Canada’s world junior hockey camp starts Sunday in Oakville

Oakville will play host to the training camp prior to one of Canada’s favourite events, the World Junior Hockey Championships, from Dec. 10 to 13.

Thirty of Canada’s top U-20 players will compete for a chance to wear the Maple Leaf at the 2024 world event, Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Sweden.

The selection camp will take place at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex and will include practices and a pair of games against a team of U SPORTS all-stars, Dec. 12 at 3 p.m. and Dec. 13 at noon.

Tickets for the games are available here. Individual game tickets are $25, or a two-game package is available for $40.

“We are excited to name the 30 players who will embark on the journey through camp and eventually on to the World Juniors,” said Peter Anholt, the under-20 lead for the Program of Excellence management group.

“Canada has an incredible talent pool of players, and there are always difficult decisions to narrow it down. We are expecting a highly competitive camp, and we look forward to naming our final roster that will wear the Maple Leaf with pride starting on Boxing Day.”

The full invited roster can be found here.

“We are grateful to the Town of Oakville for hosting us and assisting us in our preparations for the World Juniors and we are excited to give fans the opportunity to see the best under-20 players in Canada,” said Scott Salmond, senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations.

“This camp, including the two games against U SPORTS, will give us the best chance to assemble the top players to represent our country on the world stage. As part of our preparations, we remain in communication with NHL teams with the potential of teams releasing players who are eligible to represent Canada, which we anticipate updating during camp.”

Canada’s National Junior Team will travel to Malmo, Sweden, on Dec. 14 for a pre-tournament camp ahead of the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship. As part of its preparations, Canada will open its pre-tournament schedule against a U25 team from Denmark on Dec. 19 before facing Switzerland on Dec. 22 and the United States on Dec. 23.

The 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship begins on Boxing Day when Canada takes on Finland at 8:30 a.m. local time.