Kitchener Rangers General Manager and Head Coach Steve Spott and defenseman Ryan Murphy will join Canada’s National Junior Team in Toronto on August 2 and 3 before departing for Yaroslavl, Russia for the first two games of the 2012 Canada-Russia Challenge.

The Canada-Russia Challenge will pay tribute to the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series, and is the first step in identifying the players who will represent Canada at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship.  At the conclusion of the summer event, Kevin Prendergast, Hockey Canada’s head scout for the men’s Program of Excellence, will continue to monitor these players and other potential candidates for the team’s selection camp in December 2012.

Twenty-eight players – three goaltenders, 10 defensemen and 15 forwards – will represent Canada at the 2012 Canada-Russia Challenge, with games on Aug. 9 and 10 in Yaroslavl and Aug. 13 and 14 in Halifax, N.S.

The players, all born in 1993 or 1994, were selected by Prendergast, in consultation with Hockey Canada’s vice-president of hockey operations and national teams, Brad Pascall, Hockey Canada’s senior director of hockey operations and national teams, Scott Salmond, head coach Steve Spott (Kitchener, OHL) and assistant coaches Mario Duhamel (Drummondville, QMJHL), Don Nachbaur (Spokane, WHL) and André Tourigny (Rouyn-Noranda, QMJHL). Prendergast evaluated players over the course of the 2011-12 season, following these players along with numerous other candidates for the program during league play, as well as during international competitions for both the under-18 and under-20 programs.

CLICK HERE FOR CANADA’S ROSTER FOR THE 2012 CANADA-RUSSIA CHALLENGE

The final two games of the series will be played in Halifax, N.S., and all four games will be broadcast by Hockey Canada’s official broadcasters, TSN and RDS.  Check your local listings for broadcast times in your area.

CLICK HERE FOR THE 2012 CANADA-RUSSIA CHALLENGE SCHEDULE

In addition, Team Canada will hold a practice on Friday, August 3 at 10:00am EST, at the MasterCard Centre in Etobicoke, ON.  This practice is open to public and will be free of charge.

For more information on Canada’s National Junior Team and the 2012 Canada-Russia Challenge, please visit www.HockeyCanada.ca/Challenge, or follow along through social media at www.Facebook.com/HockeyCanada, www.Twitter.com/HockeyCanada and www.Twitter.com/HC_TeamCanada.

(Photo courtesy of Hockey Canada)