North Bay Battalion forward Brandon Coe is one of 44 invites selected to attend Hockey Canada’s under-18 National Team training camp in preparation for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup which takes place in Edmonton and Red Deer this August.
Coe, taken third overall in the 2017 OHL Priority Selection, had 10 goals 13 assists for 23 points in 63 games with the Battalion in 2017-18.
The invitations have been extended to four goaltenders, 14 defencemen, and 26 forwards who are developing in the CHL and CJHL, including three players who were part of Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team that competed at the 2018 IIHF U18 World Championship in Russia last April, going undefeated in preliminary-round action (Byram, Lafrenière, Robertson).
“Unlike our other summer camps, these players are part of a selection process from the moment they arrive, and the opportunity is to represent Canada on the world stage,” Scott Salmond, vice-president of hockey operations and national teams for Hockey Canada, stated in a release.
“We have a very talented group of players coming to Calgary in late July, and we will no doubt have some very difficult decisions to make when it’s time to select this year’s Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team. The players are excited to arrive and get started, and they are all coming in with the goal of making our decision a difficult one.”
The last time the Battalion was represented at the event was back in 2015 when Team Canada was guided by Stan Butler who was joined by forward Zach Poirier, captured gold at the event in the Czech Republic.
See related: Butler back in the Bay after golden weekend
