CALGARY, Alta. – As hockey gets set to resume in the Durham Region and Northumberland County on Saturday, the area readies to welcome the top talent of Canada’s 10 Junior A leagues in Cobourg and Whitby, Ont., in mid-December for the 10^th annual World Junior A Challenge. The event visits Ontario for the first time since its inception in 2006.

Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), has released the full event schedule and World Junior A Challenge ticket packages are now on sale.

“Canada’s Junior A leagues continue to produce tremendous talent, and the best that Junior A has to offer will be lacing up their skates to give the crowds in Cobourg and Whitby an exciting week of hockey this December,” said Tom Renney, president and CEO of Hockey Canada. “The local host committee and its volunteers are already hard at work to ensure they deliver a fantastic experience for all of the participating teams and the fans who come out to cheer them on.”

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 the Iroquois Park Sports Centre in Whitby.

Canada East will play in Group A with Russia and Switzerland, while the United States, the three-time defending gold-medallist, Canada West and the Czech Republic will comprise Group B.

Canada West will be the first Canadian team to see action, taking on Czech Republic in the tournament opener Sunday, Dec. 13, while Canada East will make its 2015 debut that night when it faces Switzerland.

Full-tournament ticket packages, including the gold-medal game, for the 2015 World Junior A Challenge for either Cobourg or Whitby are now on sale for only $125. To purchase tickets and view other available ticket packages, please CLICK HERE.

“The Ontario Hockey Association and Ontario Junior Hockey League are happy to be hosting the event for the first time. This tournament has built a lot of expectations in its history and we are proud of its legacy,” said Kirk Lamb, president of the CJHL. “The World Junior A Challenge is a great showcase for the top players and prospects in the CJHL and from around the world.”

The first-place team in each group will receive a bye to the semifinals on Thursday, Dec. 17, with the second-place and third-place teams crossing over for the quarter-finals Wednesday, Dec. 16. The losers of the semifinals will meet for the bronze medal Friday, Dec. 18, while the winners will face off for gold Saturday, Dec. 19.

World Junior A Challenge a benefit to host cities

Last year’s host, Kindersley, Sask., saw $3.5 million in total economic activity generated by the tournament province-wide, with $2.1 million of that occurring in Kindersley.

“Hosting this event means a great deal for our community and surrounding communities. All eyes will be on Cobourg and Whitby, and this is a marvelous opportunity to create a major buzz in our cities around this amazing event,” said Jerry Ouellette, chair of the 2015 World Junior A Challenge host committee. “We hope to see fans come out and support these teams, as we know the players will be ready to put on a great show out on the ice.”

Since the first World Junior A Challenge in 2006, more than 230 NHL draft picks have played in the tournament, including 32 first-round selections (Beau Bennett, Brock Boeser, Alexander Burmistrov, Joe Colborne, Kyle Connor, Nikolaj Ehlers, Nikita Filatov, Mikhail Grigorenko, Denis Guryanov, Dmitri Kulikov, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Elias Lindholm, Hampus Lindholm, John Moore, Vladislav Namestnikov, Riley Nash, Valeri Nichushkin, Dylan Olsen, David Pastrnak, Ilya Samsonov, Jordan Schmaltz, Nick Schmaltz, Jaden Schwartz, Brendan Smith, Evgeny Svechnikov, Vladimir Tarasenko, Kyle Turris, Alexander Wennberg, Andrei Vasilevski, Jakub Vrana, Nail Yakupov and Jakub Zboril).

Seven of the nine gold-medal games at the World Junior A Challenge have featured at least one Canadian 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. 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.