Four Penticton Vees will be trading one maple leaf logo for another.
Hockey Canada announced on Thursday morning the rosters for Team Canada East and West. The West will have Troy Stecher, James De Haas, Wade Murphy and Mike Rebry.
“It’s an honour to have four of our players play for Team Canada West," said Vees coach-GM Fred Harbinson in a release issued by the team. "It’s a privilege to have four from our organization wear the maple leaf on their jersey and I know they will do an upstanding job in representing the Vees on the International stage."
Stecher, 18, played on Canada West’s 2011 gold medal-winning team in Langley. To date, in 17 games, Stecher has two goals and 12 points. De Haas, 18, is enjoying his first season in the BCHL with the Vees after coming over from the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots. De Haas, who is Stecher’s blueline partner, has three goals and 10 points.
Murphy, 19, currently leads the BCHL in scoring with 26 points in 15 games; a league best 15 game point-streak also. Rebry, 19, is off to an impressive start in his rookie season leading BCHL goal scorers with 13. Rebry sits tied for second in league scoring with 21 points and is tied for the BCHL lead in short-handed goals with two.
With today’s announcement, 19 Vees will have played in the WJAC since its inception in 2006; 16 on Team Canada West. Stecher joins Vees alumni Travis St. Denis and Joey Laleggia as the only Vees to have played twice in the tournament.
The four Vees will now try and help Canada West clinch gold in Yarmouth, N.S. Nov. 5 to 11. All games except for the gold medal match, which will be televised by TSN, are available for free on hockeycanada.fasthockey.com.