Coe to compete for a spot on Team Canada's U18 summer team

Forty-four of Canada’s top under-18 prospects are competing for a spot on the national men’s summer under-18 team, including Battalion forward Brandon Coe.

The roster of prospects for the summer selection camp was announced Tuesday morning.

The team represent Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup tournament this August in Edmonton and Red Deer.

The selection camp is taking place in Calgary at the end of July.

“Unlike our other summer camps, these players are part of a selection process from the moment they arrive, and the opportunity is to represent Canada on the world’s stage,” said Scott Salmond, vice-president of hockey operations and national teams for Hockey Canada, in a release. “We have a very talented group of players coming to Calgary in late July, and we will no doubt have some very difficult decisions to make when it’s time to select this year’s Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team. The players are excited to arrive and get started, and they are all coming in with the goal of making our decision a difficult one.”

Newly rebranded as the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, the annual tournament is one of the only true, best-on-best competitions for this age group.

While the event is being co-hosted in Edmonton and Red Deer, Canada will play all of its games out of Rogers Place in Edmonton, except for a pre-tournament game against the Czech Republic slated for 7 p.m. on Aug. 4 at the brand-new Servus Arena in Red Deer.

“There’s nothing like competing on home ice, and this will be a very special event for our team – staff and players,” said Salmond. “The work begins in Calgary at selection camp, and we’re looking forward to heading up the QEII and competing in front of Canadian fans this summer. This is always a true demonstration of best-on-best hockey, and the fans in Edmonton and Red Deer will not be disappointed.”

Canada won last year’s edition of the event in Breclav, Czech Republic, defeating the host team 4-1.

Canada has won gold 21 times in 27 years of summer under-18 competition.

Brandon Coe, North Bay Battalion. Photo by Aaron Bell/OHL Images