Hockey Canada announced on April 1 the 25 players selected to represent Team Canada at the 2021 U18 World Championships in Texas.
Eight CSSHL alumni from seven different academies will join Team Canada in Texas from April 26 – May 6, 2021:
- Connor Bedard – West Van Warriors (Regina Pats/WHL)
- Tyler Brennan – Rink Hockey Academy Winnipeg (Prince George Cougars/WHL)
- Corson Ceulemans – OHA Edmonton (Brooks Bandits/AJHL)
- Dylan Guenther – Northern Alberta Xtreme (Edmonton Oil Kings/WHL)
- Thomas Milic – BWC Academy (Seattle Thunderbirds/WHL)
- Cole Sillinger – Okanagan Hockey Academy (Sioux Falls Stampede/USHL)
- Logan Stankoven – Yale Hockey Academy (Kamloops Blazers/WHL)
- Olen Zellweger – OHA Edmonton (Everett Silvertips/WHL)
Brennan, Ceulemans, Guenther, Milic, Sillinger, Stankoven and Zellweger have all previously represented Team Canada at the 2019 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
After being the first player in Western Hockey League history to receive Exceptional Status, Bedard will be the youngest player on Team Canada. Bedard (2020/WHL) will be one of three players selected first overall in their respective Canadian Hockey League Draft, joining Guenther (2018/WHL), and Shane Wright (2019/OHL). Before leaving the WHL Eastern Conference bubble, Bedard led the WHL in points with 28 in 15 games played.
The first goalie selected in the 2018 WHL Draft, Brennan made the jump to Prince George at 16 last year. Now in his second season with the team, Brennan had a 2.16 GAA, .933 save percentage and 1 shutout in 4 games played.
Ceulemans is in his second year with the Brooks Bandits having recorded 46 points in 52 games the last two seasons. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft by the Moose Jaw Warriors.
With 59 points in 58 games last season, Guenther was named the 2019/20 WHL Rookie of the Year. Guenther made a brief stint with the Sherwood Park Crusaders to begin the 2020/21 season recording 5 points in 4 games, before re-joining the Oil Kings. In 12 games this season Guenther had 12 goals and 24 points.
A third-round pick by Seattle in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft, Milic is in his first season with the Thunderbirds posting a 2.74 GAA, .913 save percentage, and 1 shutout in 9 games.
Sillinger, the son of former NHLer Mike Sillinger, is currently in his first season with Sioux Falls after spending last year with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL. Selected 11th overall by the Tigers in the 2018 WHL Draft, Sillinger has 46 points in 31 games with the Stampede.
Selected fifth overall by the Kamloops Blazers in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft, Stankoven had 48 points in 59 games during his rookie season in 2019/20. In just 6 games this year he managed to tally 10 points.
In 11 games this season Zellweger had 13 points, already eclipsing his 58-game total of 12 points during the 2019/20 campaign. The defensemen was selected in the second round of the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft by the Everett Silvertips.