Hockey Canada has announced the 25 players that will participate in the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship. Of those 25 players selected, four Canadian Sport School Hockey League products will lace up to represent Canada Dec. 25 to Jan. 5 in Edmonton, Alta.
Former Yale Hockey Academy student athletes, and Team Canada veterans, defenseman Bowen Byram and centre Dylan Cozens have made the cut again this year. Byram and Cozens competed for Canada last year and captured the gold.
Rookies to the team this year include OHA Edmonton product defenceman Kaiden Guhle and Delta Hockey Academy alum goaltender Dylan Garand.
Guhle, 18, played for OHA Edmonton for two seasons, most recently during the 2017-18 where he scored 14 goals and 25 assists (14-25-39) in 35 games and added two points (1-1-2) in three games during the 2018 BDO CSSHL Championship. The Sherwood Park, Alta. native was drafted in the first round of the 2020 NHL Draft, sixteenth overall to the Montreal Canadiens.
Garand, 18, was one of three goaltenders who made Team Canada’s final roster. The Victoria, BC native net minded for the Delta Hockey Academy in 2017-18 where he recorded a 0.945 save percentage in 35 appearances. Garand was selected in the fourth round, 103rd overall by the New York Rangers at the 2020 NHL Draft.
Best of luck to Team Canada as they gear up for the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championships in just a few short weeks!
Photo: Team Canada