WINNIPEG, MB – Hockey Manitoba is pleased to announce the Under-16 & Under-18 rosters for the Program of Excellence (POE) TOP-40 Camp to be held May 10-13, 2012 in Portage la Prairie. The POE TOP-40 Camp is the second major phase of the Program of Excellence which is the selection process for the 2012 Under-16 (Male) and Under-18 (Female) Team Manitoba rosters. The TOP-40 Camp rosters were finalized shortly following the Under-16 and Under-18 POE Spring Tournaments held simultaneously in early April.

A total of forty-one players have been invited to the Under-16 camp, comprised of five goalies, twelve defensemen, and twenty-four forwards. Following a competitive POE Spring Tournament which featured a total of 136 of the province’s best 1997 born (male) players the coaching and evaluation staff were faced with many tough decisions in cutting down to the forty player range. The POE TOP-40 Camp roster will feature a large amount of Western Hockey League draft picks next week, in addition it is anticipated that a number of players who were not invited to the TOP-40 Camp will also receive a call from the Western Hockey League during next week’s draft.

CLICK HERE FOR U-16 TOP-40 CAMP ROSTER

Meanwhile in the Under-18 program also has forty-one players invited to the TOP-40 Camp comprised of four goalies, twelve defense, and twenty-five forwards. The Under-18 list features four players from Pembina Valley currently competing at the 2012 Esso Cup – National Championship (Carels, Hutchinson, Keen, Mowat), and also includes ten potential returning players from 2011 Team Manitoba (Brykaliuk, Dyck, Hutchinson, Krzyzaniak, Kirkup, Martyniuk, Meilleur, Saelens, Studler, Vallotton). Two players, Brykaliuk and Krzyzaniak, also won gold with Team Canada at the 2012 World U-18 Women’s Hockey Championships in Zlin, Czech Republic.

CLICK HERE FOR U-18 TOP-40 CAMP ROSTER

The POE Top-40 Camp was formerly known as the POE Summer Camp, however in an effort to streamline programming towards the philosophies of the Sport Canada Long-Term Athlete Development Model the camp was moved to May as of 2011. Past summer camps have traditionally taken place in June or July, which essentially forced young players to continue to participate in high-intensity summer hockey programs as opposed to using those months as a resting and training period off the ice. By hosting the TOP-40 Camp in May, Hockey Manitoba intends that these young elite athletes will take advantage of the open summer time frame by allowing themselves to compete in other sports and focus on off-ice training and along with ample mental and physical rest.

U-16 Team Manitoba will compete at the Western Canada U-16 Challenge Cup in Calgary, November 1-4, 2012 followed by U-18 Team Manitoba competing at the National U-18 Women’s Championships in Dawson Creek, BC November 7-11, 2012. For more details please visit www.hockeymanitoba.ca/poe.php. Hockey Manitoba is pleased to recognize Canad Inns and Reebok-CCM Hockey as Official Partners of the Program of Excellence.