By Mike Dennis, Hockey Alberta /
Hockey Alberta and BC Hockey evaluators and coaching staff have set the 22 player roster that will represent Team Pacific at the 2010 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, December 29 – January 4, 2010 in Timmins, Ontario.
Team Pacific is comprised of 11 players from BC and 11 players from Alberta. Each province held a provincial camp over the summer to identify a set number of players. These players were evaluated during the first part of the season by a selected group of high performance evaluators.
“Whenever you’re selecting a team with the depth and talent we have in both Alberta and B.C., it makes for a very difficult process,” said Team Pacific Head Coach, Michael Dyck. “We are very proud and feel very confident with the team we have assembled, and we look forward to preparing our team that will hopefully challenge for a ‘first ever’ Team Pacific Gold Medal.”
The 2010 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge will bring together the top players in the world born in 1993 or later. The tournament is made up of 10 teams; 5 from Canada - Quebec, Ontario, Pacific (Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Yukon), Atlantic (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island) and West (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nunavut), and 5 International teams - Sweden, Russia, Finland, Czech Republic and the United States.
The Under-17 program is the first step in Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence. Many players who compete at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge go on to represent Canada with the National Men’s Under-18 Team, National Junior Team and National Men’s Team.
At the 2009 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Port Alberni, BC, Team Pacific took home a Silver Medal. |