Photo Credit – Pro Sport Photography:
Team AJHL departed on Friday for the 2019 Junior Club World Cup in Sochi, Russia following a 5-day training camp in Camrose, Alberta. The roster is composed of 22 returning Alberta Junior Hockey League players, selected to represent Canada at the eight-team international tournament from August 23rd ? 31st, 2019. The team will first travel to Moscow for a pre-tournament camp from August 16th ? 22nd.
Team AJHL will wear a special uniform while competing in the Junior Club World Cup, which not only showcases the Alberta Junior Hockey League, Canadian Junior Hockey League and Hockey Canada brands, but also pays tribute to the recent tragedies endured by the Junior hockey community. The team will wear helmet decals displaying the Humboldt Broncos memorial symbol to support the victims and survivors of the April 2018 bus accident and show thanks to the international hockey community for its support.
Team AJHL will also proudly don an R&R memorial patch on their jerseys to remember the lives of Ryder and Radek MacDougall. The two young hockey players were the sons and step-sons of Whitecourt Wolverines owner Brent and Tracy Stark. ?It is an honour to wear the Ryder & Radek patch on the front of the Team AJHL jerseys. We are playing for you. Thank you to Tracy and Brent Staark for their support,? said AJHL Commissioner Ryan Bartoshyk.
Teams from Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and USA will dispute the 2019 trophy. North America will delegate two teams to the tournament for the first time since 2014. In 2018, the Canadian Junior Hockey League was represented by the Central Canadian Hockey League (CCHL). The only Canadian team to win the tournament in its nine-year history is the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) in 2013.
Team AJHL will open the 2019 Junior Club World Cup on Friday, August 23rd at 7:00pm local time vs Loko Yaroslavl. All games will be broadcast on YouTube with game highlights available through @TheAJHL on Twitter and Instagram as well as AJHL.ca.