June 10, 2003
NR.060

FORTY-FOUR OF CANADA'S BEST INVITED TO CANADA'S
NATIONAL JUNIOR TEAM DEVELOPMENT CAMP

CALGARY, ALBERTA – Forty-four of Canada's best junior-aged hockey players have been invited to attend Canada's National Junior Team Development Camp from August 9-18, 2003 at the Father David Bauer Olympic Arena in Calgary, AB, Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League announced on Tuesday.

The forty-four players were selected by Hockey Canada's Head Scout Blair Mackasey who spent the 2002-03 season monitoring and evaluating the top Canadian junior-aged players. Mackasey will oversee player evaluation at the August Camp and will continue to monitor these players and other eligible players prior to inviting a list of over 30 players to Canada's National Junior Team's Selection Camp in December, 2003.

The forty-four players will be attending the National Junior Team Development Camp from August 9-18, 2003, under the supervision of Head Coach Mario Durocher (Lewiston, QMJHL) and assistant coaches Dean Chynoweth (Seattle, WHL) and Jim Hulton (Kingston, OHL).

Forty-two of the forty-four players that will attend the National Junior Team Development Camp played in the Canadian Hockey League last season (19 in the Western Hockey League (WHL), 13 in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and 10 in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)). One player (Jeff Tambellini) played in the NCAA, and another (Brady Murray) played Junior “A” hockey in the BCHL.

Hockey Canada Program of Excellence experience breakdown

• 31 of the 44 players have previous Team Canada experience with either the National Junior Team or the National Under-18 Team

• 3 players from the silver-medal winning 2003 National Junior Team: (Fleury, Paillé, White)

• 14 players from the 2001-2002 National Under-18 Program (2001 Six Nations Cup; 2002 World Under-18 Championship): (Brent, Eager, Egener, Filewich, Fleury, Harding, Keller, Klein, Meech, Paillé, Sanford, Staal, Tambellini, White)

• 16 players from the 2002-2003 National Under-18 Program (2002 Eight Nations Cup; 2003 World Under-18 Championship): (Belle, Bernier, Bissonnette, Carter, Coburn, Colliton, Dawes, Dixon, Getzlaf, Green, Horton, Phaneuf, Pouliot, Richards, Seabrook, Stewart)

• 12 players from the 2003 World Championship Under-18 Team: (Belle, Bernier, Bissonnette, Carter, Coburn, Colliton, Dixon, Getzlaf, Green, Pouliot, Seabrook, Stewart)

• 31 players played in either the 2001 World Under-17 Challenge (New Glasgow, NS) or the 2002 World Under-17 Challenge (Stonewall, MB)

Canada's National Junior Team is a key component of Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence (POE), which has been in operation since 1982. The POE allows Hockey Canada to identify and train Canada's most gifted young hockey players, to encourage and motivate them to play for their country and to provide them with the opportunities to measure and refine their skills against top caliber international competition.

Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence identifies players in specific age categories and provides them with an opportunity to take part in international competitions, preparing them for the World Junior Hockey Championship, the World Hockey Championship and the Olympic Games. In Men's hockey, the POE regroups the Regional Under-17 teams, the National Under-18 teams, the National Junior team and the National Men's teams. Sixteen of the 23 players who won gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics got their start playing for Canada in the Hockey Canada Program of Excellence.

For further information on the National Junior Team program, the Program of Excellence and Hockey Canada, visit Hockey Canada's official website at www.hockeycanada.ca