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Louis Leblanc, 17, has a shot at making Canada's national team that will compete in Czech Republic. (VINCENZO D'ALTO)
Lions' Leblanc could be World Cup bound
Kirkland scoring sensation the only midget player being considered for Team Canada
John Meagher
The Gazette
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Louis Leblanc, 17, has a shot at making Canada's national team that will compete in Czech Republic. (VINCENZO D'ALTO)
Kirkland's Louis Leblanc is Alberta-bound this summer.
The 17-year-old scoring sensation for the Lac St. Louis midget
Triple-A Lions has been invited to the evaluation camp for Canada's
National Men's Summer Under-18 hockey team, which will compete at
the 2008 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka (formerly called the Junior World
Cup) in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Aug. 12-16.
Just getting invited to the U-18 camp is considered a huge
accomplishment for young Canadian hockey players.
Even more so considering that of the 40 players invited to next
month's evaluation camp at Father Bauer Olympic Arena in Calgary,
Leblanc was the lone midget Triple-A player selected.
The rest are from the junior ranks of the Canadian Hockey League.
Team Canada's official 22-player roster will be finalized following
the five-day (Aug.2-6) camp, which groups together the best players
from across the country.
Leblanc, a 5-foot-10, 166-pound sniper who led all Quebec midget
Triple-A scorers with 54 goals this season, is headed to the Omaha
Lancers of the United States Junior Hockey League next fall.
Leblanc, recently awarded the Daniele Brière Trophy as the midget
Triple-A league's Outstanding Student-Athlete, plans to attend
Harvard University in the fall of 2009.
The 1991-born Leblanc is eligible for the 2009 National Hockey
League Entry Draft.
Lions head coach Danny Dupont said Leblanc was one of the most
competitive midget players he's ever coached.
"He's an ultra competitive kid with lots of talent," Dupont said.
"He never quits."
Bill Peters, who guided the WHL's Spokane Chiefs to the 2008
Memorial Cup in May, will serve as Team Canada's U-18 head coach.
Team Canada travels to Piestany, Slovakia, on Aug. 6.
Canada has fared well at the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament in
recent years, having won three of the last four competitions.