Prince Edward Island was shut out of Team Atlantic for this year’s Under-17 World Hockey Challenge.
The team was announced Wednesday morning and there were no Islanders on it.
Hockey P.E.I. executive director Rob Newson said it respects the coaching staff’s decision.
“We would hope they’re picking the best 22 players,” he said. “We are disappointed that none of the P.E.I. players that attended the camp, and were part of the process, were selected at the end of the day.”
The players invited to this summer’s camp were defencemen Sebastien Cormier, Parker Ronahan, Nathan Sanderson and Bailey Webster, as well as forwards Jonathon Arsenault, Jonathon Larter, Ryan Steele and Morgan MacDonald.
Final selections were made during last weekend’s Monctonian midget tournament.
Charlottetown Islanders forward Kameron Kielly was Team Atlantic’s captain last year while Michael White and Tanner McCabe patrolled the blue-line.
This season was the first year each of the four Atlantic provinces were
not guaranteed at least three players on the 22-man roster.
“We have had a lot of kids who made that team because they deserved to be there,” Newson said. “I think it was a big benefit to the kids to wear that Hockey Canada jersey, to represent your province and the Atlantic provinces as a whole.”
This year’s tournament, which begins Dec. 19 in Sydney and Port Hawkesbury, N.S., also represents the last year for Team Atlantic. Hockey Canada is moving from five regional squads to three teams comprised with the best 66 players from across the country.
“It’s going to be rare to ever get a kid on the team and even tough to get kids invited to the national camp,” Newson admitted.
Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and the United States will still be part of the event.
“The under-17 program is the foundation of the program of excellence (POE), and for many years has been a tremendous stepping stone to Team Canada,” Hockey Canada president and chief executive officer Bob Nicholson said in a release. “The POE is the envy of the hockey world, and we think these changes will allow the program to continue to evolve and develop.”
Islanders
Team Quebec for the under-17 tournament was announced last week.
None of the Charlottetown Islanders were part of the team. Rookie Daniel Sprong was the only Islanders player eligible to play for Quebec at the tournament, but is not on the team. Sprong was born and raised in Amsterdam until he was seven years old, but will not be part of Team Quebec due to a citizenship issue.
“It’s in the works,” Islander general manager Grant Sonier said of the paperwork, “but not soon enough for Hockey Canada to allow him to play for Quebec.”
Layton Parsons, from Cole Harbour, N.S., made Team Atlantic. The Islanders drafted the forward in the eighth round of this year’s draft.
He is playing this season with the Bridgewater Lumberjacks in the junior A. Sonier will be attending the tournament to scout the players.
