WHL Everett Silvertips

Silvertips Defenseman Ronan Seeley Named to Team Canada White

Published on October 24, 2018 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Everett Silvertips News Release


EVERETT, Wash. - The Everett Silvertips (@WHLSilvertips), six-time U.S. Division champion and defending Western Conference champions of the Western Hockey League, announced in conjunction with Hockey Canada that defenseman Ronan Seeley has been named to the roster for Team Canada (White) in the upcoming World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, hosting 66 of the country's top young hockey players in Saint John and Quispamsis, New Brunswick, Nov. 3-10. Silvertips head coach Dennis Williams will lead the 22-player roster for Team Canada Black.

"We're obviously very proud of Ronan's accomplishment, reaching the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge as part of a group of elite defensemen for his age group in Canada," said Silvertips general manager Garry Davidson. "Our coaching staff is doing an excellent job with his development and he's a defenseman who has a tremendous amount of high-end potential. Dennis' abilities as a coach have led him to a well-deserved opportunity at this event with Hockey Canada, and we're looking forward to him representing us well on the international stage with Ronan."

The 66-player overall rosters are divided into three Canadian teams - Team Canada Red, Team Canada White, and Team Canada Black, who will compete against competition from the United States, Czech Republic, Russia, Finland, and Sweden.

Seeley, a 2002-born defenseman, joins Team Canada White's roster with a pair of assists in eight games in his first season as a Silvertip along with a +1 rating. He earned his first career WHL point with an assist on Oct. 12, in a 5-3 win against the Edmonton Oil Kings.

The 5-foot-11, 175 pound blueliner was selected in the first round (20th overall) by the Silvertips in the 2017 WHL Draft and signed to a WHL Standard Player Agreement on Dec. 12. He earned 31 points (5g-26a) in 30 games last season with the Lethbridge Hurricanes Midget AAA (AMHL) program, ranking tied for third in points among all league blueliners. His 26 assists paced all Hurricanes defensemen and finished tied for the league lead in assists among defenseman. Seeley helped lead the Hurricanes to the league title and Telus Cup tournament berth this season, earning Most Valuable Player honors at the Telus Cup with seven points (2g-5a) in seven games. He also skated in five games at the WHL Cup with Team Alberta, earning three points (1g-2a) and a +5 rating in a silver medal finish.

Seeley will be joined at the event with Williams, who will serve as head coach for Team Canada Black and was named to the position for the tournament on July 5. Williams was named WHL Western Conference Coach of the Year last season and led the Tips to their second Western Conference title in franchise history. Under his guidance during his first season behind the Everett bench, the Tips earned their second most regular season total in wins (47) and third most points (99) in franchise history. Offensively, the Silvertips scored 246 goals to set a new single season franchise record, were second in the league for goal differential (+80), and for the first time in franchise history carried seven players who scored 20 goals or more in a single season.

More than 1,700 NHL draft picks have suited up since the inception of the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge (previously known as the Quebec Esso Cup) in 1986, including 13 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; and Auston Matthews, 2016).

For more information on the 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, visit HockeyCanada.ca

Coverage of the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge will be carried on TSN and RDS in Canada, airing the Semifinal matchups on Nov. 9 and the Bronze and Gold Medal games on Nov. 10.

Season Tickets and Mini-Plan Packages are available at www.everettsilvertips.com/season.

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