matt Revel (Saskatoon Blades)
Brayden Point (Moose Jaw Warriors)
Jake Virtanen (Calgary Hitmen)
Tyler Sandhu (Everett Silvertips)
John Quenneville (Brandon Wheat Kings)
Ryan Graham (Saskatoon Blades)
Quebec (18):
Goaltender:
Alex Bureau (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles)
Defencemen:
Carl Neill (Sherbrooke Phoenix)
Olivier LeBlanc (Saint John Sea Dogs)
Tristan Pomerleau (Victoriaville Tigres)
Jonathan Deschamps (Sherbrooke Phoenix)
Julien Bahl (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada)
Loik Léveillé (Baie-Comeau Drakkar)
Alexandre Carrier (Gatineau Olympiques)
Forwards:
Nick Marois (Chicoutimi Sagueneens)
Timothé Simard (Val-d’Or Foreurs)
Mathieu Ayotte (Victoriaville Tigres)
Nicolas Aubé-Kubel (Val-d’Or Foreurs)
Francis Perron (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies)
Alexis Pépin (PEI Rocket)
Félix-Antoine Savage (Victoriaville Tigres)
Nicolas Hébert (Rimouski Oceanic)
Vincent Deslauriers (Sherbrooke Phoenix)
Daniel Audette (Sherbrooke Phonex)
West (14):
Defencemen:
Haydn Fleury (Red Deer Rebels)
Reid Zalitach (Vancouver Giants)
Ryan Pilon (Lethbridge Hurricanes)
Jordan Thomson (Kamloops Blazers)
Forwards:
Jayce Hawryluk (Brandon Wheat Kings)
Adam Brooks (Regina Pats)
Colin Shirley (Kootenay Ice)
Rourke Chartier (Kelowna Rockets)
Tim Vanstone (Prince Albert Raiders)
Josh Uhrich (Moose Jaw Warriors)
Austin Glover (Kelowna Rockets)
Reid Gardiner (Prince Albert Raiders)
Dawson Leedahl (Everett Silvertips)
Miles Warkentine (Moose Jaw Warriors)
CLICK HERE FOR THE 2013 WORLD UNDER-17 HOCKEY CHALLENGE SCHEDULE
The gold medal game will be held Jan. 4 at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT and will be shown on TSN/RDS, Hockey Canada’s official broadcasters. All other games at the tournament, including 20 preliminary round games, three placement games, both semifinals and the bronze medal game, will be available through FASTHockey at hockeycanada.fasthockey.com. Fans can watch all the action for free by following three steps:
STEP 1: Visit hockeycanada.fasthockey.com and sign up for a free FASTHockey account.
STEP 2: Like the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge on Facebook at www.facebook.com/worldu17.
STEP 3: Just prior to the game, click the HC on FASTHockey link on the U17 Facebook page to watch.
Single-game tickets are now available for the 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge for just $14 for preliminary round games, $16 for semifinals and $17 for medal games. In addition, 13-game packages on sale in both Victoriaville and Drummondville for just $125, along with a flex package that includes 25 tickets to any games in either city, excluding medal games, for $250. For more information on tickets, including how to purchase, CLICK HERE.
The event brings together the top players in the world born in 1996 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 the National Men’s Under-18 Team, National Junior Team and National Men’s Team.
Nineteen of the 23 players who were selected for Canada’s National Junior Team and are currently playing in the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia, played at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, and alumni of the tournament include past NHL first-overall picks Marc-André Fleury, Taylor Hall, Erik Johnson, Patrick Kane, Ilya Kovalchuk, Vincent Lecavalier, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Alexander Ovechkin, John Tavares and Joe Thornton.
For more information on the 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, please visit www.HockeyCanada.ca/wu17, or follow along via social media at www.facebook.com/worldu17 or www.twitter.com/hc_wu17.