OFFICIAL: BEUALIEU ADDED TO CAMP ROSTER

As Station Nation reported last Saturday, Nathan Beaulieu has been added to Team Canada’s world junior summer evaluation camp roster. Today, Hockey Canada officially announced the addition of the Saint John Sea Dogs defenceman.

“This is a great opportunity for me,” Beaulieu said to SaintJohnSeaDogs.com. “When (Hockey Canada Head Scout) Al Murray called me to let me know I’ll be attending the August camp I was thrilled beyond words. I’m really looking forward to skating with the best junior players in Canada and hopefully I’ll do well and get a chance to attend December’s camp as well.”

The news of Beaulieu joining the Canadian camp was leaked last week by the London Free Press. Hockey Canada did not make the official announcement until today in case more players had to be added.
Here is part of the press release from HockeyCanada.ca:

Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Hockey League, also announced the addition of three players to the camp roster. Defencemen Nathan Beaulieu (Quispamsis, N.B./Saint John, QMJHL) and Brock Beukeboom (Uxbridge, Ont./Sault Ste. Marie, OHL), along with forward Joey Hishon (Stratford, Ont./Owen Sound, OHL), have been added to the camp roster. These three players will replace defencemen Jared Cowen (Allan, Sask./Spokane, WHL) and Ryan Ellis (Freelton, Ont./Windsor, OHL) and forward Taylor Hall (Kingston, Ont./Windsor, OHL), who will not be taking part in camp for various reasons.

As our buddy Neate Sager pointed out over at Buzzing The Net, Beaulieu is a long shot to be placed on the final roster come winter - but the experience gained is invaluable.

"A nice little ketchup answer (i.e., covers everything) is it cannot hurt to see how either player reacts in such an environment," wrote Sager. "Each would seem a more likely candidate for the 2012 squad."

The 17-year old who is already considered by many to be a first round draft pick in this summer’s NHL Entry Draft, recorded 12 goals and 33 assists last season.

“I’ve been training really hard since the season ended,” said Beaulieu. “I’m about six-foot-three now and weigh around one-hundred-and-ninety pounds (the former Saint John AAA Vito’s star entered the 2009-10 season at 6’2”, 175 lbs.) and I’ve improved my strength and conditioning quite a bit.”

The camp runs from August 4-7 in St. John's, Newfoundland.