CALGARY, ALBERTA – On Friday, Hockey Canada, along with the Canadian Hockey League, named the 22 players that will form Canada’s National Under-18 Team for the Under-18 Junior World Cup in Slovakia, August 10-15, 2004.

Canada will be pursuing its 8th international Under-18 Junior World Cup gold medal having captured gold at seven of the previous eight events that have been held each year in the month of August.

The naming of the 22 player roster comes after a week-long development camp held in Calgary, AB which saw 40 of Canada’s top under-18 players vying for a spot on Team Canada. Hockey Canada’s Head Scout, Blair Mackasey conducted evaluations throughout the week, along with Head Coach Dave Cameron (Toronto St.Michael’s, OHL) and assistants Shawn Camp (Sarnia, OHL) and Benoit Groulx (Gatineau, QMJHL).

“As a coaching staff, we are extremely pleased with the intensity and caliber of the players we had at this camp,” said Cameron. “This group of young men that we have chosen, will be an excellent representation for our country at the Junior World Cup. We feel confident that this team will be focused on its quest for a gold medal.”

Canada’s Under-18 program and the Summer Development Camp are part of Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence beginning with the regional Under-17 teams and ending with the National Junior Team. The primary objectives of the Under-18 program are to identify, evaluate and condition players to the rigors of international competition by giving them their first exposure to international hockey and travel. Many of these Under-18 players will move on to play with Canada’s National Junior team, and many will be high NHL draft picks in 2005.

Eighteen players were released from Canada’s Under-18 Development Camp on Thursday morning.

These released players will continue to be evaluated and monitored along with other Under-18 Canadian players for possible future involvement in the Program of Excellence. This could come as early as the 2005 IIHF World Under-18 Championship on April 14-24, 2005 in Ceske Budejovice and Plzen, Czech Republic.

MEDIA AVAILABILITY: A team photo will be taken Friday, August 6th at the Father David Bauer Arena at 9 am (Mountain Time). Players and staff will be available for on-site media interviews after the photo, as well as after their practice which will run from 10:30-12 noon (Mountain Time). For phone interviews, please contact Sean Kelso (403-880-5819 or 403-777-4552).

The 22 players, along with the staff, will be departing of Calgary, AB on Saturday, August 7th at 7:30am (MT) on Air Canada Flight 158, for Montreal, QC, continuing on to Vienna, Austria.

CANADA’S NATIONAL UNDER-18 TEAM ROSTER (JUNIOR WORLD CUP – AUGUST)

# Player Pos S/C Ht. Wt. Birthdate Hometown 2003-04 Team
30 Mior, Ryan G L/G 5’11.5 182 06/18/1987 St.John’s, NL PEI (QMJHL)

1 Price, Carey G L/G 6’2.5 209 08/16/1987 Williams Lake, BC Tri-City (WHL)

4 Bourdon, Luc D L/G 6’1 202 02/16/1987 Shippagan, NB Val d’Or (QMJHL)

15 McNeil, Patrick D L/G 5’11 195 03/17/1987 Strathroy, ON Saginaw (OHL)

6 Mikkelson, Brendan D L/G 6’2 178 06/22/1987 St. Albert, AB Portland (WHL)

7 Parent, Ryan D L/G 6’1.5 181 03/17/1987 Sioux Lookout, ON Guelph (OHL)

10 Russell, Kris D L/G 5’9.5 159 05/02/1987 Caroline, AB Medicine Hat (WHL)

27 Staal, Marc D L/G 6’3 198 01/13/1987 Thunder Bay, ON Sudbury (OHL)

5 Wilson, Ryan D L/G 6’0 208 02/03/1987 Windsor, ON St. Michael’s (OHL)

26 Bass, Cody F/A R/D 5’11.5 181 01/07/1987 Guelph, ON Mississauga (OHL)

9 Bertram, Dan F/A R/D 5’9.5 175 01/14/1987 Calgary, AB Camrose (AJHL)

19 Bradford, Brock F/A R/D 5’8 152 01/07/1987 Burnaby, BC Coquitlam (BCHL)

17 Brule, Gilbert F/A R/D 5’10 175 01/01/1987 North Vancouver, BCVancouver (WHL)

22 Clune, Richard F/A L/G 5’9.5 197 04/25/1987 Toronto, ON Sarnia (OHL)

12 Clutterbuck, Cal F/A R/D 5’9 198 11/18/1987 Welland, ON St. Michael’s (OHL)

11 Cogliano, Andrew F/A L/G 5’9 177 06/14/1987 Woodbridge, ON St. Michael’s (OHA)

24 Durand, Chris F/A R/D 6’1 182 01/21/1987 Saskatoon, SK Seattle (WHL)

25 Hobson, Adam F/A L/G 5’11.5 200 01/09/1987 Mission, BC Spokane (WHL)

18 Little, Bryan F/A R/D 5’9 185 11/12/1987 Cambridge, ON Barrie (OHL)

23 O’Marra, Ryan F/A R/D 6’1 188 06/09/1987 Mississauga, ON Erie (OHL)

20 Ryder, Daniel F/A R/D 5’11 192 01/12/1987 Bonavista, NL Peterborough (OHL)

21 Setoguchi, Devin F/A R/D 5’11.5 185 01/01/1987 Taber, AB Saskatoon (WHL)

SUPPORT STAFF/PERSONNEL:

Director, High Performance/Directeur, haute performance:Denis Hainault Hockey Canada

Manager, Men’s National Team/ Scott Salmond Hockey Canada

Responsable, équipe nationale masculine:

Head Scout/Dépisteur-en-chef: Blair Mackasey Hockey Canada

Head coach/Entraîneur-chef: Dave Cameron St.Michael’s (OHL)

Assistant coach/Entraîneur adjoint: Benoit Groulx Gatineau (QMJHL)

Assistant coach/Entraîneur adjoint: Shawn Camp Sarnia (OHL)

Equipment manager/ Responsable de l’équipement : Tom Frater Belleville (OHL)

Therapist/Thérapeute: Etienne Fallu Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL)

Team physician/ Médecin de l’équipe : Donald Plouffe Gatineau (QMJHL)

Video Coach/Entraîneur Vidéo: Trevor Keeper Red Deer (WHL)

For more information on Canada’s National Under-18 Team, please visit Hockey Canada’s official web site at www.hockeycanada.ca