2013 Winter Universiade: Canadian men’s hockey evaluation camp set for this weekend in Fredericton

OTTAWA (CIS & AUS) – Canadian Interuniversity Sport and Atlantic University Sport announced Wednesday that the coaching staff of the Canadian men’s hockey team, led by head coach Gardiner MacDougall, will host an evaluation camp March 29-31 in Fredericton to help identify the 22 student-athletes who will represent the country in December at the 2013 Winter Universiade in Trentino, Italy.

2013 Winter Universiade website: http://www.universiadetrentino.org/

Gardiner MacDougall, head coach of the CIS and AUS champion UNB Varsity Reds, will serve as Team Canada bench boss in Trentino. He will be assisted by St. Francis Xavier’s Brad Peddle and UPEI’s Forbes MacPherson.

At the biennial multi-sport event, which will run from December 11-21, Canada will be represented in men’s hockey by a team comprised entirely of players from the AUS conference. Since 1997, selections from each of three CIS leagues have sported the Maple Leaf jersey on a rotating basis.

Atlantic University Sport all-stars have fared very well in two previous appearances at the competition, capturing gold in 2007 in Turin, Italy, and silver in 2001 in Zakopane, Poland. Canada goes into this year’s tourney as reigning bronze medallist as a squad of Ontario University Athletics standouts defeated Kazakhstan 3-1 in the third-place game in 2011 in Erzurum, Turkey.

This weekend’s three-day evaluation camp will serve as the first step in selecting the 22-man roster that will travel to Italy. Standouts from all eight AUS teams have been invited, including five goalies, 14 defencemen and 25 forwards.

Players will arrive in Fredericton on Friday and will take part in a number of on-ice and off-ice sessions that afternoon and evening. The weekend will also feature three inter-squad games where fans of AUS hockey can see many of the conference’s top players compete against each other at the Grant Harvey Centre.

The inter-squad matches are open to the general public and are scheduled for Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Atlantic Time and 9 p.m., with a third contest set to take place at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.

MacDougall, a native of Bedeque, P.E.I., will be making his second trip to the Universiade, after serving as an assistant to Saint Mary’s Trevor Stienburg on the gold medal-winning team in 2007. MacDougall has also guided the Varsity Reds program to four University Cup triumphs (2013, 2011, 2009, 2007) and a pair of CIS silver medals (2008, 2004), while claiming three AUS and one CIS coach-of-the-year awards.

“It is both an honour and privilege to again represent Team Canada at the World University Games,” said MacDougall. “This event is one of the very, very special opportunities for CIS hockey and will provide lifetime moments for all of our participants. Our coaching staff is excited about the challenge of selecting the best team possible to represent our country and our conference at the highest possible level.”

In addition to the title won by the all-AUS team in 2007 in Italy, Canada was crowned in 1991 in Sapporo, Japan, while represented by the senior national squad, and in 1981 in Jaca, Spain, when the University of Alberta Golden Bears wore the Maple Leaf uniform.
Russia is the reigning two-time Universiade champion.

AUS PLAYERS INVITED TO 2013 EVALUATION CAMP

Name, School (Year of Eligibility - Hometown)

Goaltenders
Anthony Peters, Saint Mary’s (2nd - Blyth, Ont.)
Wayne Savage, UPEI (3rd - St. Thomas, Ont.)
Drew Owsley, StFX (1st - Lethbridge, Alta.)
Charles Lavigne, UNB (4th - Hawkesbury, Ont.)
Jon Groenheyde, St. Thomas (1st - Surrey, B.C.)

Defencemen
Cullen Morin, Acadia (3rd - Meadow Lake, Sask.)
Chris Owens, Acadia (3rd - St. John’s , Nfld.)
Matt Maoine, UPEI (3rd - Unionville, Ont.)
Samuel Groulx, Moncton (2nd - Gatineau, Que.)
Josh Day, StFX (4th - St. John’s Nfld.)
Simon Lacroix, Moncton (3rd - Orleans, Ont.)
Alex Wall, UPEI (2nd - Mount Pearl, Nfld.)
Marc-Antoine Desnoyers, UNB (3rd – St. Jerome, Que.)
Ben Shutron, UNB (4th - Orleans, Ont.)
Adrian Robertson, UNB (1st - Mississauga, Ont.)
Daine Todd, UNB (4th - Red Deer, Alta.)
Reg Traccitto, UPEI (3rd - Oakville, Ont.)
Spencer McAvoy, StFX (4th - St. Albert, Alta.)
Mike D’Orazio, Saint Mary’s (2nd - Richmond Hill, Ont.) - Injured

