Roster announcements continue to roll in with the 2014 IIHF Hockey World Championships set to begin Fridayin Minsk, Belarus and BCHL names continue to surface.
Former Express star and 2006 RBC Cup national champion Kyle Turris of the Ottawa Senators was named to the team early on. Hockey Canada announced Thursday that he would also take on an alternate captain role, joining the leadership group with captain Kevin Bieksa and fellow alternate Jason Chimera.
Turris scored 102 goals and 91 assists in 110 career BCHL games with the Express before becoming the third overall selection by Phoenix at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. He was BCHL rookie of the year in 2006 and MVP in 2007.
Defenceman Jason Garrison, a Nanaimo Clippers alumnus and current Vancouver Canucks blueliner, will also wear the Maple Leaf. Garrison had 29 goals and 60 assists in 109 career BCHL games and won the BCHL Top Defenceman award in 2005.
On the management side, there is also plenty of BCHL representation for Team Canada. Bob Nicholson (Penticton Broncos) is team president and CEO, Brad Pascall (Langley Eagles/Richmond Sockeyes), is the vice president of hockey operations and Brad Treliving (Penticton Knights) is on the management team.
The other BCHL alum participating in the Worlds is former Trail Smoke Eaters defenceman Danny DeKeyser of the Detroit Red Wings who is skating for the United States. DeKeyser scored eight goals and 17 assists in the 2008-09 season with Trail before going to the United States Hockey League and then Western Michigan University.
Canada starts the tournament off against France on Friday, May 9 in a 6:45 a.m. PST start. The United States gets going at 10:45 a.m. PST Friday against host nation Belarus.
