Monday, November 7, 2011
World Jr. A Challenge Faces Off in B.C.
The 2011 World Junior A Challenge faces off Monday in Langley, British Columbia, a six-team tournament featuring some of the top future college hockey players in the U.S. and Canada competing against teams from the Czech Republic, Russia and Sweden.
Canada has two entries in the tournament – Canada East and Canada West. The six teams will compete in Preliminary Round action through Wednesday, with Quarterfinals held Thursday. The semifinals are Friday and gold-medal game will be Sunday.
The World Junior A Challenge began in 2006 and dozens of current and former college players have participated in the event. Canada West won the first two tournaments while Team USA enters this year having won each of the past three gold medals.
Each of the five players to win tournament MVP in the past have gone on to play college hockey: Scott Mayfield (Denver), Sean Bonar (Princeton), Mike Cichy (North Dakota/Western Michigan), Mike Connolly (Minnesota Duluth) and Kyle Turris (Wisconsin).
As that history suggests, many of the American and Canadian players in the event have already committed to colleges, including Mario Lucia (Notre Dame), Jordan Schmaltz (North Dakota) and Brian Cooper (Nebraska-Omaha). Others may still be weighing college options or looking to catch the eye of a college coach, making the World Junior A Challenge a popular stop for recruiters this weekend (the first part of the week, due to the National Letter of Intent signing period, is considered a dead period for NCAA recruiting). The North American teams in the tournament draw from leagues familiar to college hockey fans such as the USHL, AJHL, BCHL and OJHL.
CJHL Prospects
This year, for the first time, the CJHL Prospects Games will be held in conjunction with the World Junior A Challenge. The two-game total goal series between Team East and Team West on Nov. 12-13 features the top 40 NHL draft-eligible players from Canada’s 10 Junior A leagues not participating in the World Junior A Challenge. Player selection was a joint initiative of the CJHL and NHL Central Scouting.
Like the World Junior A Challenge, the CJHL Prospects game will feature players from leagues familiar to college hockey fans such as the AJHL, BCHL and OJHL. The event figures to attract both NHL and college scouts, as many of the participants have yet to commit to a school.
The Langley Events Centre is a 5,500-seat arena that is home to the BCHL’s Langley Rivermen. Built in 2009 and located just outside of Vancouver, it was also host to College Hockey, Inc.’s Reebok Collegiate Hockey Summit in April 2011.