Schedule announced for 2023 World Junior A Hockey Challenge

The World Junior A Hockey Challenge returns to Truro, Nova Scotia, for the
first time since 2017 this fall. Not solely does the occasion convey worldwide
hockey again to city, however it’ll additionally showcase the subsequent crop of hockey stars
and standouts.

This yr’s match will characteristic Canada East, Canada West, Slovakia,
Sweden and the United States, starting Dec. 10 on the Rath Eastlink
Community Centre.

Founded in 2006 to provide extra publicity to gamers from throughout the Canadian
Junior Hockey League, there have been no scarcity of memorable moments and
historic performances over time.

Check out the total record of notable World Junior A Challenge alumni

The final time a Canadian staff struck gold on the match got here again in
2017 in Truro, when NHL first-round picks Dylan Holloway (Edmonton) and
Jacob Bernard-Docker (Ottawa) helped West to

a 5-1 win over the U.S. within the closing

.

Turning again the clock to the primary WJAC in Yorkton and Humboldt,
Saskatchewan, within the first-ever recreation, Kyle Turris scored 4 occasions to steer
Canada West to a win over Russia en path to gold and MVP honours. That
stood as the one four-goal effort till final yr, when Ty Daneault lit the
lamp 4 occasions in a 10-0 West win over Latvia.

In Langley, B.C., in 2011, Canada West turned the primary staff to lose each of
its preliminary-round video games (beneath the outdated format) and nonetheless win gold,

capped by an exciting 4-2 win over Canada East in the newest
all-Canadian closing

.

That recreation included 9 gamers who’ve appeared in an NHL recreation – 4 with
West (Alex Kerfoot, Jujhar Khaira, Colton Parayko, Troy Stecher) and 5
with East (Drake Caggiula, Justin Danforth, Ben Hutton, Devin Shore,
MacKenzie Weegar).

Four years later, a Canada West roster that included 4 first-round NHL
draft picks — Tyson Jost (tenth to Colorado in 2016), Dante Fabbro (seventeenth,
Nashville, 2016), Dennis Cholowski (twentieth, Detroit, 2016) and Cale Makar
(4th, Colorado, 2017) — received gold in Cobourg and Whitby, Ontario.

That match is maybe finest remembered for the wild East vs. West
semifinal; tied 2-2 getting into the third interval, Jost tied a tournament-record
with 4 factors (1-3—3) and the groups mixed for a file 9 objectives,
with

West pulling away for an 8-5 win

.

Makar, in fact, is now maybe the best-known WJAC alumni – an all-star in
2015, he returned to captain West in 2016, once more making the all-star staff,
earlier than embarking on a professional profession that has already included a Calder Trophy,
Conn Smythe Trophy and Stanley Cup championship in Colorado.

And in 2019, a younger goaltender stole the present, incomes Most Valuable Player
honours and backstopping Canada East to inside an time beyond regulation purpose of its first
gold medal. A yr later,

Devon Levi was starring on the most important stage in junior hockey

, handing over the most effective netminding performances in IIHF World Junior
Championship historical past contained in the Edmonton bubble.

But it’s not simply Canadians who’ve left their mark. The record of
worldwide alumni is simply as spectacular, together with Boston Bruins
celebrity David Pastrnak (Czech Republic, 2012), Calgary Flames standout
Elias Lindholm (Sweden, 2011) and a trio of Americans — New York Islanders
defenceman Scott Mayfield (2010), Pittsburgh Penguins ahead Vince
Hinostroza (2012) and Arizona Coyotes point-getter Nick Schmaltz (2013) —
who have been match MVPs.

As was Winnipeg Jets sniper Nikolaj Ehlers, who took residence the award in 2014
after posting 9 factors (6-3—9) in 4 video games and serving to Denmark attain
the gold medal recreation in Kindersley, Saskatchewan.

So the place do these gamers come from? The World Junior A Hockey Challenge
gathers a number of the prime 18-and-under prospects from all over the world. This
yr, the 5 groups will characteristic gamers born in 2005 and 2006, with a
most of 5 2004-born gamers allowed on every staff.

Canada East and Canada West showcase expertise from coast to coast, chosen
from the 9 leagues that comprise the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
Canada West selects gamers from the AJHL, SJHL, MJHL and SIJHL, whereas
Canada East pulls its gamers from the NOJHL, OJHL, CCHL, LHJAAAQ and MHL.

So … will you be a part of the festivities in Truro? Tickets at the moment are on sale
at

HockeyCanada.ca/Tickets

, together with early-bird packages, and there’s one thing for everybody!