CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Junior Hockey League, announced Monday the 34 players that will attend the Canada East selection camp in preparation for the 2011 World Junior A Challenge.

The selection camp, scheduled for Oct. 29-31, will be held at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville, Ont. The 34 players will be divided into two teams – Red and White – and will play a pair of intersquad games, in addition to daily practices.

Players named to the Canada East selection camp roster were selected from the CJHL’s five eastern Junior A leagues: the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL), Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL), Central Canada Junior Hockey League (CCHL), Ligue de hockey junior AAA du Québec (LHJAAAQ) and Maritime Hockey League (MHL).

The evaluation camp roster was selected by Canada East head coach Curtis Hodgins (Courtice, Ont./Whitby, OJHL), along with assistant coaches Jason Nobili (Bolton, Ont./Toronto, OJHL) and Greg Walters (Toronto, Ont./Georgetown, OJHL).

“Eastern Canadian Junior A hockey has some tremendous talent, and we’re excited to be able to invite 34 of the best to Oakville for the selection camp,” said Hodgins. “We believe the players who will be on the ice battling for the 22 spots give us the very best chance of improving on last year’s silver medal finish.”

Canada East’s selection camp roster includes:
four goaltenders, 12 defencemen and 18 forwards;
21 players from the OJHL, nine players from the CCHL and four players from the MHL;
four players returning from the 2010 World Junior A Challenge (Baun, Hampton, Tylor Spink, Tyson Spink).

The 2011 World Junior A Challenge will be held Nov. 7-13 at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. Canada East will play in Group B, joined by the Czech Republic and Russia, while Canada West, Sweden and the United States will comprise Group A. Preliminary round play will run until Wednesday, Nov. 9, with both semifinals taking place Friday, Nov. 11. The gold medal game, which will be shown nationally on TSN/RDS, the official broadcasters of Hockey Canada, is set for Sunday, Nov. 13 (check your local listings). All preliminary round games, quarter-finals, semifinals and the bronze medal game can be seen live via webcast through FASTHockey at hockeycanada.fasthockey.com.

Full-tournament 15-game ticket packages are on sale, including tickets to all 13 games at the 2011 World Junior A Challenge, both CJHL Prospects Games and a free souvenir tournament program, for only $150, as well as single-game tickets and a flex package. To purchase tickets, CLICK HERE.

Canada East has appeared in three of the five gold medal games at the World Junior A Challenges, taking silver in 2006 in Yorkton, Sask., and 2007 in Trail, B.C., as well as last year in Penticton, B.C. It won bronze in 2008 in Camrose, Alta., and finished fourth in 2009 in Summerside, P.E.I.

For more information on the 2011 IIHF World Junior A Challenge, please visit www.HockeyCanada.ca/wjac, or follow along via social media at www.facebook.com/wjrac or www.twitter.com/hc_wjac.