CANMORE – Flying high all season, a pair of Canmore Eagles have been invited to the Canada West selection camp for the upcoming 2024 World Junior A Challenge from Dec. 9-15 in Camrose, Alberta.
Goaltender Hudson Sedo and forward Zach Coutu get a chance to make the squad at tryouts this week for the tournament between Canada East, Canada West, Sweden and the United States.
The 28-player Canada West camp takes place in Calgary, which is from Tuesday to Thursday (Dec. 3-5), and will be trimmed to a 22-player final roster by the end of the week.
“It’s a pretty amazing opportunity,” said Sedo, 18. “After receiving the invitation and learning more about it, it’s quite an honour to be able to wear a Canadian jersey and represent our country at a tournament.
“I’m really looking forward to getting to work with other players in the league and get to make some new connections, both on the players’ end and on the staff end of it too.”
Playing in his rookie campaign, Sedo has a 7-3-0 record with a .925 save percentage and a 2.20 goals against average. In November, the netminder from St. Albert also had a tryout for the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL.
Edmonton’s Coutu, 19, has had a breakout season with the Eagles, scoring nine goals and 26 points in 25 games. He leads the club in points and is tied for fourth in the league.
Coutu said it’s a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to be invited to selection camp.
“I feel like I’m having the most success when our team wins then we all succeed,” said Coutu. “I just play every game and don’t really worry about the points and just try and play my best and see what happens.”
Canada West invitees are from the AJHL, SJHL, MJHL and SIJHL. Flin Flon Bombers’ Mike Reagan is head coach of Canada West.
Also suiting up at the World Junior A Challenge is defenceman Finn McLaughlin from Canmore who will lace up for Team USA in Camrose. This year with the Fargo Force, the 18-year-old blueliner has three goals and 15 points in 22 games.
The Challenge is an opportunity for the top Junior A players to showcase their stuff and get noticed by scouts.
Pre-tournament play is Saturday (Dec. 7) with Canada East taking on Sweden, and Canada West up against USA.
The tournament starts Dec. 9, with Canada West taking on Sweden in the first preliminary game, followed by Canada East on Dec. 10 and the United States on Dec. 12. The semifinals are on Dec. 14 and the gold and bronze medal games are Dec. 15.
A full schedule can be found here.
