CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Hockey League, announced Friday the rosters of the five Canadian teams for the 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, Dec. to Jan. in Victoriaville and Drummondville, Que.

Canada’s five regional teams are Atlantic (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island), Ontario, Pacific (Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Yukon), Quebec and West (Manitoba, Nunavut, Saskatchewan).

“This is an important tournament for Canada’s young, up-and-coming players, as it is their first opportunity to impress scouts in best-on-best competition,” said Kevin Prendergast, Hockey Canada’s head scout for the men’s Program of Excellence. “Hockey fans in Quebec can expect the cream of the crop from this age group to be on the ice in Victoriaville and Drummondville.”

The 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge features 10 teams, with the five from Canada joined by teams from Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and the United States. The teams are split into two groups, with each team playing four preliminary games before the playoff round.

International rosters will be announced closer to the start of the tournament.

The 27-game tournament will be centred out of the Colisée, home of the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres, and Centre Marcel-Dionne, home of the QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs. In addition, three communities – Nicolet, Plessisville and Saint-Pierre-les-Becquets - will host pre-competition games along with Victoriaville and Drummondville on Dec. 28.

The gold medal game will be held Jan. 4 at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT and will be shown on TSN/RDS, Hockey Canada’s official broadcasters. All other games at the tournament, including 20 preliminary round games, three placement games, both semifinals and the bronze medal game, will be available through FASTHockey at hockeycanada.fasthockey.com. Fans can watch all the action for free by following three steps:

STEP 1: Visit hockeycanada.fasthockey.com and sign up for a free FASTHockey account.

STEP 2: Like the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge on Facebook at www.facebook.com/worldu17.

STEP 3: Just prior to the game, click the HC on FASTHockey link on the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge Facebook page to watch.

Beginning Friday, a five-game ticket package is available for purchase, including tickets to any five games for just $50. In addition, Thirteen-game packages are available in both Victoriaville and Drummondville for just $125, along with a flex package that includes 25 tickets to any games in either city, excluding medal games, for $250. For more information on tickets, including how to purchase, CLICK HERE.

Media accreditation for the 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge is now available. The accreditation can be downloaded by visiting www.hockeycanada.ca/wu17, or by clicking HERE.

The 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge will bring together the top players in the world born in 1996 or later. The regional under-17 program is the first step in Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence. Many players who compete at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge go on to represent Canada with the National Men’s Under-18 Team, National Junior Team and National Men’s Team.

Since the first World Under-17 Hockey Challenge (then known as the Quebec Esso Cup) in 1986, more than 1,200 NHL draft picks have played in the tournament, including nine of the last 12 first-overall selections (Ilya Kovalchuk, 2001; Rick Nash, 2002; Marc-André Fleury, 2003; Alexander Ovechkin, 2004; Erik Johnson, 2006; Patrick Kane, 2007; John Tavares, 2009; Taylor Hall, 2010; Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 2011).

For more information on the 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca/wu17, or follow along via social media at www.facebook.com/worldu17 or www.twitter.com/hc_wu17.