Joe Hicketts has made Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship.
Hicketts is a Kamloops native who grew up in the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association before being drafted by the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League.
At the Christmas break, Hicketts is the highest-scoring defenceman in Canada, his 38 points the most in the WHL, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
The 18-year-old was stellar in this year’s Subway Series that featured WHL stars against touring Russian juniors. In April, Hicketts helped Canada win bronze at the World Under-18 Hockey Championships in Finland in April.
More impressively, despite not being chosen in the June NHL draft, the five-foot-eight, 175-pound rearguard opened some eyes in the summer, earning an entry-level contract with the Detroit Red Wings.
Hicketts is the first Kamloops native to play in the World Junior Hockey Championship since Eric Brewer in 1998. Mark Recchi donned the Maple Leaf in 1988. Shea Weber from the Shuswap community of Sicamous played for Canada in 2005.
Team Canada announced its final roster following the juniors’ 2-1 overtime loss to Russia in exhibition play on Friday, Dec. 19. Hicketts did not play in the game, fuelling speculation he had already made the cut.
The World Junior Hockey Championship is being held in Montreal and Toronto, with games in the Bell Centre (home of the Montreal Canadiens) and the Air Canada Centre (home of the Toronto Maple Leafs).
The tourney begins on Boxing Day and wraps up with the gold-medal game on Jan. 5 in Toronto.
Canada plays all four preliminary games in Montreal: Boxing Day against Slovakia (5 p.m.), Dec. 27 against Germany (5 p.m.), Dec. 29 against Finland (5 p.m.) and Dec. 31 against the United States (1 p.m.).
The quarter-finals will be played on Jan. 2 in Montreal and Toronto. The semifinals will be played on Jan. 4 in Toronto.
All games will be broadcast on TSN.
The World Junior Hockey Championship features 10 teams split into two groups.
Group A features Canada, Slovakia, Finland, the Unites States and Germany. Group B includes Russia, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland and Denmark.
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