Three Trail Smoke Eaters players head to Calgary Dec. 2-5 for four days of practices and games as part of the Team Canada West selection camp for the 2017 World Jr. A Challenge.
Trail forwards Ross Armour and Levi Glasman, and defenceman Seth Barton will join 60 players from the BCHL, Alberta Junior Hockey League, Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, Manitoba Junior Hockey League, and Superior Junior Hockey League at the Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park in hopes of cracking the Team Canada West squad.
The invite is the second straight year for Armour, and the 19-year-old Rossland native’s addition to this year’s squad should almost be a shoe-in, given that his 39 points in 25 games is tops in the BCHL. Armour attended last year’s selection camp with Smokies forward Kale Howarth, but neither was selected.
Barton, an 18-year-old Kelowna product, has seen his stock rise quickly this season with a recent NCAA UMass-Lowell commit and a ranking on the NHL Central Scouting list earlier this week. The six-foot-two, 175-pound Trail defenceman has four goals and 14 points with 22 pims so far this season.
Glasman is a skilled playmaker and tenacious forechecker, and the 18-year-old Red Deer native was the perfect fit on a line with Armour and Howarth this season. Glasman is in the top-10 BCHL scoring in his rookie season with 13 goals and 29 points.
Team Canada West’s coaching staff and its director of operations, Kevin Saurette (Winnipeg/MJHL), will use the selection camp to make their final evaluations – with input from the camp’s guest coaches – before naming Team Canada West’s final roster.
“As a group, we are very excited at the depth of talent, character, and work ethic of the 60 players that have been identified for selection camp,” said Saurette. “We look forward to watching these players earn the opportunity to represent Team Canada West at what will be a very competitive selection camp. It is always a difficult process to narrow down and identify 60 players from the five leagues in the West, and I commend our coaching staff on all their hard work, dedication, and professionalism through this process.”
Team Canada West will open its tournament against the Czech Republic at 3:30 p.m. AT on Dec. 10.
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