The Penticton Vees players Jonny Tychonick, Ryan O’Connell and Luke Reid have been invited to Team Canada West tryout camp for the Under-19 World Junior ‘A’ Challenge in Calgary, Dec. 2 to 5.
This year’s event is being held in Truro, Nova Scotia, and features teams from Canada West, Canada East, the United States, Russia, Czech Republic and Switzerland and runs from Dec. 10 to 16.
Tychonick, from Calgary, was a member of last year’s team that finished in fifth place. In four games at the event in Bonnyville, Alta., Tychonick recorded a goal and an assist.
This season with the Vees, the 17-year-old Tychonick has recorded five goals and 14 assists. The five goals already surpasses the three he scored last year, while he is just four points away from matching his total from 2016-17. He is committed to the University of North Dakota for next season.
O’Connell, from Gloucester, Ontario, is in his first season with the Vees after making the jump from Canadian high-school hockey at St. Andrews College. O’Connell has played in 20 games with the Vees so far this season and has scored three times to go along with 10 assists.
The 1999-born defenceman was a seventh-round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, and is committed to Boston University for next season.
Reid, from Warman, Saskatchewan, is also in his first season with Penticton after spending the last two years with the Battlefords Stars in the Saskatchewan Midget League. The 2001-born defender has scored once to go along with eight assists in 19 games with the Vees. Like Tychonick, Reid is also committed to attend North Dakota in the future.
This won’t be the first time this season Reid throws on Team Canada equipment; earlier in November Reid was a member of Team Canada Black at the World U17 Hockey Challenge in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, British Columbia. He was held pointless in five games as Canada Black finished out of the medal round.
The Vees have had at least one player represent Canada West at the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge every year the tournament has run since 2005-06.