CALGARY, Alta. – Forty-one players will be vying for a chance to represent Team Canada East at the 2015 World Junior A Challenge when the team opens its selection camp in Etobicoke, Ont., on Dec. 6.

Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), announced Team Canada East’s selection camp roster on Wednesday, and 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).

The Team Canada East selection camp roster includes:

• four goaltenders, 13 defencemen and 24 forwards;
• 20 players from the OJHL, nine players from the CCHL, and four players from each of the LHJQ, MHL and NOJHL;
• three players returning from the 2014 World Junior A Challenge (Lucas Batt, Drake Board and Maxime St. Pierre).

The selection camp roster was chosen by Team Canada East head coach 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 operations Gary McGee (Carleton Place, CCHL).

The selection camp, scheduled for Dec. 6-9, will be held at the MasterCard Centre in Etobicoke, Ont. The 41 players will be divided into two teams and play two intrasquad games over three days.

“These are 41 players hungry to wear the Team Canada jersey on home ice in Cobourg and Whitby, and we’re expecting a competitive camp to get to the final 22,” said Clarke. “As a staff we’re looking forward to this experience, and these five days in Etobicoke are only the beginning.”

The Wellington and District Community Centre, home of the OJHL’s Wellington Dukes, will host two pre-tournament games on Friday, Dec. 11; the first featuring the OJHL All-Stars in a match-up against the Czech Republic at 3 p.m. ET, and the second featuring Team Canada East taking on the United States at 7 p.m. ET.

In Trenton, Team Canada West will go head-to-head with Russia on Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m. ET at the Duncan McDonald Memorial Gardens, home of the OJHL’s Trenton Golden Hawks.

Tickets to the pre-tournament games can be purchased at the arena box offices in Wellington and Trenton beginning Nov. 9. Single-game tickets are $10 each, or $15 for the two Wellington games.

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 that face off Dec. 13-19 at the Cobourg Community Centre in Cobourg and Iroquois Park Sports Centre in Whitby.

Full-tournament ticket packages in both Cobourg and Whitby, including the gold-medal game, can be purchased 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.