Airdrie will be represented at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, set to kick off on Boxing Day.
Local hockey product Jake Neighbours was among the 25 players selected for Team Canada on Dec. 12, following a weekend selection camp at Winsport Calgary.
This year's World Juniors will return to Alberta, with games hosted in Red Deer and Edmonton from Dec. 26 to Jan 5, 2022. Canada's tournament will get underway on Boxing Day, when they take on the Czech Republic in Edmonton.
Last year, Canada's quest for World Juniors glory ended in heartbreak. While the team coasted to the gold medal game with an unbeaten record on home ice, the Canadian hosts were shut out by the United States 2-0 in the all-important final.
Cracking the Team Canada line-up will continue what has already been a whirlwind 2021-22 campaign for Neighbours. The 2002-born forward, who played for the Airdrie Xtreme AAA U15 team in 2015-16, began his season in the NHL. Neighbours logged nine games for the St. Louis Blues, who selected the Airdrie native in the first round of last year's NHL Draft.
During his short stint with the Blues, Neighbours notched his first NHL goal, as well as an assist.
After spending a month in Missouri and the NHL, Neighbours returned to his junior team – the Edmonton Oil Kings – in November. Since heading back to Alberta's capital, Neighbours has registered five goals and 13 assists in 10 Western Hockey League games this season.
Neighbours is no stranger to donning the Maple Leaf. He represented Canada as a U18 player at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup in 2019, winning a gold medal, and also played for Western Canada at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in 2018.
