Canada’s world junior team will host their selection camp in Victoria starting Dec.11.
The Team Sport Chek Selection Camp is a four-day event to finalize Canada’s 22-player roster in advance of the tournament, which begins Boxing Day.
Camp will be held at the Q Centre, home of the Victoria Grizzlies of the BCHL, which has previously been used in training camps by the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning and Vancouver Canucks.
Canada’s camp features a three-game series against a team of U SPORTS all-stars.
“We had a competitive camp at our summer showcase in Kamloops, and the opportunity to play and represent our country on home ice should make for another competitive camp,” said Shawn Bullock, Hockey Canada’s director of men’s national teams.
“We believe this four-day camp and the three games we will play will give us the best chance to evaluate and name the top Canadian players to represent our country in Vancouver.”
All of Canada’s round-robin and knockout stage games will take place in Vancouver, but Victoria’s Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre will also host two pre-tournament games against Switzerland and Slovakia, on Dec. 19 and 21.
Team Canada seeks its 18th gold medal, and its first on home ice since 2015, in a lineup that featured then-Victoria Royals Head Coach Dave Lowry and defenceman Joe Hicketts.
