Cozens, Byram earn U-18 invites
A member of the Lethbridge Hurricanes is one of 14 Western Hockey League players named by Hockey Canada to the National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team selection camp for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup to be played in Edmonton and Red Deer Aug. 6-11.
Hurricanes forward Dylan Cozens, the WHL rookie of the year for 2017-18, was named to the selection camp, along with former Val Matteotti Golden Hawk defenceman Bowen Byram from Cranbrook, who plays with the Vancouver Giants.
“Unlike our other summer camps, these players are part of a selection process from the moment they arrive, and the opportunity is to represent Canada on the world stage,” said Scott Salmond, vice-president of hockey operations and national teams for Hockey Canada, in a news release.
“We have a very talented group of players coming to Calgary in late July, and we will no doubt have some very difficult decisions to make when it’s time to select this year’s Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team. The players are excited to arrive and get started, and they are all coming in with the goal of making our decision a difficult one.”
Byram and Edmonton Oil Kings defenceman Matthew Robertson were part of Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team that competed at the 2018 IIHF U18 World Championship in Russia last April, going undefeated in preliminary-round action. The selection camp roster also includes a pair of WHL champions in defencemen Jake Lee (Sherwood Park/Seattle Thunderbirds) and Jacson Alexander (Victoria B.C./Swift Current Broncos), who won titles with their respective clubs in 2017 and 2018.
Also invited is defenceman Braden Schneider (Prince Albert, Sask./Brandon Wheat Kings), as well as forwards Peyton Krebs (Okotoks/Kootenay Ice) and Sasha Mutala (Vancouver/Tri-City Americans). The trio captained Canada’s three teams at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in November 2017.
Last year, six WHL players were part of the 21 Canadian Hockey League players who won gold at the 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, including Ty Smith (Lloydminster/Spokane Chiefs), Jett Woo (Winnipeg/Moose Jaw Warriors) and Calen Addison (Brandon, Man./Lethbridge Hurricanes), all of whom were recently selected at the 2018 NHL Draft this past weekend in Dallas. Canada has won gold 21 times in 27 years of summer under-18 competition.
Newly rebranded as the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, the annual tournament is one of the only true, best-on-best competitions for this age group. While the event is being co-hosted in Edmonton and Red Deer, Canada will play all of its games out of Rogers Place in Edmonton, except for a pre-tournament game against the Czech Republic slated for 7 p.m. on Aug. 4 at the new Servus Arena in Red Deer.
“There’s nothing like competing on home ice, and this will be a very special event for our team — staff and players,” said Salmond. “The work begins in Calgary at selection camp, and we’re looking forward to heading up the QEII and competing in front of Canadian fans this summer. This is always a true demonstration of best-on-best hockey, and the fans in Edmonton and Red Deer will not be disappointed.”
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