Hockey Canada has announced the group of 46 players who have been invited to attend the National Junior Team selection camp next month in Red Deer, Alta., and that roster includes a half dozen names with Manitoba connections.
Heading up the list of locals are Winnipegger Seth Jarvis and Daemon Hunt of Brandon. Jarvis is coming off an outstanding second full season with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks that saw him finish second in league scoring with 42 goals and 56 assists for 98 points in only 58 games. That performance earned the five-foot-ten, 172-pound center the 13th overall selection by Carolina in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.
Hunt played in just 28 games for Moose Jaw this past season, but the six-foot-tall 194-pounder showed enough to merit being selected in the 3rd round, 65th overall, by Minnesota on Oct. 7 during Day Two of the NHL entry draft.
There are 25 other forwards besides Jarvis who have been invited to the camp, which starts Nov. 16 as part of the initial on-ice preparation for this year’s World Junior Championship Tournament beginning with three games on Christmas Day in the Edmonton bubble. Canada’s opening game is set for Boxing Day afternoon versus Germany.
Among those 25 forwards are Winnipeg Ice Captain Peyton Krebs — who unsuccessfully tried out for the national team a year ago — as well as Ridly Greig of the Brandon Wheat Kings and Winnipeg Jets 2020 first-round pick Cole Perfetti of the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit.
Joining Hunt among the 15 defensemen vying for one of probably eight blueline berths on the tournament roster will be Braden Schneider of Brandon.
There are a total of six returnees from last year’s Gold Medal Championship team who would be pre-selection camp favourites to form the core group of this year’s squad. Forwards Quinton Byfield (Sudbury/OHL), Dylan Cozens (Lethbridge/WHL), Connor McMichael (London/OHL) and Dawson Mercer (Chicoutimi/QMJHL) along with defensemen Bowen Byram (Vancouver/WHL) and Jamie Drysdale (Erie/OHL).
Comments