Hockey Canada announced on Monday the identity of the 23 players who will represent the Maple Leaf at the 2022 Hlinka-Gretzky Cup – an international tournament featuring players under the age of 18 –, and three Quebecers will be in the game.
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The Canadians will be led by Sherbrooke Phoenix pilot Stéphane Julien at this competition presented in Red Deer, Alberta from July 31 to August 6.
The first overall pick of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) draft in 2021, Ethan Gauthier, is one of the lucky ones. He will thus find Julien, his head coach with the Phoenix.
The native of Saint-Constant Mathieu Cataford also received the call of the “Maple Leaf”. The 17-year-old center just played his first season with the Halifax Mooseheads.
Jordan Tourigny, President’s Cup champion with the Shawinigan Cataractes, is the other representative of the fleur-de-lys.
The Courteau circuit has only one other player on the Canadian team: New Brunswick defenseman Dylan MacKinnon, of the Moosheads.
The Western Hockey League is the best represented, sending 12 players to Red Deer. The other team members are split between the Ontario Hockey League (6) and the BC Hockey League (1).
-In addition, the most coveted prospect for the next National Hockey League draft, forward Connor Bedard, will not participate in this tournament. He should, however, be in the game for the World Junior Hockey Championship, which begins on August 9.
