The puck drops early on elite hockey competition, as 40 of Canada’s top junior players have been invited to take part in the Sport Chek World Junior Showcase in Kamloops, B.C., later this month.

Three players -- forwards Maxime Comtois (Drummondville, QMJHL), Alex Formenton (London, OHL), and Robert Thomas (Hamilton, OHL) -- are skating in the Showcase after winning gold with Canada at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship in Buffalo last January.

In total, four goaltenders, 12 defencemen and 24 forwards are on Canada’s National Junior Team summer roster. For more intel on many of these top-flight Junior players, just clink the link to our June digital edition.

The eight-day Sport Chek World Junior Showcase features Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States playing in a total of 11 games at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops. 

The tournament goes from July 28-Aug. 4.

Canada will dress two squads for games against a split Team USA on July 31, before combining again as Team Canada to play Finland on Aug. 2 and Sweden on Aug. 3. Canada closes the mini-tournament against the U.S. on Aug. 4.

If you are in Kamloops at the end of July, or are itching for an elite international hockey fix this summer, ticket packages that include all Sport Chek World Junior Showcase games are available online at HockeyCanada.ca/Tickets and at the Sandman Centre box office for as low as $99 plus fees.

TEAM CANADA ROSTER

GOALTENDERS
Michael DiPietro (Windsor OHL)
Olivier Rodrigue (Drummondville QMJHL)
Matthew Villalta (The Soo OHL)
Matthew Welsh (Charlottetown QMJHL)

DEFENCE
Calen Addison (Lethbridge WHL)
Kevin Bahl (Ottawa OHL)
Nicolas Beaudin (Drummondville (QMJHL)
Jacob Bernard-Docker (Okotoks AJHL)
Evan Bouchard (London OHL)
Josh Brook (Moose Jaw WHL)
Noah Dobson (Acadie-Bathurst QMJHL)
Pierre-Olivier Joseph (Charlottetown QMJHL)
Jared McIsaac (Halifax QMJHL)
Ian Mitchell (University of Denver NCHC)
Ty Smith (Spokane WHL)
Jett Woo (Moose Jaw WHL)

FORWARDS
Justin Almeida (Moose Jaw WHL)
Jaret Anderson-Dolan (Spokane WHL)
Jordy Bellerive (Lethbridge WHL)
Shane Bowers (Boston University HE)
Maxime Comtois (Drummondville QMJHL)
Ty Dellandrea (Flint OHL)
Connor Dewar (Everett WHL)
MacKenzie Entwistle (Hamilton OHL)
Alex Formenton (London OHL)
Morgan Frost (The Soo OHL)
Cody Glass (Portland WHL)
Barrett Hayton (The Soo OHL)
Stelio Mattheos (Brandon WHL)
Ryan McLeod (Mississauga OHL)
Antoine Morand (Halifax QMJHL)
Michael Rasmussen (Tri-City WHL)
Isaac Ratcliffe (Guelph OHL)
Jack Studnicka (Oshawa OHL)
Nick Suzuki (Owen Sound OHL)
Joël Teasdale (Blainville-Boisbriand QMJHL)
Robert Thomas (Hamilton OHL)
Owen Tippett (Mississauga OHL)
Joe Veleno (Drummondville QMJHL)
Gabe Vilardi (Kingston OHL)