Canucks prospect Brisebois named to Team Canada World Junior selection camp

Hockey Canada has unveiled the list of 32 invitees who will battle for a spot on Team Canada at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship in Toronto and Montreal beginning next month.

Among the players selected is Vancouver Canucks defenceman Guillaume Brisebois. Brisebois was the player GM Jim Benning selected in the third round, 66th overall in the 2015 Draft with one of the picks acquired for Eddie Lack.

The 19-year-old looks like a good pick by the Canucks. Last year on a sub-par Acadie-Barthurst team, he put up 26 points (10-16-26) in 52 games. This year Brisebois is playing for a new team, the Charlottetown Islanders, where he already has 14 points (3-11-14) in 21 games.

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Players will report to Canada’s National Junior Team selection camp in Blainville, Quebec from December 10 to 14.

Canada will play two exhibition games against the USport All-Stars on December 12 and 13, and one game against the Czech Republic on December 14.

Ten players will be cut at the end of the four-day camp, leaving 22 players to represent their country.

The selection camp roster includes 19 forwards, 10 defencemen, and three goaltenders. The evaluation process was led by Ryan Jankowski, Hockey Canada’s director of player personnel, and Joël Bouchard of the organization’s Program of Excellence management group, with input from coaches and general managers from across the Canadian Hockey League (CHL).

“Congratulations to the 32 players named today to the National Junior Team selection camp roster,” said Scott Salmond, vice-president of hockey operations and men’s national teams, Hockey Canada. “With the number of talented players across Canada, it is a difficult process to get to this point. We are confident that the 22 players who emerge from this camp will wear the Team Canada jersey with pride, and give Canada the best opportunity to play for gold on January 5th.”

There are five returnees from last year’s team, including: Mathew Barzal (Seattle, WHL), Thomas Chabot (Saint John, QMJHL), Julien Gauthier (Val-d’Or, QMJHL), Mitchell Stephens (Saginaw, OHL), and Dylan Strome (Erie, OHL). They’ll be eager to make amends for last year’s disappointing finish that saw Canada finish third in their group before losing to Finland in the quarter-final.

Canada last won this tournament two years ago, the last time that Toronto and Montreal hosted.

“There have been a number of difficult decisions to make just to get us to this point, and I expect these players will continue to impress us and make the next round of decisions tough as well, which speaks to the talent Canada continues to produce on the ice,” said Jankowski. “We’re eager to get the players and our coaching and support staff together and get started.”

Canada kicks off the tournament on Boxing Day against Russia at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The gold medal final will take place January 5th at the Bell Centre in Montreal.