Hockey Canada Invites 40 Players to World Juniors Showcase

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Hockey Canada announced the 40 players — three goaltenders, 13 defensemen, 24 forwards — that they have invited to their World Juniors Showcase taking place in Calgary on August 1-6. The team will play a pair of games each against Russia and the Czech Republic during the camp.

They are calling the four-game series the team will play the National Teams’ Summer Showcase and it’s the first time that Hockey Canada will bring together all three of the country’s national men’s programs in the same city, including Canada’s National Junior Team Sport Chek Summer Development Camp, the National Mens’ Summer Under-18 selection camp (for the Ivan Hlinka Tournament), and the national under-17 development camp.

World Juniors
(John Kenney Montreal Gazette)
The invitees for the World Juniors showcase include NHL forward prospects Spencer Watson (Kings), Jake Virtanen (Canucks), Dylan Sadowy (Sharks), John Quenneville (Devils), Brayden Point (Lightning), Brendan Perlini (Coyotes), Jared McCann (Canucks), Joshua Ho-Sang (Islanders), Jayce Hawryluk (Panthers), Robby Fabbri (Blues), Michael Dal Colle (Islanders), Rourke Chartier (Sharks), Conner Bleackley (Avalanche), and Nicolas Aubé-Kubel (Flyers). Defensive prospects include Jake Walman (Blues), Travis Sanheim (Flyers), Roland McKeown (Hurricanes), Olivier Leblanc (Blue Jackets), Brandon Hickey (Flames), Joe Hickketts (Red Wings), Haydn Fleury (Hurricanes), and Flames goaltending prospect Mason McDonald.

The announced players also include some top prospects who are likely to be drafted at Friday’s 2015 NHL Entry Draft, including Lawson Crouse, Jeremy Roy, Mackenzie Blackwood, Noah Juulsen, Matthew Barzal, Anthony Beauvillier, and others. The full list of invitees can be seen here.

Players will continue to be monitored after the camp and players who weren’t invited aren’t necessarily considered to be out of the running to make the national team for the World Juniors Championship. 22 Players will be selected to represent Canada at the 2016 tournament, which will be held in Helsinki, Finland this December.

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