Hockey Canada invites 119 players to Program of Excellence camps

Hockey Canada announced Thursday that it has invited 119 players to participate in two of its Program of Excellence summer camps, including Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team selection camp and Canada’s national under-17 development camp.

“We are excited to kick off a new season by announcing the 119 players that will attend camps in Oakville this month,” said Alan Millar, general manager of the Program of Excellence in a statement. “Our under-18 selection camp provides us with an opportunity to evaluate players and select a roster that we believe will give us the best chance to defend our gold medal at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

"Our under-17 camp is an opportunity to introduce athletes to the Program of Excellence and allow them to compete against other top players in Canada while we begin evaluating and preparing for the U17 World Challenge this fall.”

As part of Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team selection camp, 40 players—four goaltenders, 12 defencemen and 24 forwards—have been invited to compete for a chance to represent Canada at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, set for Aug. 11-16 in Brno, Czechia, and Trencin, Slovakia. The camp roster includes six players who won gold at the 2025 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship (Carels, Di Iorio, Edwards, Lin, Rudolph, Verhoeff), while 34 played for Canada Red or Canada White at the 2024 U17 World Challenge.

The selection camp, set for July 29-Aug. 1 at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville, Ontario, will include a pair of Red-White games on July 31 and Aug. 1. Following camp, Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team will practice at MET Arena in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, from Aug. 3-6. It will take on Hungary’s national under-20 team on Aug. 7 in Budapest and Slovakia on Aug. 9 at Easton Arena in Piestany as part of its pre-tournament schedule.

The player selection process was led by Millar, with support from Yanick Lemay, who serves as the U18 lead with the Program of Excellence management group, head scout Byron Bonora, Benoit Roy, director of hockey operations, and Scott Salmond, senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations.

On the under-17 side, 79 players—eight goaltenders, 23 defencemen and 48 forwards—will take the ice at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex as part of Canada’s national under-17 development camp, set for July 19-23. All 79 players have been drafted by Canadian Hockey League (CHL) teams (30 from the OHL, 27 from the WHL and 22 from the QMJHL).

The selection process was led by Millar and Bonora, with assistance from Mike Johnston, who guides the U17 program as part of the POE management group. Roy and Salmond also supported the process. Players will continue to be evaluated through the beginning of the 2025-26 season in preparation for the 2025 U17 World Challenge, scheduled for Oct. 31-Nov. 8 in Truro, Nova Scotia.

Program of Excellence Summer Camp Invitees