Wednesday, October 30, 2013

WJAC to Highlight Recruits

24 schools have future stars taking part in six-team tournament in Nova Scotia.

WJAC to Highlight Recruits
Western Michigan recruit Ben Blacker, 16, is the second-youngest player on the Canadian teams. (Photo by Tim Bates / OJHL Images)

Rosters for the upcoming World Junior A Challenge in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, have been set and 24 schools have future players on the rosters for the U.S., Canada East or Canada West.

U.S. Roster | Canada East Roster | Canada West Roster

Notre Dame has five future players participating in the tournament to lead all schools, including four players on the U.S. roster that was named last week. The Canadian teams were announced Wednesday following selection camps in Calgary and Oakville, Ontario.

North Dakota has four commits in the tournament, three of whom are on the U.S. team. Three Michigan Tech recruits made the Canada West roster.

Clarkson, Massachusetts Michigan State, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State, Ohio State and Western Michigan were the other schools with multiple recruits in the tournament.

Canada West features players from the AJHL, BCHL and SJHL. Canada East consists of players from the CCHL, OJHL, MHL and LHJAAAQ.

The three North American teams will face Czech Republic, Russia and Switzerland in the event, which returns to Yarmouth for the second year in a row.

Preliminary round play runs Nov. 4-6, with both semifinals taking place Friday, Nov. 8. The gold medal game, which will be shown in Canada on TSN/RDS, is set for Sunday, Nov. 10 (check your local listings). All preliminary round games, quarterfinals, semifinals and the bronze medal game can be seen live via webcast through www.hockeycanada.ca