Hanrahan Named to Team Canada White, Drinkill to Lead Team Canada Red at U17 World Challenge
OHL Saginaw Spirit

Hanrahan Named to Team Canada White, Drinkill to Lead Team Canada Red at U17 World Challenge

Published on October 15, 2025 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


Calgary, AB - Hockey Canada announced Wednesday afternoon its rosters for the 2025 U17 World Challenge in Truro, NS from Nov. 2-8. Among the 44 players selected to represent Canada is rookie Spirit forward Ryan Hanrahan, named to Team Canada White. Spirit GM Dave Drinkill will reprise his role of Director of Operations with Team Canada Red for a second season.

"We're thrilled to see Ryan get this opportunity," said Drinkill. "He's worked incredibly hard and already developed his impressive skillset in the short time he's been with us. I can't wait to see him represent his country for the first time."

From Concord, Ont., Hanrahan was Saginaw's first round pick (13th overall) at the 2025 OHL Priority Selection. Through his first eight games, the rookie forward has four assists. His first OHL point came in Saginaw's home opener against Flint on September 20th, a primary assist on Brody Pepoy's first period goal. Hanrahan spent 2024-2025 with the Mississauga Reps Hockey Club, scoring 15G-21A--36P in 36 games.

Dave Drinkill won a silver medal with Team Canada Red at last year's U17 World Challenge and is in the midst of his eleventh season as Saginaw's general manager. Since his arrival in July of 2015, Drinkill's Spirit teams have gone on to win three West Division titles (2019, 2020, 2024), appear in two Western Conference Finals (2019, 2024), and win the 2024 Memorial Cup on home ice. Twenty-four Spirit players have gone on to become NHL draft picks during Drinkill's tenure. It was initially announced that he would return to the U17 World Challenge by Hockey Canada in mid-July.

The 2025 U17 World Challenge kicks off on Nov. 2, with Canada Red taking on Finland at 3:30 p.m. AT and Canada White facing off against Sweden at 7:30 p.m. AT. Teams will play two preliminary-round games before the medal round, which concludes on Nov. 8 with the medal games. The event will also feature pre-tournament games in Truro, Amherst and Wolfville on Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m. AT.

TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will broadcast the medal games; check local listings for details. Fans looking to secure their seat to watch the top under-17 players from five countries can purchase a variety of ticket options including full-event packages, weekend packages, family packages and single-game tickets at HockeyCanada.ca/Tickets.

More than 2,000 NHL draft picks have suited up since the inception of the U17 World Challenge (previously known as the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and Quebec Esso Cup) in 1986, including 18 first-overall draft picks since 2001 (Ilya Kovalchuk, 2001; Rick Nash, 2002; Marc-André Fleury, 2003; Alexander Ovechkin, 2004; Erik Johnson, 2006; Patrick Kane, 2007; John Tavares, 2009; Taylor Hall, 2010, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 2011; Nathan MacKinnon, 2013; Aaron Ekblad, 2014; Connor McDavid, 2015; Auston Matthews, 2016; Jack Hughes, 2019; Alexis Lafrenière, 2020; Owen Power, 2021; Macklin Celebrini, 2024; Matthew Schaefer, 2025).

Parts of this release were provided by Hockey Canada

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