Trail native Travis St. Denis and Aaron Hadley of Castlegar were named to the 22-player Canada West roster Tuesday for the World Junior A Challenge in Langley.
The roster was selected by Canada West head coach Kent Lewis from the Powell River Kings, along with assistant coaches Dean Brockman, (SJHL) and Andrew Milne (AJHL), following a three-day selection camp at the Langley Events Centre.
“Getting down to 22 players was by no means an easy decision,” said Lewis in a release. “We had some tremendously talented players in camp, and they did not make our jobs easy as a coaching staff.”
This is St. Denis’ second appearance at the Junior A Challenge and a first for Hadley who plays for Vernon Vipers.
Former Smoke Eater, St. Denis, is currently fourth in the league in scoring with the Penticton Vees, two points behind line-mate Mario Lucia (2nd) who will lace them up for Team USA.
Selected to the team were 14 players from the BCHL, seven from the AJHL and one from the SJHL.
Also, Joe Colburne, former Canada West standout who led the team to a gold medal during the World Jr. A Challenge in Trail, was named American Hockey League Player of the Month. Colburne notched 16 points in nine games for the Toronto Marlies who now sit in first place in their Division.