CALGARY, ALBERTA – Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) have named Canada’s World Championship Under-18 roster of 22 players for the 2004 IIHF World Under-18 Hockey Championship, taking place from April 8-18, 2004 in Minsk, Belarus. Team Canada is the defending IIHF World U-18 Champions winning gold at the 2003 event in Yaroslavl, Russia.

Canada's 2004 World Championship Under-18 Team is comprised of players under 18 years old (born in 1986) whose teams are not competing in either the CHL, Junior A or collegiate playoffs.

Dean Chynoweth, from Calgary, AB, is the head coach for Team Canada for this Under-18 event. Chynoweth will be joined behind the bench by assistant coaches Clément Jodoin (Montréal, QC) and James Boyd (Belleville Bulls, OHL).

Canada’s National Under-18 Program consists of two separate teams, assembled twice a year. The National Under-18 Summer Program, which plays in August, and finished fourth at the Junior World Cup in August, 2003, and Canada’s Under-18 World Championship Team which Chynoweth will coach in Belarus beginning April 8.

The 2004 IIHF World Under-18 Championship roster includes 12 members (Cabana, Chipchura, Dubnyk, Funk, Garlock, Hunter, Lammers, McGrath, O’Neill, Rizk, Rogers, and Schulz) from the 2003 National Under-18 Summer Team which finished fourth in the Junior World Cup in Piestany/Breclav, Czech Republic in August 2003. Two other players (Sigalet and Tsimikalis) named to Team Canada also attended the August 2003 Summer Under-18 Camp in Calgary, AB.

Twenty of the 22 players named to Canada’s U-18 roster played in the CHL in 2003-04 (WHL-12, OHL-7, LHJMQ-1), and two players from NCAA schools.

The players will be meeting in Montreal on April 1st, 2004 prior to departing for Belarus and the World Championship on April 3rd.

Team Schedule while in Montreal, QC – April 1-3, 2004

* All times ET

- Friday, April 2nd 10:00am-12:00pm Practice at Pierrefonds 4 Glaces (Montreal, QC)

- Saturday, April 3rd 1:00pm Departure Air Canada FL#8665 Montreal-Toronto-Frankfurt-Mins

The Under-18 team is part of Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence, with many players from the Under-18 events moving on to Canada’s National Junior team.