ROYALS’ DEFENCEMAN
JOE HICKETTS EARNS INVITE TO TEAM CANADA’S NATIONAL JUNIOR TEAM SELECTION CAMP
Victoria’s Joe
Hicketts is the first Royal to attend the National Junior Team Selection Camp
for the World Junior Championships.
For
Immediate Release
Monday,
December 2, 2014
Victoria,
BC- The
Victoria Royals are proud to announce that defenceman Joe Hicketts has been
named to Hockey Canada’s National Junior Team Selection Camp for the upcoming
2015 World Junior Championships.
The native
of Kamloops, BC will be the first Royal to participate in the National Junior
Team Selection Camp and currently leads all defencemen in the Canadian Hockey League
in points with 36 (7g-29a) in 28 games. Hicketts also skated in two games for Team WHL in
this year’s SUBWAY Super Series against Team Russia and recorded one goal and
one assist.
The selection camp will see 29 players born in 1995 or
later from across Canada compete for a spot on Team Canada. This will take
place from December 11-15 in Toronto and St. Catharines, ON. This year the team
is coached by Beniot Groulx of the Gatineau Olympiques (Quebec Major Junior
Hockey League), Royals’ Head Coach Dave Lowry and Guelph Storm (Ontario Hockey
League) Head Coach Scott Walker. The annual tournament will take place from
December 26, 2014 to January 5, 2015 in Toronto, ON and Montreal, QUE.
14 WHL PLAYERS NAMED TO TEAM CANADA’S NATIONAL JUNIOR TEAM SELECTION
CAMP
MONTREAL, Que. - Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Hockey League,
announced Monday that 29 players have been invited to attend Canada’s National
Junior Team Sport Chek Selection Camp, beginning Dec. 11 at the MasterCard
Centre for Hockey Excellence in Toronto, Ont.
The roster includes two goaltenders, 10 defencemen and
17 forwards. Canada’s final roster for the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship
in Toronto and Montreal will include 22 players, and must be finalized by Dec.
25.
This year, the WHL will send
14 players to the Selection Camp.
Josh Morrissey (Calgary, AB / Prince Albert
Raiders),
Nic Petan (Delta, BC / Portland Winterhawks)
Sam Reinhart (West
Vancouver, BC / Kootenay ICE)
...will all return to the camp after representing
Canada at the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship in Malmo, Sweden. Last year,9 WHL players attended the Selection Camp.
Eric Comrie (Edmonton, AB / Tri-City Americans) is one
of two goaltenders attending camp while
Rourke Chartier (Saskatoon, SK /
Kelowna Rockets),
Morgan Klimchuk (Calgary, AB / Regina Pats),
Brayden Point
(Calgary, AB / Moose Jaw Warriors) and
Jake Virtanen (Abbotsford, BC / Calgary
Hitmen) will all be part of the forward group attending.
Seven of the 10 defencemen attending the Selection
Camp hail from the WHL. In addition to Morrissey, Madison Bowey
(Winnipeg, MB / Kelowna Rockets),
Haydn Fleury (Carlyle, SK / Red Deer Rebels),
Dillon Heatherington (Calgary, AB / Swift Current Broncos),
Joe Hicketts
(Kamloops, BC / Victoria Royals),
Travis Sanheim (Elkhorn, MB / Calgary Hitmen)
and
Shea Theodore (Aldergrove, BC / Seattle Thunderbirds)
...will all challenge
for a spot on Team Canada.
In total, 26 of the players named to Canada’s National
Junior Team Sport Chek Selection Camp were drafted in either the 2013 or 2014
NHL Entry Drafts, including 15 first-round selections and seven second-round
picks.
“This is a special IIHF World Junior Championship, and
the opportunity to play at home in front of Canadian fans should make for a
very competitive selection camp,” said Scott Salmond, vice-president of hockey
operations and national teams with Hockey Canada. “We’re looking forward to
getting the camp underway, and selecting 22 players who will make Canada proud
with the performance this holiday season. I also want to say a huge thank you
to Ryan Jankowski, Bruce Hamilton, and the rest of the Program of Excellence
management group for their time, their passion and their wisdom.”
“On behalf of the Canadian Hockey League,
congratulations and best of luck to all of the players invited to Canada's
National Junior Team Sport Chek Selection Camp,” said David Branch, president
of the Canadian Hockey League. “The partnership between Hockey Canada and the
CHL is a special one, and we’re excited to watch our players wear the Canadian
jersey with pride in Toronto and Montreal.”
“I would like to congratulate the 29 players who
received an invitation today,” said Ryan Jankowski, director of player
personnel with Hockey Canada. “There is a tremendous amount of depth in junior
hockey in Canada, and to be among this group is a tremendous accomplishment. I
would also like to thank the general managers and coaches of the Canadian
Hockey League for their great support throughout this process.”
In regards to eligible players currently in the NHL,
Hockey Canada will continue to communicate with NHL teams and is hopeful
players may still be made available to Canada’s National Junior Team prior to
the NHL’s roster freeze deadline on Dec. 19.
Canada opens the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship
on Boxing Day when it faces Slovakia in Montreal. All of Canada’s games at the
World Juniors will be broadcast live by TSN and RDS, the official broadcasters
of Hockey Canada; check local listings for broadcast times in your area.
Complete ticket information for the 2015 IIHF World
Junior Championship, and all 10 RBC Road to the World Juniors pre-tournament
games, can be found at www.hockeycanada.ca/2015juniors.
For more information on Hockey Canada, Canada’s
National Junior Team and the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca, www.hockeycanada.ca/2015juniors,
or follow on social media at www.facebook.com/worldjuniors,
www.twitter.com/hc_wjc and www.twitter.com/hc_men.
