Seven Okanagan Hockey Academy products are among the 111 invited to the Canadian National Under-17 Development Camp.
Goaltender Jordan Hollett along with defencemen Griffin Mendel, Jonathan Smart, Scott Walford will be joined by forwards Jordan Bellerive, Michael Rasmussen and Brendan Semchuk at the camp which runs July 29-August 4 in Calgary, Alta.
Players will be broken up into six teams and participate in practices and a nine-game mini tournament. From the camp, 66 players will be selected to represent Canada on one of three national teams – Black, Red and White – at the 2015 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, which is scheduled for Oct. 30 - Nov. 7 in a yet-to-be-determined host city.
Hollett was among 34 goalies that attended the Program of Excellence goaltending camp, June 12-14 at Canlan Ice Sports in Etobicoke, Ont. The Langley product finished the 2014-15 season with a 9-3-0 record for OHA Prep White, posting a 2.10 goals-against average, .899 save-percentage and two shutouts. Hollett, drafted in the first round, 13th overall, by the Regina Pats at the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft, was the only BC-born goaltender invited to the camp, which also featured nine goaltenders in the Under-20 category, and seven in the Under-18 category.
Hockey Canada also announced the list of 43 players invited to the Under-18 team selection camp. Former OHA players attending are Josh Mahura (Red Deer Rebels) and Beck Malenstyn (Calgary Hitmen) who played in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League during the 2013-14 season.
Players will be broken up into two teams and participate in practices and three intrasquad games. Of the 43 players invited to the camp, 22 will be selected for Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team for the 2015 U18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup, Aug. 10-15 in Breclav, Czech Republic and Piestany, Slovakia.