Top two North Bay Battalion draft picks heading to U-17 development camp this week

The development camp includes two days of practices and six games to be played next Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Article content Owen Loftus and Alexandre Saulnier of the North Bay Battalion are two of 31 Ontario Hockey League prospects invited to Canada’s under-17 development camp which opens Friday at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex at Oakville, Ont., Hockey Canada announced Tuesday. 2 Story continues below Article content Article content Article content

The 31 representatives, all chosen June 12-13 in the OHL Priority Selection at Kingston, are made up of three goaltenders, eight defencemen and 20 forwards. Goaltender Loftus was selected in the first round, 11th overall, from the Don Mills Flyers U16s, while centre Saulnier was taken in the second round, 35th overall, from the Ottawa Jr. 67’s U16s. Both have signed education and development agreements with the Battalion.

Alan Millar, general manager of Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence, headed the selection process for the camp says, “We are excited to unveil the top Canadian under-17 players who have earned invitations to our development camp this week, and to introduce these young players to Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence.” “This is a very talented and exciting group that will be surrounded by world-class coaching and support staffs, and we look forward to introducing them to our program, setting the expectations for the season and preparing for the U17 World Challenge later this year.”

All 80 invitees, including 29 from the Western Hockey League and 20 from the Québec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, have been drafted by Canadian Hockey League clubs. The players will be divided into four teams for the five-day camp. The hopefuls will be evaluated through the start of the 2026-27 season before the Canada Red and Canada White rosters are named for the U17 World Challenge, to be held Nov. 1-7 at the same Oakville facility.

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