TORONTO, Ont. – Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Junior Hockey League, announced Wednesday the 22 players that will represent Canada East at the 2014 World Junior A Challenge, Dec. 14-20 at the West Central Events Centre in Kindersley, Sask.

The roster was chosen by Canada East head coach Marty Abrams (Wellington, OJHL), along with assistant coaches Mark Grady (Smith Falls, CCHL), Marc Lafleur (Kirkland Lake, NOJHL) and Troy Ryan (Campbellton, MHL), following a four-day selection camp at Buckingham Arena in Toronto.

Players named to the Canada East 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 du Québec (LHJQ) and Maritime Hockey League (MHL).

“It has been an exciting four days in Toronto for both the players and staff; we have had the opportunity to see the talent in eastern Canada, and it made for some tough decisions to get down to 22 players,” said Abrams. “The players are ready to go, the coaches are ready to go, and we can’t wait to get on the ice in Kindersley.”

The Canada East roster for the 2014 World Junior A Challenge includes:

• two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards;
• 13 players from the OJHL, seven players from the CCHL and two players from the MHL.

Canada East will play in Group A at the 2014 World Junior A Challenge, joined by Switzerland and the United States, while Canada West, Denmark and Russia will comprise Group B.

Preliminary round play will run until Tuesday, Dec. 16, with both semifinals taking place Thursday, Dec. 18. The gold medal game, which will be shown nationally on TSN/RDS, the official broadcasters of Hockey Canada, is set for Saturday, Dec. 20 (check your local listings).

All preliminary round games, quarter-finals, semifinals and the bronze medal game can be seen live and free through FASTHockey webcasts at www.hockeycanada.ca/wjac.

Single-game tickets for the 2014 World Junior A Challenge will go on sale at 9 a.m. CT on Sunday, Dec. 14, at the box office at the West Central Events Centre, and online at www.hockeycanada.ca/wjac. Tickets are available for preliminary round games ($15), quarter-finals ($20), semifinals ($25), the bronze medal game ($25), and gold medal game ($30).

Full-tournament ticket packages, including tickets to all 13 games in Kindersley, are still available for only $225. To purchase ticket packages, please CLICK HERE.

Canada East has appeared in four of the eight gold medal games at the World Junior A Challenges, taking silver in 2006 in Yorkton, Sask., 2007 in Trail, B.C., 2010 in Penticton, B.C., and 2011 in Langley, B.C. It won bronze in 2008 in Camrose, Alta., finished fourth in 2009 in Summerside, P.E.I., and 2012 in Yarmouth, N.S., and was sixth last year in Yarmouth.

NOTE TO MEDIA: Jason La Rose, Hockey Canada’s manager of content services, will be on site in Kindersley, and will be the media contact for the 2014 World Junior A Challenge. He can be reached at [email protected] for any interview requests.

For more information on the 2014 World Junior A Challenge, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca/wjac, and follow along via social media at www.facebook.com/wjrac or www.twitter.com/hc_wjac.