MONTREAL, Que. – Hockey Canada has named 16 players to Canada’s National Sledge Development Team following a four-day NextGen Prospects’ Camp which has wrapped up in Montreal. The national team will now face its U.S. counterpart in a three-game series at the Aréna Howie-Morenz in Canada’s Cultural Capital as part of the Défi sportif AlterGo April 28-30.
The roster was selected by the team’s coaching staff, head coach Brandon Reid (Kirkland, Que.) and assistant coach Russ Herrington (Unionville, Ont.), along with skills consultant Jean Labonté and goaltending consultant Kris Dutkiewicz (Kitchener, Ont.), with input from Hockey Canada’s sledge high-performance management team.
“We are happy with the selection of this year’s National Sledge Development Team. We had a lot of young talent [at the NextGen camp], and it was a tough decision. But the players that earned their spots during the week are highly-skilled players with real raw talent that can be developed into world-class players,” said Reid of the 30 players who attended the 2017 NextGen camp, from which the final 16 were selected. The NextGen camp serves as a development and identification camp for the nation’s upcoming talent.
Canada’s National Sledge Development Team will face the United States Friday at 7 p.m. ET in the first of three back-to-back games at Défi sportif AlterGo. Hockey Canada will produce game stats and a game story at HockeyCanada.ca.
“We will be a fast-paced and physical team,” said Reid of Team Canada. “We do have some older guys, but mostly, [the team is comprised of] young and hungry kids with big dreams.”
Lehoux to wear the ‘C’ for Canada
Among the some of the most experienced players are the team captains, all three of whom participated in the inaugural NextGen Prospects’ Camp in February 2016 before being named to Canada’s National Sledge Team for the 2016-17 season.
Antoine Lehoux (Thetford Mines, Que.) will wear the ‘C’ for Canada during the three-game series, joined by alternate captains James Dunn (Wallacetown, Ont.), and Zach Savage (Westlock, Alta.). All three skated away with a silver medal from the 2016 World Sledge Hockey Challenge in December, and Lehoux and Savage were also part of the gold medal-winning team at the 2017 International Para Hockey Tournament in Turin, Italy, in February.
For more information on Canada’s National Sledge Team and programs, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along via social media on Facebook and Twitter.
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