Hockey Alberta has identified the top 48 U-17 male hockey players vying for a spot on Team Pacific. The selection process started with two regional evaluation camps. The south camp was held in Calgary from May 8 to 11 and the north camp was held in St. Albert from May 22 to 25, where a combined total of 160 athletes met to compete for one of the 48 spots. Following the completion of the regional camps, the coaching and evaluation staff was faced with some extremely difficult decisions having to narrow the talented field down to only 48.
“We were very impressed with the quality of the players and people who attended the camps.
They were very competitive weekends and although there were tough decisions, we are confident with the selected players who are moving forward in this process. We look forward to another week of intense competition in our July camp,” said Dan Price, Team Pacific assistant coach.
With the top 48 now identified, Hockey Alberta is one step closer to narrowing it down following the U-17 Team Alberta provincial week-long camp July 8 to 13 in Calgary. Selections will be made following the camp to announce the top players and then from there the players will be watched on their club teams until the top 11 players are announced in November.
Team Pacific is made up of the top 22 U-17-aged athletes from Alberta and British Columbia, comprising 11 players from B.C. and 11 from Alberta. The team will compete in Port Alberni, B.C. at the World U-17 Hockey Challenge from Dec. 29 to Jan. 4, 2009. This is the unofficial world championship for this age level and the first stage for Hockey Canada to identify players for the National U-18 Team and the World Junior Team.
In addition to the five Canadian teams taking part in the Challenge (Pacific, Western, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic), there will be five international teams from Slovakia, USA, Russia, Germany and Finland. Team Pacific has advanced to the semi-finals in the past five U-17 World Hockey Challenges, winning a total of three silver medals.
Team Pacific Alumni include: Kris Russell, Dan Bertram, Kevin Nastiuk, Dion Phaneuf, Andrew Ference, Jerome Iginla, Shawn Horcoff, Matthew Spiller, Joe Sakic, Wade Redden, Paul Kariya and Scottie Upshall.
For tournament information on the World U-17 Hockey Challenge, visit www.hockeyalberta.ca or www.bchockey.net.
FORWARDS
Chris Collins Calgary
JAMIE CROOKS VERMILLION
JUSTIN FESER RED DEER
T.J. Foster Slave Lake
Blake Gal Lethbridge
Guillaume Glasspoole Calgary
Brock Hirsche Lethbridge
Greg Lamoureux Calgary
Chance Lund Fairview
CAM MACLISE LACOMBE
NATHAN MACMASTER CALGARY
NOLAN MARSHALL NACMINE
Brent Martin Spruce Grove
JORDAN MESSIER CANMORE
RYAN MOSER CALGARY
Timothy Nolte Morinville
TANNER OLSTAD CALGARY
brenden ranford edmonton
ZACK RASSELL CALGARY
Mark Reners Pincher Creek
Christopher Romanchuk lloydminister
Brad Ross Lethbridge
MACKENZIE ROYER SPRUCE GROVVE
Eric Sieben Edmonton
Jesse Sinatynski FT Saskatchewan
DEFENCE
Ryan Aasman Medicine Hat
Connor Cox Lethbridge
BRAD DEAGLE LETHBRIDGE
Erik Fleming Calgary
DANIEL JOHNSTON CALGARY
NOLAN KAISER CALGARY
Brenden Kichton Spruce Grove
LUKE MADILL RED DEER
Brock Maschmeyer BRUDERHEIM
Scott McKay Calgary
Joseph Morrow Sherwood Park
Alex Petrovic Edmonton
TROY RUTKOWSKI EDMONTON
Mark Pysyk Sherwood Park
DEREK RYCKMAN RED DEER
TYLER STAHL DRUMHELLER
GOAL
SAM BRITTAIN CALGARY
TYLER BUNZ ST. ALBERT
DAWSON GUHLE DAYSLAND
Steven Komistek Medicine Hat
CAM LANIGAN CALGARY
Chase Martin Medicine hat
KENT SIMPSON EDMONTON |
