Hockey Canada announced its 66-player roster, including 16 players currently playing for or drafted by one of the Western Hockey League’s 22 member Clubs, to represent Canada at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, November 2-9 in Medicine Hat, Alta. and Swift Current, Sask.
The 66 players will be divided into three teams representing Team Canada Black, Team Canada Red, and Team Canada White when they compete against the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden, and the United States in their quest for a gold medal.
Featured among the 16 WHL players named to the roster are the top five selections from the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft – forwards Dylan Guenther (Edmonton, Alta. / Edmonton Oil Kings), Sean Tschigerl (Whitecourt, Alta. / Calgary Hitmen), Logan Stankoven (Kamloops, B.C. / Kamloops Blazers) and defencemen Carson Lambos (Winnipeg, Man. / Winnipeg ICE), Nolan Allan (Davidson, Sask. / Prince Albert Raiders).
| Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | DOB | Hometown | WHL Club |
| Jayden Grubbe | F | 6-2 | 189 | 2003-01-12 | Calgary, Alta. | Red Deer Rebels |
| Dylan Guenther | F | 6-0 | 167 | 2003-04-10 | Edmonton, Alta. | Edmonton Oil Kings |
| Conner Roulette | F | 5-10 | 158 | 2003-05-13 | Winnipeg, Man. | Seattle Thunderbirds |
| Matthew Savoie | F | 5-9 | 181 | 2004-01-01 | St. Albert, Alta. | Winnipeg ICE |
| Cole Sillinger | F | 5-11 | 185 | 2003-05-16 | Regina, Sask. | Medicine Hat Tigers |
| Logan Stankoven | F | 5-7 | 167 | 2003-02-26 | Kamloops, B.C. | Kamloops Blazers |
| Sean Tschigerl | F | 6-0 | 181 | 2003-04-11 | Whitecourt, Alta. | Calgary Hitmen |
| Kai Uchacz | F | 6-1 | 190 | 2003-06-24 | De Winton, Alta. | Seattle Thunderbirds |
| Nolan Allan | D | 6-1 | 188 | 2003-04-28 | Davidson, Sask. | Prince Albert Raiders |
| Nolan Bentham | D | 6-3 | 186 | 2003-06-12 | Victoria, B.C. | Victoria Royals |
| Carson Lambos | D | 6-0 | 204 | 2003-01-14 | Winnipeg, Man. | Winnipeg ICE |
| Kyle Masters | D | 5-11 | 159 | 2003-04-09 | Edmonton, Alta. | Red Deer Rebels |
| Graham Sward | D | 6-2 | 168 | 2003-09-12 | Abbotsford, B.C. | Spokane Chiefs |
| Olen Zellweger | D | 5-9 | 165 | 2003-09-10 | Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. | Everett Silvertips |
| Tyler Brennan | G | 6-3 | 193 | 2003-09-27 | Winnipeg, Man. | Prince George Cougars |
| Thomas Milic | G | 5-11 | 154 | 2003-04-14 | Coquitlam, B.C. | Seattle Thunderbirds |
In July, 112 players were invited to participate in Canada’s national under-17 development camp and introduced to the Hockey Canada Program of Excellence. The players chosen to represent Canada at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge were selected by Brad McEwen (Whitewood, Sask.), head scout for Hockey Canada, with assistance from U17 Program of Excellence management group lead Martin Mondou (Grand-Mère, Que./Shawinigan, QMJHL), as well as regional scouts Rob Simpson (Ontario), Jason Smart (West), Darren Sutherland (Atlantic), Shaun Sutter (West) and Darrell Woodley (Ontario).
“After a successful development camp with the top young players in the country, there were many difficult decisions made to select the 66 players that will compete at this year’s World Under-17 Hockey Challenge,” McEwen said. “We feel this group exemplifies the values of the Program of Excellence and will represent Canada with pride as we compete for a gold medal this November.”
The tournament opens with all three Canadian teams in action Saturday, November 2 (7:00 p.m. MT); Team Canada Red takes on Russia at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current and Team Canada Black faces off against Team Canada White at the Canalta Centre in Medicine Hat.
More than 1,800 NHL draft picks have suited up since the inception of the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge (previously known as the Quebec Esso Cup) in 1986, including 14 first-overall draft picks since 2001 (Ilya Kovalchuk, 2001; Rick Nash, 2002; Marc-André Fleury, 2003; Alexander Ovechkin, 2004; Erik Johnson, 2006; Patrick Kane, 2007; John Tavares, 2009; Taylor Hall, 2010, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 2011; Nathan MacKinnon, 2013; Aaron Ekblad, 2014; Connor McDavid, 2015; Auston Matthews, 2016; Jack Hughes, 2019).
