Hurricanes earn invites
Hockey Canada announced Tuesday that four members of the Lethbridge Hurricanes — Stuart Skinner, Calen Addison, Dylan Cozens and Kirby Proctor — have been selected to take part in the upcoming men’s summer showcase in preparation for the World Junior Championships, the Under-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup and the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
Leading the list of Hurricanes invited to the summer showcase is goaltender Skinner. The 18-year-old recently completed his third season with the Hurricanes and is one of just four netminders invited to take part in the U-20 camp.
Skinner, who is predicted to be drafted this weekend at the National Hockey League Entry Draft, attended the Hockey Canada Program of Excellence goaltender camp earlier this month. The Edmonton product posted a record of 3418-3-2 this past season with a 3.26 goals against average and a .905 save percentage. He also started all 20 of the Hurricanes post-season games registering a 3.09 GAA and a .916 save percentage helping the Hurricanes to the Eastern Conference championship series.
Skinner has previously represented Canada at both the U-17 and U-18 levels.
Addison is the only Hurricanes player selected to take part in the Under-18 portion of the showcase in hopes of representing Canada at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup in August. The 17-year-old defenceman completed his first season with the Hurricanes appearing in 63 games registering 33 points, including nine goals, with 52 penalty minutes and a plus-six rating. Addison, who hails from Brandon, finished second in points among 16-year-old WHL skaters in 2016-17. He attended the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge last season representing Canada-Black in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
Besides Skinner and Addison, Hurricanes prospects Cozens and Proctor will take part in the Under-17 part of the showcase. Cozens, selected 19th overall by the Hurricanes in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft, had a strong season with 57 points, including 27 goals in 30 games with the Yale Hockey Academy. He also appeared in 15 games in 2016-17 with the Canes, 12 of those coming in the post-season. In his 12 playoff games, Cozens recorded eight points, including three goals, and a plus-one rating.
Proctor, meanwhile, spent the 2016-17 campaign with the Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy in the Okanagan. The sixfoot-two, 165-pound defenceman appeared in 30 games in the CSSHL with POE where he scored 13 points, including five goals, along with 46 penalty minutes. Proctor, who was a third-round selection (52nd overall) by the Hurricanes in the 2016 bantam draft, also skated in 22 games with the POE 18U group where he added an additional seven points (2g5a) with two penalty minutes.