OHL North Bay Battalion

Battalion captain to face Russians

Published on October 24, 2006 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


BRAMPTON, Ont. - Defenceman John de Gray of the Brampton Battalion is one of 31 players named to the Ontario Hockey League roster for the upcoming two-game OHL segment of the Canada-Russia series, it was announced Tuesday.

de Gray, 18, will play in games at Sarnia on Nov. 23 and Oshawa on Nov. 27. The OHL team will be coached by Craig Hartsburg of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, head coach for the Canadian national junior team at the 2007 World Junior Championship in Sweden.

de Gray, a resident of Markham, Ont., played one game of the Canada-Russia series last year, earning an invitation to the Canadian squad's summer development camp at Calgary in July.

"It's exciting to be invited back and it's something I'll be taking very seriously," said de Gray. "I was lucky enough to experience the series last year. I thought I had a good game and I got a lot out of it, so hopefully the same thing can happen this year."

de Gray, a third-round choice of the Anaheim Ducks in the National Hockey League's Entry Draft last June, played for Ontario at the 2005 World Under-17 Challenge at Lethbridge, Alta., and won a gold medal with the Canadian under-18 team at the Junior World Cup in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in August, 2005.

"Last year at the game in Kitchener I played with much older players than I had in the past internationally. And it was great to be one of the young guys who got to feed off the older guys. I hadn't even been drafted, and I was playing with drafted guys battling for contracts and a spot on that team."

de Gray said that, with five defencemen returning from the Canadian team that won gold at the World Junior Championship at Vancouver last January, competition for a spot on the blue line will be fierce.

"It'll be tough to crack the lineup, but if I don't make it this year I have a chance next year, so I want to leave a good impression. You have to show them you can play, and they'll want to see what you're like as a person, too."

A first-round pick in the 2004 OHL Priority Selection, de Gray is the eighth captain in Battalion history. He has one goal and four assists for five points in 14 games this season.

Each of the Canadian Hockey League's three member leagues will host two games against the Russians, with the CHL rosters made up of players eligible to play for the Canadian national junior team. All games are to be televised on Rogers Sportsnet.

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