Corbeil's Ben Gaudreau named to Canada's National Junior Team

It's a proud moment for Corbeil, as native son Ben Gaudreau was named to Canada's National Junior Team this afternoon.

He's favoured to be the starting goalie for the upcoming 2023 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship to be held from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Halifax, N.S. and Moncton, N.B.

In all, six OHL players were named to Canada's National Junior Team roster.

Gaudreau plays net for the Sarnia Sting. He sports a 3.62 goals against average and a .862 save percentage through 22 games so far this season. 

See: Gaudreau gets invite to Team Canada World Junior Camp

"It’s really special. Growing up watching the world juniors was definitely a highlight for me so now having a chance to be in that highlighted moment means the world to me," Gaudreau told BayToday.  

Gaudreau won gold with Canada's Under-18 team in Texas in 2021. He was also pleased with how he performed at the Hockey Canada World Junior camp in Calgary in August. 

OHL Players Named to Canada's National Junior Team:

Goaltender:
Ben Gaudreau (Sarnia Sting)

Defencemen:
Brandt Clarke (Barrie Colts/Los Angeles Kings)
Ethan Del Mastro (Mississauga Steelheads)
Jack Matier (Ottawa 67's)

Forwards:
Brennan Othmann (Peterborough Petes)
Shane Wright (Kingston Frontenacs/Seattle Kraken)

Among the six OHL players chosen, Ethan Del Mastro (Mississauga Steelheads) and Brennan Othmann (Peterborough Petes) were part of Canada's gold medal-winning National Junior Team this past August in Edmonton, Alta.

The six OHL players are part of a roster consisting of two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards that was selected by Hockey Canada director of player personnel Alan Millar, U20 lead for the Program of Excellence management group James Boyd (Ottawa 67's) and Hockey Canada senior vice-president of hockey operations Scott Salmond. Assistant coach Alan Letang (Sarnia Sting) is part of Team Canada's coaching staff and also provided input.

“We are excited to unveil the 22 players who have earned the opportunity to represent Canada at the World Juniors, as we believe we have assembled a deep and talented roster that will give us the best opportunity to defend gold on home ice,” said Millar. “While there were many difficult decisions to make at selection camp, we want to congratulate our players and their families, and we look forward to them wearing the Maple Leaf with pride in Halifax and Moncton.”

The 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship begins on Boxing Day with four games, including Canada taking on Czechia at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax at 7:30 p.m. AT. Canada will also take on Germany, Austria and Sweden to round out the preliminary round before the tournament concludes with the bronze and gold medal games on Jan. 5.

TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will once again provide extensive coverage of the event, broadcasting all 31 tournament games, as well as all three Team Canada pre-tournament games.

For more information on the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, visit the official tournament website at 2023.worldjuniors.hockey.

With files from Chris Dawson.