CALGARY– Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League announced on Wednesday a list of 40 of Canada’s top hockey players, all born in 1988, invited to attend Canada's National Under-18 Summer Team Selection and Development Camp that will run from July 30- in Kitchener, ON.

At the conclusion of the Selection Camp in Kitchener, twenty-two of the 40 players will be selected to Canada’s National Under-18 Summer Team, which will participate in the U-18 Junior World Cup in Breclav, Czech Republic and Piestany, Slovakia, from August 9-14, 2005.

The 40 players announced today were selected by Hockey Canada's Director, Program of Excellence, Blair Mackasey, who spent the 2004-05 season monitoring and evaluating the top Canadian players for selection to Canada’s Under-18 teams and National Junior team program. Mackasey, along with the coaching staff led by Head Coach Shawn Camp, will oversee the camp evaluations in Kitchener in August and the final selection of the players for Canada’s roster for the U-18 Junior World Cup.

“The fact that Canada’s regional teams finished with a sweep of all four top positions (1-2-3-4) at last year’s World Under 17 Challenge in Lethbridge shows the depth of talent in Canada and the high skill level of players in our country at this age level, “ said Blair Mackasey.  “This year’s Under-18 Summer team will bring a great mix of speed, skill and experience, and we look forward to a competitive camp.” 

Team Canada’s Under-18 Head Coach is Shawn Camp (Sarnia, OHL) and assistants Cory Clouston (Kootenay, WHL) and Curtis Hunt (Regina, WHL).

Canada has participated in an August Under-18 Tournament in Europe since 1996, capturing gold at eight of the nine events, including a gold medal finish last year. Other teams participating at the 2005 August U-18 Junior World Cup include: Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Sweden and the United States.

BREAKING DOWN THE 40 PLAYER SELECTION CAMP ROSTER:

• 4 goaltenders, 12 defensemen, 24 forwards
• Thirty-four of the 40 players played in the Canadian Hockey League last season (WHL - 14; OHL – 12; QMJHL – 7; Midget AAA – 4; Prep schools – 2; Junior A – 1)
• Thirty-six of the 40 players have prior experience in Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence, having played at the 2005 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Lethbridge, AB last year

Team West, gold medal winners - 6 players
Team Pacific, silver medalists - 10 players
Team Atlantic, bronze medalists - 5 players
Team Ontario, 4th place - 11 players
Team Quebec, 9th place - 4 players

Hockey Canada and the CHL also announced the support staff for Canada’s Under 18 August team and camp:

Equipment Manager - Tyler Broderson – Lethbridge Hurricanes
Team Therapist - Phillipe Fait – Rouyn Noranda Huskies

Canada's Under 18 Program is a key component of Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence (POE), which has been in operation since 1982. The POE allows Hockey Canada to identify and train Canada's most gifted young hockey players, to encourage and motivate them to play for their country and to provide them with the opportunities to measure and refine their skills against top caliber international competition. Eighteen of the 22 players who won gold for Canada at the 2005 World Juniors got their start playing for Canada in Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence.