COBOURG, Ont. – Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) announced Wednesday the 22 players that will represent Team Canada East at the 2015 World Junior A Challenge, Dec. 13-19 in Cobourg and Whitby, Ont.

The Team Canada East roster for the 2015 World Junior A Challenge includes two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards; the team opens its tournament Sunday, Dec. 13 against Switzerland at 5 p.m. ET at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre in Whitby.

“There were no easy decisions to get our roster down to these 22 players,” said Team Canada East head coach Jason Clarke. “These players are excited to wear the red and white of Team Canada, they’re excited to play in front of eastern Canadian fans in Cobourg and Whitby, and we can’t wait to get started.”

The final roster was chosen by Jason Clarke (Carleton Place, CCHL), along with assistant coaches Stéphane Blanchet (Longueuil, LHJQ), Mario Cicchillo (Toronto Jr. Canadiens, OJHL) and Marc Lafleur (Kirkland Lake, NOJHL), and director of hockey operations Gary McGee (Carleton Place, CCHL).

Players 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).

Team Canada East will play an exhibition game against the United States on Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. ET at the Wellington and District Community Centre, home of the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Wellington Dukes. Tickets can be purchased at the arena box office in Wellington for $10.

This year marks the 10th edition of the World Junior A Challenge – executed as part of a partnership between Hockey Canada and the CJHL. The event visits Ontario for the first time since its inception in 2006. Two Canadian teams and four international squads will form the two groups of three teams.

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

The gold-medal game is scheduled for Sat. Dec. 19 at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT and will be broadcast by TSN and RDS, the official broadcasters of Hockey Canada – check local listings for details. 

Single-game tickets are now available for the tournament, and full-tournament ticket packages in both Cobourg and Whitby, including the gold-medal game, are still available through the Hockey Canada website.

Seven of the nine gold-medal games at the World Junior A Challenge have featured at least one Canadian team. Team Canada West won gold at the first two tournaments, in 2006 and 2007, and also took the top prize in 2011. The team also earned silver in 2008, 2009 and 2012, and won bronze in 2013. Team Canada East earned silver medals in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011, and claimed bronze in 2008.

For more information on the 2015 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.