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Oshawa, Ontario, Canada

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Team Canada Chosen

The players representing Canada at the upcoming 2008 World U20 Hockey Championship in the Czech Republic have been chosen. Coach Craig Hartsburg made 13 cuts earlier today to trim the team to the final 22 players. Among those on Team Canada are John Tavares of the Oshawa Generals, Steven Stamkos of the Sarnia Sting, Steve Mason of the London Knights (I apologize for only highlighting OHL players so far but I live in Ontario and only know these players), and two returning players from the Gold medal winning squad from 2007 Karl Alzner of the Calagary Hitmen and Brad Marchand of the Val-d'Or Foreurs.

With the leading goal scorer in the Ontario Hockey League in Brett MacLean (Oshawa Generals) being cut from Team Canada, this year's team must be solid. The other notable player cut from the squad is Angelo Esposito. I think the only reason Esposito is a notable but, besides the famous last name, is that it was his third straight year being cut from the team, a feat accomplished only once before by Daniel Cleary.

This tournament, always exciting to watch, begins for Team Canada on boxing day as usual. For those who may not be familiar with boxing day, it is December 26. Go Canada!

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Series Ends With Canadian Win!

The 2007 ADT Canada/Russia Challenge ended last Thursday with a 4-1 win by Team WHL. Although Team Russia put on a good show and made it tough for the Canadian teams, they still ended up with a 2-4 record. This series has given hope for the Russians, however, as they beat a Western Hockey League team for the first time ever in this annual event and they played two strong games against the team from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. This series shows some promise for the Russians in the future so let's hope, for the sake of exciting hockey, that Russia continues to send skilled players to this event and that Canada keeps producing top players of their own.