OHL North Bay Battalion

Hockey Canada Summons Poirier

Published on October 2, 2014 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - Centre Zach Poirier of the North Bay Battalion is one of 66 players who will represent Canada at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, it was announced Thursday.

Poirier is among 24 Ontario Hockey League players set to compete as members of three Canadian entries at the eight-team event, which is organized by Hockey Canada and is to be held at Sarnia and nearby Lambton Shores from Nov. 2-8.

Poirier will play for Canada Black, to be coached by Kelly Nobes, head coach for Montreal's McGill University. Canada Black will play preliminary-round games against Canada White, Finland and Russia. The other tournament entries are Canada Red, Slovakia, Sweden and the United States.

"I was excited to get the call," said Poirier. "I was really hoping I'd get this chance, and it'll probably sink in once we're on our way to Sarnia."

A five-foot-11, 186-pound resident of Mountain, Ont., Poirier, 16, was the Battalion's first-round pick in the OHL Priority Selection in April. He was one of 108 players invited to the under-17 summer development camp at Calgary before scoring one goal and adding two assists for three points in six preseason games with the Battalion.

"I don't know if the scouts saw much of me in the preseason, but at the camp I just did what I could and I hoped they'd notice me," said Poirier.

He was held off the scoresheet in his first OHL regular-season game, a 5-4 overtime loss to the visiting Barrie Colts last Friday night.

"I like it here," Poirier said of North Bay. "The hockey is great. It's fast, and the guys are stronger than anyone I had played against before, so I need to get used to that. You know who the veterans are."

Coach Stan Butler said Poirier reminds him of Sam Carrick, a former Battalion captain and a first-round pick in the 2008 OHL Priority Selection who won gold with Ontario at Port Alberni, B.C., in January, 2009.

"Zach is a good, quiet player. He isn't very flashy, but he's effective. He's a guy that the coaches he works with will gain an appreciation for."

The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, which originated in 1986 as the Quebec Esso Cup, is in its first year under a new format. Previously, five regional Canadian entries joined five international teams in a tourney which opened just after Christmas, but Canadian rosters should be stronger with only three in play.

"I'm curious to see how it works," said Butler. "This tournament would compete against the World Junior Championship, and I guess they decided to move it to a different time of the season. It'll probably lessen the blow to teams that might be losing a lot of players to tournaments at Christmas."

Two current members of the Battalion already have played in the World Under-17 Challenge. Centre Brett McKenzie finished sixth with the Ontario entry in Nova Scotia last January, and defenceman Marcus McIvor won gold at Winnipeg in January, 2011.

The Battalion franchise has had 12 other players on under-17 teams.

In addition to Carrick, centre Matt Duchene helped Ontario to the title at London in January, 2008. Centre Cody Hodgson won gold at the Canada Winter Games at Whitehorse, Yukon, in February, 2007.

Other Troops to play on under-17 teams include defencemen Tyler Hanchuck and Jay Harrison and left winger Wojtek Wolski. All three took part in the Canada Winter Games.

Centres Matt Grennier and Jay McClement, left wingers Adam Henrich and Aaron Snow, defenceman John de Gray and goaltender Brad Topping played in the World Under-17 Challenge.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from October 2, 2014


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