Hockey Canada has named the 22 players who will represent the nation next week at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Red Deer and Edmonton.
The roster announcement came Wednesday ahead of the international under-18 hockey tournament that gets underway on Aug. 4, with pre-tournament games in Sylvan Lake, Lacombe, Penhold and Red Deer.
Round robin tournament games start Aug. 6 at Red Deer’s Servus Arena and Rogers Place in Edmonton.
Players were selected following a five-day selection camp with 44 players that battled for a spot in Calgary.
“The players who will wear the Maple Leaf at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup are highly-skilled and fast; this will be some very entertaining hockey for fans in the building and those tuning in,” said Hockey Canada’s Alan Millar in a Hockey Canada press release.
“We’re looking forward to a great tournament on home ice.”
ROSTER | 22 @HC_Men selected to represent Canada at the 2018 #HlinkaGretzkyCup, starting August 6 in Edmonton/Red Deer. https://t.co/KSlFOgTWMd pic.twitter.com/KGLwi4D0e8
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) August 1, 2018
Team Canada consists of two goalies, seven defencemen and 13 forwards. Eleven of the 22 players play in the Western Hockey League.
Three of the participating players, Bowen Byram, Alexis Lafreniere and Matthew Robertson won gold with Canada at the 2018 IIHF U18 World Championship in Russia last April.
Canada will begin their pursuit of a title at Servus Arena in Red Deer on Aug. 4 at 7 p.m. in pre-tournament action against the Czech Republic. They will shift to Rogers Place in Edmonton for round robin play on Aug. 6, when they open against Switzerland.
Canada earned gold at last year’s event with a 4-1 win over the host Czech Republic and will be looking to defend their title on home soil.
A total of 18 players from that Canadian roster were selected in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft and 77 alumni of the event were picked over the course of the draft.
Canada has won gold 21 times in 27 years of the summer under-18 best-on-best international tournament, formally known as the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. They’ve also won gold in nine of the last 10 tournaments.