It鈥檒l be cookin鈥� in Colwood as sa国际传媒鈥檚 best junior players will gather at the Q Centre from Dec. 11-14.
Hockey sa国际传媒 announced Thursday the dates of the host team鈥檚 Sport Chek selection camp ahead of the 2019 IIHF world junior championship tournament, which begins Boxing Day at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria and Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
Between 28 and 30 players will be invited to the selection camp in Colwood, with the final 22-player roster to be decided during four days of scrutiny. The camp will include three exhibition games against a U Sports national university all-star team. Hockey sa国际传媒 said ticket information for the U Sports exhibitions will be announced in the coming weeks.
The selection camp is expected to be followed by a four-day training camp at Naden, although that has not yet been announced.
鈥淲e had a competitive camp at our summer showcase in Kamloops, and the opportunity to play and represent our country on home ice should make for another competitive camp,鈥� Hockey sa国际传媒 director of men鈥檚 national teams Shawn Bullock said in a statement.
Players expected in the Canadian selection camp include the likes of Cody Glass, Liam Foudy, Max Comtois, Alex Formenton, Robert Thomas, Dylan Cozens, Kirby Dach, Ty Smith, Jet Woo, Bowen Byram, Noah Dobson and Michael DiPietro.
Thursday鈥檚 announcement came after this week鈥檚 release of the world pre-tournament schedule, in which three Island communities will host five exhibition games, among the nine sa国际传媒 towns selected to host a total of 12 exhibitions.
sa国际传媒 will move across town from Colwood and Naden to play Switzerland on Dec. 19 and Slovakia on Dec. 21, both at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria. There will be two games at Weyerhauser Arena in Port Alberni, with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs of the sa国际传媒 Hockey League playing Kazakhstan on Dec. 19, and Switzerland meeting Kazakhstan on Dec. 21. The Czech Republic plays Slovakia on Dec. 19 at Frank Crane Arena in Nanaimo.
Pool B for the 2019 world juniors will consist of the USA, Sweden, Finland, Slovakia, Kazakhstan and be based in Victoria at the Memorial Centre. Pool A will feature sa国际传媒, Russia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Switzerland and be based at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
Victoria will also host two quarterfinals. Vancouver will host two quarter-finals, the semifinals and the final.