Forward
Liam Heelis, Acadia (2nd - Georgetown, Ont.)
Cam Braes, UNB (1st - Shawigan Lake, B.C.)
Dylan Anderson, Acadia (1st - Ottawa, Ont.)
Eric Faille, Moncton (3rd - Lachine, Que)
Jordan Knox, UPEI (4th - Skinners Pond, P.E.I.)
Brett Thompson, Acadia (1st - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.)
Alex Emond, Moncton (1st – Riviere-du-Loup, Que.)
Brennan Wray, StFX (4th - Moose Jaw, Sask.)
Stephen Sanza, St. Thomas (2nd - London, Ont.)
Chris Desousa, UPEI (2nd - Mississauga, Ont.)
Dana Fraser, UPEI (3rd - Tamagouche, N.S.)
Chris Culligan, UNB (4th - Howie Centre, N.S.)
Nick Mac Neil, UNB (3rd - Creignish, N.S.)
Pierre-Alexandre Vandall, Dalhousie (3rd - St. Louis, Que.)
Ryan Hillier, Saint Mary’s (3rd - Halifax, N.S.)
Mike Cazzola, Acadia (1st - Guelph ,Ont.)
Tyler Carroll, UNB (2nd - Strathroy, Ont.)
Robert Slaney, StFX (4th - Upper Island Cove, Nfld.)
Dustin Ekelman, Acadia (3rd - Whitby, Ont.)
Michael Kirkpatrick, StFX (2nd - North Sydney, N.S.)
Cory Tanaka, Saint Mary’s (4th - Stouffville, Ont.)
Stephen Johnson, Saint Mary’s (2nd - Guelph, Ont.) - Injured
Jason Bast, StFX (3rd - Regina, Sask.) - Injured
Lucas Bloodoff, Saint Mary’s (3rd - Castlegar, B.C.) - Injured
Matt Tipoff, Saint Mary’s (2nd - Toronto, Ont.) - Injured

TEAM CANADA COACHING STAFF

Head Coach: Gardiner MacDougall, University of New Brunswick
Assistant Coach: Brad Peddle, St. Francis Xavier University
Assistant Coach: Forbes MacPherson, University of Prince Edward Island

UNIVERSIADE: CANADA’S ALL-TIME RESULTS IN MEN’S HOCKEY

2011 (Erzurum, Turkey): bronze (OUA)
2009 (Harbin, China): silver (Canada West)
2007 (Turin, Italy): gold (AUS)
2005 (Innsbruck-Seefeld, Austria): 5th (OUA)
2003 (Tarvisio, Italy): bronze (Canada West)
2001 (Zakopane, Poland): silver (AUS)
1999 (Poprad-Tatry, Slovakia): bronze (OUA)
1997 (Muju-Chonju, South Korea): bronze (Canada West)
1995 (Jaca, Spain): Canada did not participate
1993 (Zakopane, Poland): Canada did not participate
1991 (Sapporo, Japan): gold (senior national team)
1989 (Sofia, Bulgaria): Canada did not participate
1987 (Strbske Pleso, Czechoslovakia): bronze (University of Alberta)
1985 (Belluno, Italy): Canada did not participate
1983 (Sofia, Bulgaria): Canada did not participate
1981 (Jaca, Spain): gold (University of Alberta)
1978 (Spindleruv Mlyn, Czechoslovakia): no men’s hockey tournament
1975 (Livigno, Italy): no men’s hockey tournament
1972 (Lake Placid, USA): silver
1970 (Rovaniemi, Finland): Canada did not participate
1968 (Innsbruck, Austria): bronze (University of Toronto)
1966 (Sestriere, Italy): Canada did not participate
1964 (Spindleruv Mlyn, Czechoslovakia): no men’s hockey tournament
1962 (Villars, Switzerland): Canada did not participate
1960 (Chamonix, France): no men’s hockey tournament

-CIS-