Three Dogs Receive Team Canada Invites

Three members of the Saint John Sea Dogs were named to Canada’s selection camp roster for the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship. Hockey Canada announced the 41-man roster this afternoon.

Forwards Jonathan Huberdeau and Zack Phillips along with defenseman Nathan Beaulieu all received invitations. It’s not a surprise to see all of them invited as the three are premier players in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. All three were selected in the first round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

Three of the eight QMJHL players invited play for Saint John. The other Q players included on the roster were goaltender Louis Domigue, defensemen Jerome Gauthier-Leduc and Brandon Gormley, and forwards Michael Bournival and Philip Danault.

8 players from the Q, 16 from WHL, 15 from the OHL and two from the NCAA make up the roster.

“On behalf of the Canadian Hockey League, I would like to congratulate all players who have been named to the selection camp roster,” said David Branch, president of the CHL, in a release. “This is a tremendous honour, and all have worked extremely hard to get to where they are today.”

The camp runs from December 10 – 14 in Calgary. There will be two Red-White intrasquad games (Dec. 11-12) and one game against a team of all-stars from Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS).

It’s a great day for the Sea Dogs franchise to see three players receive invites – but none are guarantees to be playing for Team Canada come Boxing Day. Huberdeau was a lock to make the team until he broke his foot earlier this month. He’s expected to return in md-to-late December, but it is still unclear if he’ll be game ready by the time the tourney begins.

Phillips and Beaulieu will both need to have solid camps if they wish to crack the roster. Phillips sits fifth in league scoring with 46 points – 16 goals and 30 assists – in 26 games. Beaulieu has seven goals and 16 assists and is +18 in 26 contests, good for sixth in scoring amongst defensemen.

According to the Hockey Canada website, the 22-man roster will be named on December 14. Chris DiDomenico and Simon Despres have been the only Sea Dogs to play for Team Canada in franchise history.

We’ll have more on this announcement later today. Moosehead fans ain’t happy over the Nathan MacKinnon decision. 

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation