Several North Bay Battalion players are going 'camping' this summer
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A total of four North Bay Battalion members or prospects have been named to Canada's national summer under-18 and under-17 camps, Hockey Canada announced Thursday. Forward Parker Vaughan of the Ontario Hockey League club is one of 40 hopefuls, numbering 24 forwards, 12 defencemen and four goaltenders, invited to compete for a chance to represent Canada at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, scheduled Aug. 11-16 at Brno, Czechia, and Trencin, Slovakia.
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The Canadian selection camp, with 20 OHLers on the ice, is to run July 29 to Aug. 1 at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville, Ont. In addition, Battalion forward Cam Warren, defenceman Carter Kunopaski and goaltending prospect Cole Vreugdenhil are among 30 OHLers who have been chosen to attend a national under-17 development camp at the Oakville site. It starts Saturday and ends next Wednesday.
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All 79 invitees have been drafted by Canadian Hockey League teams, including 27 from the Western Hockey League and 22 from the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. They will continue to be evaluated early in the 2025-26 season before the U17 World Challenge, to be held Oct. 31 to Nov. 8 at Truro, N.S. The Battalion's Andrew Latin is one of two guest equipment managers named to the team, which is to have Scott Barney of the Sudbury Wolves as head coach.
'We are excited to kick off a new season by announcing the 119 players that will attend camps in Oakville this month,' Alan Millar, general manager of Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence, said in a release issued in Calgary.
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'Our under-18 selection camp provides us with an opportunity to evaluate players and select a roster that we believe will give us the best chance to defend our gold medal at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Our under-17 camp is an opportunity to introduce athletes to the Program of Excellence and allow them to compete against other top players in Canada while we begin evaluating and preparing for the U17 World Challenge this fall.'
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The Battalion acquired Vaughan in a Jan. 5 trade with the Barrie Colts, who made him the fifth overall pick in the 2024 OHL Priority Selection. In 32 games with North Bay, he scored five goals and added five assists for 10 points, giving him league totals of 64 games, nine goals, eight assists and 17 points.
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Warren and Kunopaski, the Troops' first- and second-round selections respectively at Nos. 6 and 29 overall, have signed education and development agreements with the club. Vreugdenhil, one of three OHL goaltenders invited to the U17 camp, was a fifth-rounder, 87th overall.
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