CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada has announced that Ontario Junior Hockey League Vice-President Chris Vanstone (photo by Michelle Malvaso/OJHL Images) will return as director of operations for Team Canada East at the 2023 World Junior A Hockey Challenge in Truro, Nova Scotia this December.
Vanstone (Mississauga, Ont.) served as director of operations for silver medal-winning Team Canada East at the event 2022. He held the same post in 2018.
Vanstone was promoted by the OJHL from the position of Director of Hockey Operations to the Vice-President of Hockey in July. He has been employed with the OJHL since 2018.
Before joining the league, Vanstone served as a general manager within the OJHL with a number of teams for more than 10 years. He was part of the management and coaching staff of the Oakville Blades teams that represented the OJHL at the 2008 and 2009 national championships as OJHL Buckland Cup Champions.
Vanstone has previous work experience as a player advisor and has helped more than 80 players/clients move on to higher levels of hockey.
The World Junior A Hockey Challenge is set to make its return to Nova Scotia for the first time since 2017, as the City of Truro and Municipality of Colchester will host two Canadian teams and three international entries at the 3,100-seat Rath Eastlink Community Centre, Dec. 10-17.
Billy McGuigan (Summerside, P.E.I./Summerside, MHL) returns to Team Canada East as head coach for the second-straight year. He will be joined by assistant coaches Peter Goulet (Kingston, Ont./Powassan, NOJHL), Derek Smith (Belleville, Ont./Trenton, OJHL) and Josh Hardiman (Montréal, Que./Powassan, NOJHL). Hardiman will be making his international coaching debuts, while Goulet and Smith served as assistant coaches with Team Canada East in 2018 and 2022, respectively.
Team Canada East staff will scout the 2023 Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge, which will be played at the Duncan McDonald Memorial Community Gardens in Trenton, Ont., Nov. 13-15. The tournament serves as a player identification event for Team Canada East.
The Eastern Canada Cup All-Star Challenge is one of the premier Jr. A hockey events in the country and provides tremendous exposure for the top prospects of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL), Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL), Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL), Quebec Junior Hockey League (QJHL) and the Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL).
Two all star teams from each of the five leagues will play in front of scouts from all over the hockey world – including the NHL, NCAA, CHL and U SPORTS.
Of the 15 gold medal games at the World Junior A Hockey Challenge, 12 have featured at least one Canadian team. Team Canada East will look to earn its first gold medal, having won silver seven times (2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2019, 2022) and bronze once (2008), while Team Canada West has won gold five times (2006, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2017), silver three times (2008, 2009, 2012) and bronze twice (2013, 2018).
Full-event ticket packages for the 2023 World Junior A Hockey Challenge are now available for an early-bird price of $192 and can be purchased at HockeyCanada.ca/Tickets. The package includes one ticket to all 14 games, including the medal games, while the first 100 packages purchased include an exclusive World Junior A Hockey Challenge toque and scarf.
The 2023 World Junior A Hockey Challenge represents a partnership between Hockey Canada, the CJHL, NHL Central Scouting and Hockey Nova Scotia. The international showcase features two Canadian teams along with Slovakia, Sweden and the United States.
