World U-17 hockey challenge

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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.

Contents 1 Origins 2 Recent Years 3 Participating teams 4 Past Tournament Results 5 Notable players who have participated in this tournament 6 References

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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, there is no World Under-17 Hockey Challenge scheduled. Instead, the next event is scheduled for London, Ontario beginning December 29, 2007 and concluding January 8, 2008.

[edit] Participating teams

Canada enters five regional teams from across the country. These teams are:

•  Canada Atlantic (New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island)
  
•  Canada Quebec
  
•  Canada Ontario
  
•  Canada Western (Manitoba and Saskatchewan)
  
•  Canada Pacific(Alberta and British Columbia)
  

Other participating nations have included:

•  United States
•  Finland
•  Russia
•  Sweden
•  Slovakia
•  Czech Republic
•  Germany
•  Soviet Union (now defunct)
•  Czechoslovakia (now defunct)

[edit] Past Tournament Results

Year	Host Site	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2006	Regina, SK	Canada Quebec	United States	Czech Republic
2005	Lethbridge, AB	Canada Western	Canada Pacific	Canada Atlantic
2004	St. John's, NL	Canada Ontario	Canada Pacific	Canada Quebec
2002	Selkirk-Stonewall, MB	United States	Canada Pacific	Canada Ontario
2001	New Glasgow-Truro, NS	United States	Canada Pacific	Canada Ontario
2000	Timmins, ON	Russia	Canada Ontario	Canada Pacific
1998 *Split Event	Swift Current, SK	Canada Sasktachewan	United States	Finland
1998 *Split Event	Kitchener, ON	Canada Ontario	Czech Republic	Canada Quebec
1997	Red Deer, AB	Canada Ontario	Sweden	Canada Quebec
1995	Moncton, NB	Canada Ontario	Finland	Canada Quebec
1994	Amos, QB	Canada Quebec	United States	Canada Pacific
1992	Sudbury, ON	Canada Ontario	Canada Quebec	Czechoslovakia
1990	Quebec	Finland	Canada Quebec	Soviet Union
1988	Quebec	Soviet Union	Sweden	Canada Quebec
1986	Quebec	Canada Quebec	Soviet Union	Canada Pacific

[edit] 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
• Eric Daze, 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 Sundstrom, Team Sweden, 1991
• Daniel Briere, Team Quebec, 1994
• Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Team Quebec, 1994
• Jarome Iginla, 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 Pitkanen, Team Finland, 2000
• Alexander Ovechkin, Team Russia, 2002
• Jack Johnson, Team USA, 2004
• Phil Kessel, Team USA, 2004

[edit] References

• World U-17 Hockey Challenge. Hockey Canada, World Under-17 Challenge. Retrieved on May 21, 2006.

• Hockey Challenge, Event History. Hockey Canada, World Under-17 Challenge. Retrieved on May 21, 2006.