Sports stats



OHL Saginaw Spirit

Parekh, Misa, and Zhilkin Receive Invites to Canada's Program of Excellence Camps

July 16, 2024 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


Calgary, AB - Hockey Canada announced Tuesday afternoon that Saginaw's Zayne Parekh, Michael Misa, and Dima Zhilkin have each received invites to their age group's respective Program of Excellence summer camp. Parekh, 18, will attend the National Junior Team Summer Showcase. Misa, 17, received an invite to the U18 camp ahead of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Zhilkin, 15, will attend camp in preparation of the U17 World Hockey Challenge.

Zayne Parekh's name appears on the Canadian National Junior Team roster for the first time with today's announcement. The CHL and OHL's defenseman of the year heard his name called ninth overall by the Calgary Flames at the 2024 NHL Draft just weeks ago.

Parekh won gold alongside his Spirit teammate Michael Misa with team Canada at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup last summer. The National Junior Team's summer showcase will be July 28th-August 3rd at the WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ont. Parekh will attend alongside his head coach, Chris Lazary, who is serving Team Canada in an assistant role for the first time.

Michael Misa is fresh off a season where he improved on his Emms Family Award-winning rookie year. He finished his sophomore OHL season with 75 points (29G, 46A) in 67 games in his 16-year-old season. The Exceptional Status Misa is officially listed on Hockey Canada's U18 roster as 'Invited, but unable to attend'. He won gold at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup alongside Parekh.

Dima Zhilkin was the 19th overall pick at the 2024 OHL Priority Selection. With the Toronto Jr. Canadians of the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL), Zhilkin scored 73 points (26G, 47A) in 60 games this past season. The U17 selection camp will take place from July 18th-24th in Oakville, Ont. Zhilkin joins Spirit GM Dave Drinkill in the U17 program while Drinkill serves as a director of operations.

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Ontario Hockey League message board...

Ontario Hockey League Stories from July 16, 2024


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central