SYDNEY, N.S. – Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Hockey League and Hockey Nova Scotia, announced Thursday the game schedule for the 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, scheduled for Dec. 29, 2013 to Jan. 4, 2014 in Cape Breton, N.S.

The 27-game tournament will be based out of the Centre 200 in Sydney, home of the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, with other games held at the Emera Centre Northside in North Sydney, N.S., and Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre in Port Hawkesbury, N.S. Those three venues, along with Louisdale, N.S., and Eskasoni, N.S., will host pre-tournament games Dec. 28.

Defending gold medallist Sweden will play in Group A with the Czech Republic, Pacific (Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories and Yukon), Quebec and West (Manitoba, Nunavut and Saskatchewan). Russia, last year’s silver medallist, will be a part of Group B, along with Atlantic (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island), Germany, Ontario and the United States.

The gold medal game will be held Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. AT and shown on TSN/RDS, Hockey Canada’s official broadcasters. All other games at the tournament, including preliminary round contests, placement games, semifinals and the bronze medal game, will be available through FASTHockey at hockeycanada.fasthockey.com.

Ticket packages for each host community are on sale on July 8 (prices do not include applicable fees):

Sydney, N.S. ($99)
12 games – one pre-tournament game, eight preliminary round games, one semifinal, bronze medal game, gold medal game

North Sydney, N.S. ($99)
15 games – one pre-tournament game, 10 preliminary round games, seventh-place game, one semifinal, bronze medal game (in Sydney), gold medal game (in Sydney)

Port Hawkesbury, N.S. ($50)
Five games – one pre-tournament game, two preliminary round games, ninth-place game, fifth-place game

The 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge will bring together the top players in the world born in 1997 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).