CANADA EAST ROSTER ANNOUNCED FOR 2012 WORLD JUNIOR A CHALLENGE

Press Release

CAN East Roster

TORONTO, Ont. – Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Junior Hockey League, announced Thursday the 22 players that will represent Canada East at the 2012 World Junior A Challenge, Nov. 5-11 in Yarmouth, N.S.

The roster was selected by Canada East head coach Greg Walters (Toronto, Ont./Georgetown, OJHL), along with assistant coaches Laurie Barron (Yarmouth, N.S./Yarmouth, MHL) and Sheldon Keefe (Brampton, Ont./Pembroke, CCHL) following a four-day selection camp at the MasterCard Centre in Toronto.

Players named to the Canada East roster 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 AAA du Québec (LHJAAAQ) and Maritime Hockey League (MHL).

“Getting down to 22 players was no easy feat, especially considering the talent we had in Toronto this week,” said Walters. “As a coaching staff, we’re confident we’ve assembled the best roster and we look forward to getting to Nova Scotia and getting started.”

The Canada East roster includes:

• two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards;
• 14 players from the OJHL and eight players from the CCHL;
• two players returning from the 2011 World Junior A Challenge (Danforth, Neville).

The 2012 World Junior A Challenge will be held at the Mariners Centre in Yarmouth. Canada East will play in Group B, joined by Switzerland and the United States, while Canada West, the Czech Republic and Russia will comprise Group A.

Preliminary round play will run until Wednesday, Nov. 7, with both semifinals taking place Friday, Nov. 9. The gold medal game, which will be shown nationally on TSN/RDS, the official broadcasters of Hockey Canada, is set for Sunday, Nov. 11 (check your local listings). All preliminary round games, quarter-finals, semifinals and the bronze medal game can be seen live via webcast through FASTHockey at hockeycanada.fasthockey.com.

Fans can now purchase the World Junior A Weekend ticket package, which features six games over the final three days of the 2012 World Junior A Challenge. The package includes both semifinals on Nov. 9, the fifth-place game and bronze medal game on Nov. 10 and the second CJHL Prospects Game and gold medal game on Nov. 11, all at the Mariners Centre. Packages are available for $159, plus service fees.
Canada East has appeared in four of the six gold medal games at the World Junior A Challenges, taking silver in 2006 in Yorkton, Sask., 2007 in Trail, B.C., and 2010 in Penticton, B.C., as well as last year in Langley, B.C. It won bronze in 2008 in Camrose, Alta., and finished fourth in 2009 in Summerside, P.E.I.
For more informtion on the 2012 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.


 (Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)