Photo by: Goodall Media
Calum Ritchie #21 (Ian Goodall/Goodall Media Inc)
Hockey Canada announced their roster yesterday, July 25, for the 2022 Hlinka-Gretzky U-18 hockey championship. Oakville native Calum Ritchie will be the only town representative for Team Canada.
Heading into the U-18 training camp, four natives from Oakville had the potential to make the U-18 roster. However, only Ritchie made the squad.
Ritchie was drafted in 2021 2nd overall by the Oshawa Generals and finished his rookie season with 45 points in 65 games and was 16th in rookie scoring.
This will also be Calum’s second time representing Canada as he competed in the Capital City Challenge back in December of 2021 where he finished the tournament with five goals and six assists and scored the tournament-winning goal in overtime, winning the gold medal for his team.
When at the Capital City Challenge, Calum played with WHL forward Zach Benson who will also be on team Canada, so I would expect both players to reunite and have a great tournament.
Calum is also a highly touted prospect for the 2023 NHL draft and many mock drafts have him being selected in the 10-20 range, and others have him being selected in the 5-10 range.
The Hlinka-Gretzky tournament will start next Sunday, July 31 and will run until August 6 in Red Deer, Alta, and all games will take place on TSN.
