Main image courtesy of Hockey Canada
Last week, Hockey Canada announced that Connor Punnett from Huntsville, who now plays in the OHL (Ontario Hockey League) as a defencemen for the Saginaw Spirit out of Michigan, has been selected for one of the three U17 Hockey teams that will represent Canada at the upcoming World U17 Hockey Challenge.
The tournament will be held in Alberta and Saskatchewan in early November. The three Canadian teams will compete against the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States.
Punnett was one of 24 OHL players to be chosen to represent Canada. “It is an honour to be selected to attend the World U17 Hockey Challenge in Alberta/Saskatchewan representing Canada,” he said.
This summer, Punnett was invited to attend Canada’s national development camp in Calgary for a week where he was able to practice skills from the Hockey Canada Program of Excellence.
“That week was very gruelling, long days both on and off the ice,” he said. “The competition was top notch which pushed me to play to the best of my ability each day.”
It was there that Hockey Canada scouts watched the skills and abilities of all the young players who were invited to the camp and then chose just 66 from across the country to represent Canada on Team Canada Black, Team Canada Red and Team Canada White.
Punnett is looking forward to playing his very best alongside and against the very best. “The opportunity to represent Canada in the upcoming U17 World Hockey Challenge is not only a chance to play with the best players in Canada but against the best in the world. I am both humbled and honoured to have been selected. I have so many people to be thankful for that have helped me achieve this goal!”
The tournament runs from Nov. 2-9.
For more information on the 2019 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, visit HockeyCanada.ca.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox three times per week!
0 Comments