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Brantford Bulldogs

Jorian Donovan & Chris Cook Recieve Canada Call

December 5, 2023 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Brantford Bulldogs News Release


The Brantford Bulldogs are extremely proud to have two of our own heading to the Canadian National Junior Team Selection Camp in preparation for the 2024 World Junior Hockey Championships.

Jorian Donovan was named one of the 10 defenseman who will attend selection camp. Donovan, originally selected 6th overall by the Bulldogs in 2020 OHL Priority Selection Draft has enjoyed tremendous success in the OHL. Breaking into the OHL by winning a Championship in 2022 and now on the cusp of writing his name in Bulldogs record books by settting a new record for career goals by a Bulldogs defenseman, Donovan brings junior championship and professional experience, having skated with the Belleville Senators at the close of the 2022-23 seaon, to a potential Team Canada blueline. After being drafted by the Senators in the 5th round, 136th overall and already setting foot in the professional level, a call to Team Canada was one of the last boxes to be checked in his junior career.

For the second year in a row Team Canada will have the best of the best manning their equipment room as Chris Cook returns to the role for the 2024 World Junior Hockey Championships. After spending more than a decade with the Ottawa Senators, Cook took over the equipment room in Kingston for 5 seasons before joining the Bulldogs in 2021. A driving force behind successful teams at every level he's worked with, Cook will look to add a 2nd straight World Junior Gold Medal to his trophy case alongside a gold medal at the Hlinka-Gretzky with Team Canada's U18 program as well as the 2022 OHL Championship.

The entire Bulldogs organization is extremely proud of both Jorian & Chris and wish them all the best of success as they look to help Canada return from Sweden with another gold medal!

Twenty-eight CHL players have been invited to Canada's National Junior Team selection camp at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville, ON from Dec. 10-13.

Eleven of the players selected play in the OHL while the WHL and QMJHL contribute nine and eight players respectively.

"We are excited to name the 30 players who will embark on the journey through camp and eventually on to the World Juniors," said Peter Anholt, the under-20 lead for the Program of Excellence management group. "Canada has an incredible talent pool of players, and there are always difficult decisions to narrow it down.

"We are expecting a highly competitive camp, and we look forward to naming our final roster that will wear the Maple Leaf with pride starting on Boxing Day."

Of the Canadian squad that claimed gold in Halifax in 2023, Owen Beck (PBO) is the only returnee. Canada's selection camp will include practices and a pair of games against a team of U SPORTS all-stars on Dec. 12 (3pm ET) and Dec. 13 (12pm ET).

"We are grateful to the Town of Oakville for hosting us and assisting us in our preparations for the World Juniors and we are excited to give fans the opportunity to see the best under-20 players in Canada," said Scott Salmond, senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations. "This camp, including the two games against U SPORTS, will give us the best chance to assemble the top players to represent our country on the world stage.

"As part of our preparations, we remain in communication with NHL teams with the potential of teams releasing players who are eligible to represent Canada, which we anticipate updating during camp."

In addition to Salmond and Anholt, the roster selected also included input from Brent Seabrook (Tsawwassen, BC), head coach Alan Letang (Renfrew, ON/Sarnia, OHL), assistant coaches Gilles Bouchard (Normandin, QC/Sherbrooke, QMJHL), Shaun Clouston (Viking, AB/Kamloops, WHL) and Scott Walker (Cambridge, ON/Guelph, OHL), as well as goaltending consultant Justin Pogge (Penticton, BC) along with coaches and general managers across the CHL.

Canada will compete in Group A of the round-robin against Finland, Germany, Latvia and Sweden. Ahead of the tournament, Canada will travel to Malmo, Sweden on Dec. 14 for a pre-tournament camp. As part of its preparations, Canada will open its pre-tournament schedule against a U25 team from Denmark on Dec. 19 before facing Switzerland on Dec. 22 and the United States on Dec. 23.

Canada are 20-time World Juniors gold medallists and have won three of the last four tournaments (2020, 2022, 2023).

The 2024 World Juniors will take place Dec. 26 - Jan. 5 in Sweden.

28 CHL players named to Canada's National Junior Team selection camp:

Goaltenders:

Domenic DiVincentiis (North Bay/OHL)

Scott Ratzlaff (Seattle/WHL)

Mathis Rousseau (Halifax/QMJHL)

Samuel St-Hilaire (Sherbrooke/QMJHL)

Defencemen:

Oliver Bonk (London/OHL)

Michael Buchinger (Guelph/OHL)

Jorian Donovan (Brantford/OHL)

Jake Furlong (Halifax/QMJHL)

Maveric Lamoureux (Drummondville/QMJHL)

Tristan Luneau (Gatineau/QMJHL)

Denton Mateychuk (Moose Jaw/WHL)

Tanner Molendyk (Saskatoon/WHL)

Ty Nelson (North Bay/OHL)

Noah Warren (Victoriaville/QMJHL)

Forwards:

Owen Allard (Soo/OHL)

Denver Barkey (London/OHL)

Owen Beck (Peterborough/OHL)

Easton Cowan (London/OHL)

Nate Danielson (Brandon/WHL)

Jordan Dumais (Halifax/QMJHL)

Jagger Firkus (Moose Jaw/WHL)

Conor Geekie (Wenatchee/WHL)

Paul Ludwinski (Kingston/OHL)

Fraser Minten (Saskatoon/WHL)

Carson Rehkopf (Kitchener/OHL)

Matthew Savoie (Wenatchee/WHL)

Markus Vidicek (Halifax/QMJHL)

Brayden Yager (Moose Jaw/WHL)

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