CALGARY – Hockey Canada invited 46 players for a summer development camp in view of the 2012 IIHF World U20 Championship on home ice in Calgary and Edmonton.

The camp is scheduled for August 3-7 in Edmonton and Fort McMurray, Alberta. It will be the first step in identifying players for Canada’s National Junior Team for the 2012 IIHF World U20 Championship, which will be held from December 26, 2011 to January 5, 2012.

The camp roster includes four goaltenders, 16 defencemen and 26 forwards. At the conclusion of camp, Kevin Prendergast, Hockey Canada’s head scout for the men’s Program of Excellence, will continue to monitor these players and other potential candidates before inviting a group of players to a final selection camp in December, after which a final National Junior Team roster of 22 players will be named.

The 46 players, born in 1992 or 1993, were selected by Prendergast, in consultation with Hockey Canada’s vice-president of hockey operations and national teams, Brad Pascall, Hockey Canada’s senior director of hockey operations and national teams Scott Salmond, head coach Don Hay (Vancouver, WHL) and assistant coaches George Burnett (Belleville, OHL), Ryan Huska (Kelowna, WHL) and Pascal Vincent (Montreal, QMJHL). Prendergast evaluated players over the course of the 2010-11 season, following these players along with numerous other candidates for the program during league play, as well as during international competitions for both the under-18 and under-20 programs.

“Canada has many very talented players across the country in this age group, and the players should be very proud to have an opportunity to showcase their abilities at this camp in Edmonton,” said Prendergast. “We are looking forward to a competitive, high-energy camp.”

The invitation list includes seven players from Canada’s silver medal-winning team at the 2011 IIHF World U20 Championship in Buffalo: goaltender Mark Visentin, defenceman Erik Gudbranson and forwards Brett Connolly, Sean Couturier, Quinton Howden, Ryan Johansen and Jaden Schwartz.

The camp roster also includes 30 skaters with international experience at the under-18 level (Bournival, Ceci, Connelly, Couturier, Danault, Domingue, Gormley, Gudbranson, D. Hamilton, F. Hamilton, Harrington, Howden, Huberdeau, Jenner, Lessio, McKegg, Murphy, Murray, Nugent-Hopkins, Percy, Puempel, Pysyk, Ritchie, Scheifele, Schwartz, Sgarbossa, Siemens, Spooner, Thomas, Toffoli).

All invited players must attend the camp to be eligible for the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship, as per National Junior Team policy.

Click here for the roster.