Six Quebecers are part of Canada’s official squad which will take part in the World Junior Hockey Championship from December 26 to January 5 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Forward Jordan Dumais, of the Halifax Mooseheads, and defensemen Maveric Lamoureux, of the Drummondville Voltigeurs, Tristan Luneau, of the Anaheim Ducks, and Noah Warren, of the Victoriaville Tigres, all won their places in the formation of 22 players announced Wednesday evening by Hockey Canada.
Goalkeepers Mathis Rousseau, of the Moosehads, and Samuel St-Hilaire, of the Sherbrooke Phoenix, complete the Quebec delegation within the 2024 junior national team. They will fight with Alberta’s Scott Ratzlaff for starts in front of the net.
Nova Scotia defenseman Jake Furlong, who also plays with the Mooseheads, has also earned a position with the team, so that seven players from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) will wear the colors of Canada during the tournament presented during the holiday season.
Markus Vidicek, another member of the Moosehads, is the only Quebecer still present at camp Wednesday who was cut.
Forward Owen Beck, who was drafted in the second round by the Montreal Canadiens in 2022, will also be part of the roster. He will also be the only player to have taken part in last year’s tournament, during which Canada won gold in Halifax.
Macklin Celebrini, who is tipped to be the first overall pick in next June’s NHL draft, also cracked the roster. The 17-year-old forward is currently playing in the American college ranks, where he has 25 points in 15 games this season with Boston University.
Canada will begin its tournament on December 26 against Finland. He will then cross swords with Latvia, Sweden and Germany during the preliminary round.
The team will fly to Europe on Thursday in preparation for its first preseason match, which will take place next Tuesday against Denmark’s under-25 team.
The Canadians will then face Switzerland on December 22 and the United States the next day to complete their preparatory schedule.
Several players from the 2023 edition of the Junior National Team were eligible to return this year, but they were not loaned by their NHL team. This is the case for Connor Bedard (Chicago), Adam Fantilli (Columbus) and Kevin Korchinski (Chicago), who all play important roles with their team.
Matthew Poitras (Boston), Zach Benson (Buffalo) and Shane Wright (Seattle / AHL), the other eligible players currently in the professional ranks, have still not been loaned to Junior Team Canada.
With information from Joshua Clipperton