Blades well represented during under 17 world challenge

This winter, during the same time that the world junior hockey championships are going on in Buffalo, New York, a group of younger players will be hitting the ice in front of a world stage.

The World Under 17 Hockey Challenge is going in Winnipeg from December 29th to January 4th.

The tournament features 10 teams. In that group are 5 teams from Canada (Pacific, West, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic).

A pair of those teams announced rosters this week.

Here is team Pacific (Alberta + BC):

http://www.bchockey.net/Files/Team%20Pacific%20-%20Roster%202011%20-%20Final%20-%20Website%20-%202010-11-16.pdf

As you will notice, a pair of members of the Saskatoon Blades organization were named to the team in Ryan Olsen and Levi Bews. Quite a pat on the back for those two players, who have worked hard to make the team and have taken the next step in their hockey careers this year in the WHL.

Here is team West (Saskatchewan + Manitoba):

http://www.whl.ca/article/13-whl-players-named-to-team-west

Brett Stovin, who is Blades property was also named to the team. He started the season in Saskatoon, before a numbers game forced him to Manitoba to play Midget.

Another thing to notice about the rosters is the depth of Team Pacific. Every one of the skaters named to the team is currently playing in the WHL. Meanwhile, Team West only features 13 players total in the WHL.

The first game of the tournament features team USA against team West on Tuesday, December 28th. Germany takes on team Pacific that same night, at that same time.

Team USA is the defending champs. They knocked off Team Ontario in the final last year 2-1.

For more information on the tournament visit the homepage:

http://www.hockeycanada.ca/index.php/ci_id/74637/la_id/1.htm