Hockey Canada announced its roster Tuesday for the upcoming men’s under-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup tournament and a Victoria Royals player is among the forwards.
Tyler Soy was named to the 22-man roster, which is comprised entirely of players competing in the Canadian Hockey League, following a four-day selection camp.
The roster also features the return of Mathew Barzal (Seattle), Lawson Crouse (Kingston) and Travis Konecny (Ottawa), who won bronze for Canada as under-agers at the IIHF U-18 World Championship this year.
“I am excited about the roster we have named today,” said head coach Jody Hull in a statement. “This was an intense, high-tempo camp, and there were some tough decisions to get down to the final 22 players. As a coaching staff, we’re confident we’ve selected the best team to travel to Europe and continue Canada’s great tradition at this event.”
Soy, who hails from Surrey, had 15 goals and 15 assists in 65 regular-season games as a rookie with the Royals last season, and added two goals and a helper in nine post-season games.
Soy was not made available to the media Tuesday by Hockey Canada.
The 17-year-old centreman and Royals defenceman Chaz Reddekopp won a silver medal with Team Pacific at last year’s U-17 World Challenge in Cape Breton, losing 4-0 to the U.S. in the final. Soy finished with two goals and three assists in six games for Team Pacific.
Reddekopp also attended the U-18 camp in Calgary but did not make the final roster.
Soy, Barzal, Jansen Harkins, who plays for the Prince George Cougars, and Adam Musil of the Red Deer Rebels, are the only B.C.-born players on the Canadian team.
At last year’s Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup, Royals defenceman Joe Hicketts was a member of Team Canada.
This year’s tournament starts Monday and ends Aug. 16 with games played in Breclav, Czech Republic, and Piestany, Slovakia.
Canada has won the annual tournament six years in a row, and 18 of the past 23 times since it began in 1991.
Canada opens the tournament Monday against Switzerland.
— With files from The Canadian Press
