CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Junior Hockey League, announced Monday the 60 players that will attend the Canada East selection camp in preparation for the 2012 World Junior A Challenge.

The selection camp, scheduled for Oct. 28-31, will be held at the MasterCard Centre in Toronto. The 60 players will be divided into three teams – Black, Gold and Green – and will play three intrasquad games, in addition to daily practices.

Players named to the Canada East selection camp roster were selected from the CJHL’s five eastern Junior A leagues: the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL), Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL), Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL), Ligue de hockey junior AAA du Québec (LHJAAAQ) and Maritime Hockey League (MHL).

The selection camp roster was selected by Canada East head coach Greg Walters (Toronto, Ont./Georgetown, OJHL), along with assistant coaches Laurie Barron (Yarmouth, N.S./Yarmouth, MHL) and Sheldon Keefe (Brampton, Ont./Pembroke, CCHL).

“Canada’s five eastern Junior A leagues have some tremendous talent, and we’re very excited about the 60 players we have invited to selection camp,” said Walters. “We’re expecting these players to battle hard for the 22 spots on the Canada East roster, and we think this group gives us the best chance to improve on last year’s silver medal.”

“These players represent some of the best prospects in the entire game, not just Junior A,” said CJHL president Kirk Lamb. “Canada East has enjoyed tremendous success at the World Junior A Challenge and we are very confident these selections will allow Canada East to be very competitive in Yarmouth.”

The Canada East selection camp roster includes:

• Six goaltenders, 18 defencemen and 36 forwards; 32 players from the OJHL, 16 players from the CCHL and four players each from the NOJHL, LHJAAAQ and MHL;
• Four players returning from the 2011 World Junior A Challenge (Danforth, Dutra, Ignagni, Leavens, Neville).

The 2012 World Junior A Challenge will be held Nov. 5-11 at the Mariners Centre in Yarmouth, N.S. Canada East will play in Group B, joined by Switzerland and the United States, while Canada West, the Czech Republic and Russia will comprise Group A.

Preliminary round play will run until Wednesday, Nov. 7, with both semifinals taking place Friday, Nov. 9. The gold medal game, which will be shown nationally on TSN/RDS, the official broadcasters of Hockey Canada, is set for Sunday, Nov. 11 (check your local listings). All preliminary round games, quarter-finals, semifinals and the bronze medal game can be seen live via webcast through FASTHockey at hockeycanada.fasthockey.com.

Fans can now purchase the World Junior A Weekend ticket package, which features six games over the final three days of the 2012 World Junior A Challenge. The package includes both semifinals on Nov. 9, the fifth-place game and bronze medal game on Nov. 10 and the second CJHL Prospects Game and gold medal game on Nov. 11, all at the Mariners Centre. Packages are available for $159, plus service fees.

Canada East has appeared in four of the six gold medal games at the World Junior A Challenges, taking silver in 2006 in Yorkton, Sask., 2007 in Trail, B.C., and 2010 in Penticton, B.C., as well as last year in Langley, B.C. It won bronze in 2008 in Camrose, Alta., and finished fourth in 2009 in Summerside, P.E.I.

For more information on the 2012 World Junior A Challenge, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca/wjac or follow along via social media at www.facebook.com/wjrac or www.twitter.com/hc_wjac.