Matthew Wood of Nanaimo has been through the U-17 and U-18 Team sa国际传媒 levels in hockey and will likely also be on the national team for the 2024 world U-20 championship, known simply as the world juniors, in Gothenburg, Sweden, in December.
That’s the sort of consideration that being a six-foot-four, first-round NHL draft pick gets you. The former sa国际传媒 Hockey League scoring champion with the Victoria Grizzlies was among the 45 players invited by Hockey sa国际传媒 to take part in virtual-session meetings this summer to prepare the players for their potential U-20 national-team assignment for the season ahead.
Wood, drafted 15th overall in the first round of the 2023 NHL draft by the Nashville Predators, is one of seven players named from the gold-medallist Canadian team in the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky U-18 Cup. Also named for the sessions were three returning players from the gold-medallist Canadian team at the 2023 world juniors in Halifax. This is literally select company. Wood is among the 12 first rounders from the 2023 NHL draft who were named as potentials for the Canadian team for the 2024 world juniors.
The Harbour City product was the youngest player in NCAA Div. 1 last season and recorded 11 goals and 34 points in 35 games as a freshman in leading the University of sa国际传媒icut Huskies after winning the BCHL scoring championship the previous season with the Grizzlies with 45 goals and 85 points in 46 games.
Also cited for the meetings were 66 players under consideration for participation in the 2023 U-17 World Hockey Challenge this fall, including touted in-coming Western Hockey League Victoria Royals forward Cole Reschny and goaltender Koen Cleaver from Port Alberni, who plays for the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Reschny is considered the big hope to lift the recent sagging fortunes of the Royals and the six-foot-two Islander Cleaver the goaltender of the future for the Hurricanes.
“This impressive group of athletes is an excellent representation of the talent pool in our country, and these meetings were a great opportunity to kick off a new season and begin our preparations for two major international events,” Hockey sa国际传媒 director of player personnel Alan Millar said in a statement.
“This was a great opportunity to introduce prospective national team players to the Program of Excellence and help prepare them for international competition.”
Players took part in virtual meetings that covered a variety of topics, including education on player safety, short-term international competition preparation and meetings with the Hockey sa国际传媒 management group. According to Hockey sa国际传媒, the discussions will allow participants to continue to evolve as high-performance athletes.
Players will continue to be evaluated through the early portion of the 2023-24 season before the Canadian rosters are named for the 2023 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge from Nov. 4-11 in Charlottetown and Summerside, Prince Edward Island, and the 2024 world junior championship in Gothenburg.
