Two Raiders prospects and a Mintos star have been invited to attend Hockey Canada’s national under-17 development camp.
Two of the Raiders picks from the 2017 draft, Ozzy Weisblatt and Kaiden Guhle, both earned invited. Josh Pillar of the Mintos, a 2017 first-round pick of the Kamloops Blazers, also got an invite.
The camp, being held July 21-27 in Calgary, is part of the journey to the 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. Invitees will be split into six teams for on- and off-ice training, fitness testing, practices, intrasquad games and classroom sessions.
Of the 12 goalies, 36 defencemen and 63 forwards invited, 28 WHL prospects will attend.
“The national under-17 development camp provides a unique opportunity for players to learn about what it takes to be part of Team Canada alongside the best young talent in the country,” said Shawn Bullock, Hockey Canada’s senior manager of hockey operations and men’s national teams in a press release.
“The players are here with the ultimate goal of wearing the Team Canada jersey in international competition, and we are supporting them in that goal by providing the on- and off-ice experiences they need to develop and grow as high-performance athletes.”
Once camp is done, players will be evaluated through the early season before 66 are named to one of the three national teams, Team Black, Team Red and Team White. All three teams will compete at the 2018 challenge scheduled for Nov. 3-10 in Saint John and Quispamsis, N.B.
