CALGARY, AB -- Canada's 2006 National Junior Team Selection Camp opens on Sunday, December 11th, with 34 junior team hopefuls traveling from all across the country to Vancouver, BC.

The five day Selection Camp which runs from December 12-16, 2005 at the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE), is the last chance for Team Canada's Director of Player Personnel, Blair Mackasey and Canada's coaching staff, led by head coach Brent Sutter, to evaluate the players.

All practices at the Selection Camp, Dec. 12-15 are open to the public free of charge. Tickets for the December 13th and 14th intersquad games, as well as the game versus the University of British Columbia Men's Hockey Team on December 15th are on sale now for $15.00 plus service charges (Tickets are available at the Pacific Coliseum Box Office two hours prior to game time or in advance at TicketMaster at (604) 280-4400 or online at www.ticketmaster.ca ). As a special bonus for students wanting to cheer on their team, tickets to the December 15th Team Canada versus UBC game will be $10.00 for current UBC students.

Hockey Canada is expected to name its 22 player roster on that will form Canada's 2006 World Junior Team. Once the team has been named, the players and staff will travel to Chase, BC for a three-day getaway before moving on to Kamloops, BC where they will stage a pre-competition camp.

Canada will play its first game of the 2006 IIHF World Junior Championship on Boxing Day, December 26th versus Finland at 4:00pm PT (7:00pm ET), which will be broadcast LIVE by TSN/RDS and on the FAN radio network (check local listings).