There’s a chance there could be three Newfoundlanders on the ice when hopefuls for Canada’s 2020 world junior hockey entry play an exhibition game as part of the team’s selection camp, which began Monday evening in Oakville, Ont.
Forwards Dawson Mercer, the Bay Roberts native who normally plays for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Drummondville Voltigeurs, and Alex Newhook of St. John’s, a freshman at Boston College, are among the 31 players competing for spots on Canada’s 23-man roster for the world juniors, which begin later this month in the Czech Republic.
The third player from this province is centre Tyler Boland of St. John’s, who will be part of all-star team of U Sports Canadian university players that will play two games against the juniors Wednesday and Thursday.
It’s not known if Mercer and Newhook will be part of the same lineup in one or both games, but with Boland on the university side, it’s pretty much a certainty there will be at least one game with at least two Newfoundlanders playing.
The 23-year Boland is in his third year at the University of New Brunswick after a standout major junior career in the QMJHL with the Rimouski Oceanic. With 10 goals and 16 assists in 17 games, he is the leading scorer the defending national champion UNB Reds, who are 13-4-0 in Atlantic conference play and ended this past week as the country’s No. 1-ranked team.
Boland’s 26 points place him fourth in overall AUS scoring.
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