Jason La Rose
Taking one step closer to Buffalo, N.Y., and the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship, Hockey Canada has unveiled the 32 players who will attend Canada’s National Junior Team Sport Chek Selection Camp.
The players bring varied experiences to St. Catharines, from Team Canada veterans to those who have never pulled on the jersey, representing British Columbia to Nova Scotia and five provinces in between.
Here’s an inside look at the camp roster:
16 – players who competed for Canada at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge (Jonathan Ang, Jake Bean, Kale Clague, Maxime Comtois, Michael DiPietro, Dante Fabbro, Cody Glass, Brett Howden, Tanner Kaspick, Jordan Kyrou, Michael McLeod, Taylor Raddysh, Logan Stanley, Sam Steel, Nick Suzuki, Robert Thomas)
15 – players who were members of Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup (Jake Bean, Kale Clague, Maxime Comtois, Michael DiPietro, Dillon Dubé, Dante Fabbro, Carter Hart, Brett Howden, Tanner Kaspick, Boris Katchouk, Jordan Kyrou, Josh Mahura, Michael McLeod, Sam Steel, Nick Suzuki)
14 – players from Ontario, most of any province (Alberta – 8; British Columbia – 3; Manitoba – 3; Quebec – 2; Nova Scotia – 1; Saskatchewan – 1)
13 – players from the Western Hockey League, most of any league (Ontario Hockey League – 12; NCAA – 4; Quebec Major Junior Hockey League – 3)
12 – players who have never played a game for Canada as part of the Program of Excellence (Drake Batherson, Dennis Cholowski, Mario Ferraro, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Jonah Gadjovich, Samuel Harvey, Kole Lind, Cale Makar, Colton Point, Tyler Steenbergen, Conor Timmins)
9 – players who lead their team in scoring, as of Dec. 6 (Jonathan Ang – PBO; Drake Batherson – CAP; Jake Bean – CGY; Dillon Dubé – KEL; Cody Glass – POR; Jordan Kyrou – SAR; Taylor Raddysh – ER; Nick Suzuki – OS; Robert Thomas – LDN)
8 – players who were members of Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team at the IIHF U18 World Championship (Maxime Comtois, Michael DiPietro, Dante Fabbro, Cody Glass, Brett Howden, Jordan Kyrou, Michael McLeod, Logan Stanley)
7 – players returning from the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship (Jake Bean, Kale Clague, Dillon Dubé, Dante Fabbro, Carter Hart, Michael McLeod, Taylor Raddysh)
7 – players selected in the first round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft (Jake Bean – CAR 13th; Dennis Cholowski – DET 20th; Dante Fabbro – NSH 17th; Brett Howden – TBL 27th; Michael McLeod – NJD 12th; Logan Stanley – WPG 18th; Sam Steel – ANA 30th)
5 – players selected in the first round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft (Cal Foote – TBL 14th; Cody Glass – VGK 6th; Cale Makar – COL 4th; Nick Suzuki – VGK 13th; Robert Thomas – STL 20th)
4 – players who competed at the RBC Cup, Canada’s National Junior A Championship (Dante Fabbro – PEN 2015; Boris Katchouk – SOO 2015; Cale Makar – BRO 2016-2017; Colton Point – CPC 2016;
3 – players who won a gold medal with Canada West at the 2015 World Junior A Challenge (Dennis Cholowski, Dante Fabbro, Cale Makar)
2 – players who helped the Windsor Spitfires win the 2017 Memorial Cup (Michael DiPietro, Logan Stanley)
1 – player who leads their league in scoring, as of Dec. 6 (Jordan Kyrou – OHL)
1 – player who competed at the TELUS Cup, Canada’s National Midget Championship (Maxime Comtois – CHA 2015)