CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada announced Wednesday that 31 players will attend Canada’s National Sledge Team selection camp from Nov. 19-23 at the MasterCard Centre in Toronto, Ont.
The roster includes four goaltenders, eight defencemen and 19 forwards, and features 15 players who helped Canada win a bronze medal at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, last March.
“We’re excited to get another sledge hockey season underway in Toronto this week,” said Scott Salmond, vice-president of hockey operations and national teams with Hockey Canada. “The players we’ve invited are a great mix of youth and experience, and with a new Paralympic cycle beginning, it should make for tremendous competition on the ice at the MasterCard Centre.”
The players will be on the ice for five days in Toronto, with daily practices and three Red-White games. The intrasquad games at the MasterCard Centre are open to the public and free to watch.
Following the selection camp, the players named to the Team Canada roster will remain in Toronto and practice at the MasterCard Centre on Nov. 24.
During the 2014-15 season, Canada will compete at the 2015 World Sledge Hockey Challenge in early February, in a Canadian host city to be announced, and the 2015 IPC Sledge Hockey World Championship, scheduled for April 24-May 2 in Buffalo, N.Y.
Canada is the defending champion at the World Sledge Hockey Challenge, having beat the United States 3-1 in the gold medal game in Toronto last December, and at the IPC Sledge Hockey World Championship, winning its third world title with a 1-0 victory over the U.S. at the 2013 tournament in Goyang, South Korea.
For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Sledge Team, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca, or follow along via social media at www.facebook.com/hockeycanada, www.facebook.com/hcsledge, www.twitter.com/hockeycanada and www.twitter.com/hc_sledge.