de Gray named to under-18 team
BRAMPTON, Ont. Brampton Battalion defenceman John de Gray has been named to the 22-player Canadian roster for the summer under-18 Junior World Cup, Hockey Canada announced Thursday.rrThe 17-year-old de Gray is one of seven defencemen named to the squad. Six Ontario Hockey League players are on the team, which will compete in the tournament Aug. 9-14 in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.rr”It was a pretty good camp,” de Gray said from Kitchener, where the team continued its preparations before the departure for Europe. rr”Everybody here could play. There wasn’t a single weak guy here. Everybody was really intense and going full-out to battle for a spot on the team. It was a lot of fun.”rrde Gray, who played for Team Ontario at the World Under-17 Challenge at Lethbridge, Alta., earlier this year, said he’s familiar with many of his teammates from that tournament.rr”I think it’s going to be a great team. Everybody is really dedicated. There’s a lot of talent here, and there’s no doubt in my mind that we can challenge for a gold medal. We know this program has had a lot of success, and that makes it more intense for us and makes us want to win even more.rr”We’ve still got some practices and exhibition games ahead, so we’ll be really well prepared for the start of the tournament.”rrde Gray was excited about making his first trip overseas.rr”It’s going to be quite the experience. I’ve never been to Europe and I don’t know how many of the other guys have. Playing over there will be great and, with the new rules coming to junior hockey such as the elimination of the red line, it’s going to be great preparation for next season, too.”rrThe Markham, Ont., resident was the Battalion’s first pick, sixth overall, in the 2004 OHL Priority Selection. The six-foot-three, 185-pound de Gray had two goals and eight assists for 10 points in 53 games in his rookie season.rrde Gray is the fifth Battalion player to be named to the summer under-18 team. In 1999, head coach Stan Butler of the Troops guided a Canadian team featuring Brampton defencemen Jay Harrison and Tyler Hanchuck to a gold medal in the Czech Republic. Centre Jay McClement helped capture gold in Slovakia in 2000, while Wojtek Wolski played for a team that finished fourth in the Czech Republic in 2003.rrCanada, which opens the tournament next Tuesday against Switzerland, is coached by Shawn Camp of the OHL’s Sarnia Sting.r
