CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada has introduced a new format for its summer development camps, bringing a total of 194 male and 86 female players plus coaching and support staff to the Markin MacPhail Centre at WinSport's Canada Olympic Park in Calgary for a total of 19 days of on- and off-ice sessions in preparation for the 2015-16 season.

Between July 29 and Aug. 16, Calgary will host some of the top hockey talent in the nation as part of Canada’s National Junior Team Sport Chek Summer Development Camp (40 players), Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team selection camp (43 players), Canada’s national under-17 development camp (111 players), Canada’s National Women’s Development Team selection camp (43 players), and Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camp (43 players).

In addition, Hockey Canada is leveraging the Summer Showcase to bring together 2015-16 event host communities from across country for a three-day National Events Seminar. Working with Hockey Canada’s event-management team, the community leads will learn about the organization’s event-hosting best practices, and share information with colleagues across the country. Confirmed attendees represent the communities of Quispamsis, N.B., Hunstville, Ont., Weyburn, Sask., Morden, Man., Lloydminster, Alta., Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, B.C., St. Catharines, Ont., Cobourg and Whitby, Ont., Prince George, B.C., Kamloops, B.C., Toronto, Ont., and Montreal, Que.

“We’ve taken a new approach this year, bringing most of our camps under one National Teams’ Summer Showcase to create an environment for our teams to learn from and inspire each other,” said Tom Renney, president and CEO, Hockey Canada. “It was a natural fit to time our National Events Seminar so that this year’s event hosts are able to benefit from that same information-sharing, all within the framework of the Summer Showcase as an active event.”

Catching the action of the National Teams’ Summer Showcase

The National Teams’ Summer Showcase presents a unique opportunity for hockey fans across the country to indulge in their favourite sport before the official season kick-off. All teams will be split into smaller squads for several practices and intrasquad games, as well as off-ice dryland training, fitness testing, and high-performance classroom sessions. Intrasquad games for the men’s under-17, men’s and women’s under-18, and women’s development teams are free and open to the public, and will be webcast by FASTHockey available on the Hockey Canada website at www.hockeycanada.ca/U18Live, www.hockeycanada.ca/U17Live and www.hockeycanada.ca/DevLive.  

As part of Canada’s National Junior Team Sport Chek Summer Development Camp, Canada will face off against the Czech Republic for games on Aug. 4 and Aug. 6, and against Russia on Aug. 3 and Aug. 5. Tickets to those four games, being hosted at the Markin MacPhail Centre, are available for purchase as a $40 four-game ticket package, or through single-game tickets at $15 each. All four games will also be televised on TSN and RDS.

For all team rosters, scheduling and ticket purchase information regarding the Hockey Canada National Teams’ Summer Showcase, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca/showcase.

For more information on Hockey Canada and its national teams, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca, or follow along through social media at www.facebook.com/hockeycanada, and www.twitter.com/hockeycanada.

Editors’ note: interviews can be coordinated through the following assigned media contacts: Lisa Dornan – junior camp and Hockey Canada executives; Morgan Bell – men’s under-18 and women’s development camps; Esther Madziya – men’s under-17 and women’s under-18 camps.