World U-17 Hockey Challenge

The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge is an international ice hockey tournament held annually in Canada. The tournament does not operate during years in which the Canada Winter Games are held. As such, the World Under-17 Challenge is held three out of every four years. It is organized by Hockey Canada and is the first major international competition for male hockey players under the age of 17. The tournament is the first step in Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence and is used to identify players moving on to the U18 and National Junior Team.

Origins

The inaugural World Under-17 Hockey Challenge took place in Quebec in 1986. At the time the tournament was titled the Quebec Esso Cup and was considered the unofficial world championship of Midget hockey. It was also used as a development tool for the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association to identify players for further development as well as expose them to their first taste of international competition. The tournament was comprised of ten teams, five regional teams from Canada, Finland, Czechoslovakia, U.S.A., Sweden, and the U.S.S.R. Team Quebec, led by future NHL first overall pick Pierre Turgeon captured gold by defeating the Soviets, who featured the likes of Sergei Fedorov and Alexander Mogilny.

Recent years

The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge has continued to grow over the years to the point where it is perhaps the largest annual event on Hockey Canada's calendar. The tournament remains is still considered an unofficial World Championship, as there is no official IIHF championship for Under-17 aged players.

The tournament is typically held over the Christmas break at the same time as the Under-20 World Junior Hockey Championships. As such, Sidney Crosby, who would have been slated to participate in the 2004 Championships did not take part having been selected to Canada's National Junior team at the time.

With 2007 being a Canada Winter Games year, no World Under-17 Hockey Challenge was scheduled. The 2008 event is being hosted at London, Ontario beginning December 29, 2007 and concluding January 4, 2008. Participants in the 2008 tournament are the five regional Canadian teams and Finland, Germany, Slovakia, Russia and the United States.

Participating teams

Canada enters five regional teams from across the country. These teams are:
* Atlantic (New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island)
* Quebec
* Ontario
* Western (Manitoba and Saskatchewan)
* Pacific(Alberta and British Columbia)
Other participating nations have included:
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Results

Notable players who have participated in this tournament

* Pierre Turgeon, Team Quebec, 1986
* Sergei Fedorov, Team USSR, 1986
* Alexander Mogilny, Team USSR, 1986
* Joe Sakic, Team Pacific, 1986
* Pavel Bure, Team Soviet Union, 1988
* Mats Sundin, Team Sweden, 1988
* Jere Lehtinen, Team Finland, 1990
* Sami Kapanen, Team Finland, 1990
* Martin Lapointe, Team Quebec, 1990
* Nikolai Khabibulin, Team USSR, 1990
* Chris Gratton, Team Ontario, 1991
* Ethan Moreau, Team Ontario, 1991
* Todd Harvey, Team Ontario, 1991
* Jamie Storr, Team Ontario, 1991
* Alexandre Daigle, Team Quebec, 1991
* Éric Dazé, Team Quebec, 1991
* Jocelyn Thibault, Team Quebec, 1991
* Radek Bonk, Team Czechoslovakia, 1991
* Viktor Kozlov, Team USSR, 1991
* Adam Deadmarsh, Team Pacific, 1991
* Darcy Tucker, Team Pacific, 1991
* Niklas Sundström, Team Sweden, 1991
* Daniel Brière, Team Quebec, 1994
* Jean-Sébastien Giguère, Team Quebec, 1994
* Jarome Iginla, Team Pacific, 1994
* Brad Larsen, Team Pacific, 1994
* Bryan Berard, Team USA, 1994
* Joe Thornton, Team Ontario, 1995
* Roberto Luongo, Team Quebec, 1995
* Patrick Marleau, Team West, 1995
* Scott Gomez, Team USA, 1995
* Vincent Lecavalier, Team Quebec, 1996
* David Legwand, Team USA, 1996
* Ilya Kovalchuk, Team Russia, 2000
* Joni Pitkänen, Team Finland, 2000
* Alexander Ovechkin, Team Russia, 2002
* Jack Johnson, Team USA, 2004
* Phil Kessel, Team USA, 2004

References

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