Four former OJHL affiliates representing Canada at World Junior Summer Showcase in Minneapolis
Ontario Junior Hockey League players past and present have been invited to Hockey Canada’s national team summer camps.
As part of Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team selection camp, 40 players—four goaltenders, 12 defencemen and 24 forwards—were invited to compete for a chance to represent Canada at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, set for Aug. 11-16 in Brno, Czechia, and Trencin, Slovakia.
The selection camp is underway this week at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville, home of the OJHL’s Oakville Blades.
The U18 camp roster includes
- Goaltender Gavin Betts, who played for the Pickering Panthers of the OJHL last season. Betts, who also played nine games with the Kingston of the Ontario Hockey League in 2024-25, represented Canada at the 2024 U17 World Challenge.
- Defenceman Jacob Xu split time in the OJHL during 2024-25 between the King Rebellion and Trenton Golden Hawks. Committed to NCAA Division I Harvard, he also played eight games for the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL last season.
- Former North York Rangers affiliate player Braidy Wassilyn, now with Niagara in the OHL.
- Former Georgetown Rangers AP Cole Żurawski, now with Owen Sound in the OHL.
The second of two Red-White games will be played today at Sixteen Mile.
Following camp, Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team will practice at MET Arena in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, from Aug. 3-6. It will take on Hungary’s national under-20 team on Aug. 7 in Budapest and Slovakia on Aug. 9 at Easton Arena in Piestany as part of its pre-tournament schedule.
World Junior Summer Showcase
Four former OJHL affiliates are representing Canada at the 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase in Minneapolis, Minnesota this week.
Forty-four players are taking part in practices, scrimmages and a trio of exhibition games against Finland, Sweden and the United States in preparation for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, Dec. 26–Jan. 5
The former OJHL APs include:
- Kashawn Aitcheson (Georgetown Raiders)
- Sam Dickinson (Aurora Tigers)
- Zayne Parekh (North York Rangers)
- Michael Hage (Toronto Jr. Canadiens)
For more information on Hockey Canada, Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team and Canada’s National Junior Team, visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along through social media on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.
