CALGARY, ALBERTA - Thirty-four of Canada's best young hockey players have been invited to Canada's National Under 18 Team Summer Team Development Camp, the Canadian Hockey Association and the Canadian Hockey League announced on Tuesday.

Twenty-two of the thirty-four players will be part of the National Under 18 Summer Team, which participates in the Six Nations Tournament in August. All thirty-four players will be eligible for the National Under 18 World Championship Team, which will be made up of players whose teams are not involved in their league's playoffs.
Canada has participated in an August Under 18 Tournament in Europe since 1997, capturing gold at all four events. The coaching staff led by George Burnett, of the OHL's Oshawa Generals, will guide the team through a nine-day Development Camp at the end of which 22 players will be selected to represent Canada in the Six Nations Tournament in the Czech Republic, from August 13-19, 2001.

The CHA recently announced that Canada would participate in two major international Under 18 events starting this season. Canada will play in it's first ever IIHF World Under 18 Championship in April, 2002 in Slovakia along with 11 other countries. The coaching staff for the World Under 18 Team has not been named. The National Junior Team Policy Committee will establish the selection process for the World Under 18 Team staff and players over the next few months.

The 34 players named to the National Under 18 Team Development Camp were selected by the CHA's Director of Scouting, Barry Trapp in collaboration with three regional scouts, Jim Currie (West), Jim Cassidy (Ontario) and Serge Aubry (Quebec, Maritimes) who saw over 300 hockey games last season in every area of Canada, evaluating players for the National Junior Team Program as well as the National Under 18 Program.

The 2001-2002 National Under 18 Team will be comprised entirely of players born in 1984. The Under 18 National team is part of a three stage Program of Excellence beginning with the under 17 regional teams and ending with the National Junior team. The primary objectives of the under 18 program are to identify, evaluate and condition players to the rigors of international competition by giving them their first exposure to international hockey, international officiating, larger ice surfaces, and travel.

The 2001 National Under 18 roster includes goaltender Maxime Daigneault of the Val d'Or Foreurs, named the top goaltender at the 2001 Memorial Cup in Regina, SK, the OHL's 2000-2001 Rookie of the Year, Rick Nash of the OHL's London Knights and the top goalscorer at the 2001 World Under 17 Challenge, Brandon Wheat King Lance Monych. Thirty-two of the thirty-four players played in the Canadian Hockey League last season, with one playing in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and another in the British Columbia Junior Hockey League.

All thirty-four players have prior experience in the CHA's Program of Excellence, having played at the 2001 World Under 17 Challenge over the Christmas holidays last year in New Glasgow and Truro, NS.

The team will gather in Toronto, ON on August 1st for an eight day training camp with Head Coach Burnett and assistants Jim Hulton of the OHL's Belleville Bulls and Guy Lalonde of the QMJHL's Hull Olympiques. On August 9th, 22 of the 34 players will depart for Europe where they will take part in the Six Nations Under 18 Tournament in the Czech Republic, featuring players from Canada, the Czech Republic, Russia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Sweden. The Six Nations Tournament runs from August 13-19.