Nine of the players selected for the 2010-11 National Sledge Hockey Team roster competed at the 2010 Paralympic Games in Vancouver, B.C., finishing fourth, including goaltender Benoit St-Amand (St-Hubert, Que.), defencemen Adam Dixon (Midland, Ont.), Raymond Grassi (Windsor, Ont.) and Graeme Murray (Gravenhurst, Ont.), as well as forwards Bradley Bowden (Orton, Ont.), Billy Bridges (Summerside, P.E.I.), Marc Dorion (Bourget, Ont.), Greg Westlake (Oakville, Ont.) and Derek Whitson (Chatham, Ont.).
Nine players named to the 2010-11 roster also won silver at the 2009 World Sledge Hockey Challenge in Charlottetown, P.E.I., including goalies St-Amand and Corbin Watson (Kingsville, Ont.), defencemen Dixon and Grassi, as well as forwards Bowden, Bridges, Dorion, Westlake and Whitson.
The 2010-11 roster also includes four players who are new to the national team: forwards Anthony Gale (Brampton, Ont.), Scott Karrasch (Surrey, B.C.), Dominic Larocque (Quebec City, Que.) and Kevin Rempel (Dundas, Ont.). Defencemen Steve Arsenault (Spruce Grove, Alta.) and Jordan Cullum (Burlington, Ont.) have played for the National Sledge Hockey Team in the past and return for the 2010-11 season.
CLICK HERE FOR CANADA'S 2010-11 NATIONAL SLEDGE HOCKEY TEAM ROSTER
Head coach Mike Mondin (Trail. B.C.) assembled the 2010-11 National Sledge Hockey Team with help from assistant coach Billy McGuigan (Charlottetown, P.E.I.) and Hockey Canada scouts at the conclusion of a selection camp that ran from Friday, September 10 through Sunday, September 12 at Silver Dart Arena on CFB Petawawa in Petawawa, Ont.
"We are extremely pleased with the roster we have assembled for the 2010-11 season," Mondin said. "We have a great combination of veterans and rookies and believe this will be an exciting season on the international stage."
Thirty players attended the selection camp, which included three Red-White intersquad games over two days. The White Team won all three games, with final scores of 5-2 and 1-0 on Saturday and 3-2 earlier today. The sixteen players who have been picked for the 2010-11 roster will remain in Petawawa for Canada's National Sledge Hockey Team orientation camp from Monday, Sept. 13 through Wednesday, Sept. 15..
Over the course of the 2010-11 season, Canada's National Sledge Hockey Team will complete in several international events, including a three-game series against the United States in Toronto, Ont. this October and a second series against the United States in Rochester, N.Y. this November. The Canadian contingent will also compete in a 4 Nations tournament in Japan next February and at the 2011 World Sledge Hockey Challenge, which will be held next April in a Canadian city that has yet to be determined.
For more information on Canada's National Sledge Team, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca
