Of the 197 players who will take part in Under-17, Under-18 and the National Junior Team Summer Showcase, 11 are either from the city of London and surrounding area or play for the London Knights.
A total of 42 players have been invited to Plymouth, Mich., and the Compuware Sports Arena in early August in what will be the first of a few on-ice looks at who is expected to make up Team Canada at this year’s World Junior Hockey Championship in Buffalo.
Four of those players have ties to London.
National Junior Team
Nick Suzuki
Suzuki turned into a go-to producer at both ends of the ice for the Owen Sound Attack. The Londoner led the Attack in goals with 45 and finished fifth in league scoring, helping Owen Sound get to the OHL’s Western Conference finals against the Erie Otters. The Attack will very likely be the consensus favourite in the Ontario Hockey League for 2017-18 and Suzuki will be a large reason for it. He is only 18, but given his leadership and presence, there is a chance that he could be selected a year early with the idea of giving him a taste of the competition in Buffalo and then a major role in 2019.
Victor Mete
Mete has attended the past two final selection camps for Team Canada, and while he was not included on the final roster either time, he was also 17 and 18 years old. The Woodbridge, Ont., native is entering his fourth season with the London Knights and has stayed on Canada’s radar. With three returning defencemen in Dante Fabbro, Jake Bean and Kale Clague, there is room for more veteran skill and Mete will have an excellent shot at sticking.
Robert Thomas
Thomas is blessed with an incredibly high hockey IQ and great playmaking abilities. Scouts are always commenting that Thomas does the things it takes to win hockey games. He can be put in just about every situation on the ice. At 18, he will have to outplay veterans to earn a spot.
Cliff Pu
Pu led the London Knights in scoring in 2016-17 and boasts the speed and skill that is hard to ignore when selecting a team. Pu is 19 years old and played in the Under-17 World Hockey Challenge, but has not been invited to a Hockey Canada camp since. He will be out to take advantage of the invitation this year.
Max Jones of the Knights will also be at the Summer Showcase as part of Team USA.
Under-18
Liam Foudy
Foudy is coming off his rookie season with the London Knights that saw him earn more and more ice time despite a very veteran London roster as the year went along. He will attend the development camp in Calgary in July and will be considered for the Under-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup in August.
Under-17
Ryan Suzuki
Suzuki is the brother of Nick and also the first overall pick in the 2017 OHL Priority Selection, going to the Barrie Colts. He helped the London Jr. Knights to the semi-final of the OHL Cup in April and will be a go-to guy for whichever Under-17 team he is placed with for the next U17 World Hockey Challenge.
Aidan Prueter
Prueter also spent last season as a big-time point producer on the London Jr. Knights. He was selected by Saginaw in the second round of the 2017 OHL Priority Selection and has signed a Standard Player Agreement with the Spirit that will see him with the team in 2017-18.
Liam Van Loon
Van Loon had a big year with the Jr. Knights and was taken in the third round by the Hamilton Bulldogs In the 2017 OHL Priority Selection. He has great speed, a non-stop motor and the ability to come through in clutch situations.
Mark Woolley
Woolley is a St. Thomas native who played with both the Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs and the Lambton Jr. Sting last year. He has good size and offensive ability and was a third-round pick of the Guelph Storm in 2017.
Navrin Mutter
Mutter is from Lucan and played for the Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs in 2016-17 and was also a call-up to the Strathroy Rockets, where he played in three games and scored a goal. Like Van Loon, Mutter was selected by the Hamilton Bulldogs in the OHL Priority selection, going in the fifth round.
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