Kamloops native invited to National Junior selection camp

KAMLOOPS – Hockey Canada has released the list of 29 players invited to the National Junior Team selection camp and Kamloops native Joe Hicketts is on that list.

Hicketts, 18, plays for the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League and is the first Royal to be selected for the junior camp.

He currently leads all defensemen in the Canadian Hockey League in points with 36, 7 goals and 29 assists, in 28 games.

This isn’t the first national hockey exposure for the 5’8” defender. He took home a bronze medal with Team Canada at the World Under-18 Hockey Championships in Finland, won a gold medal playing for Team Canada at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament last year.

The National Junior selection camp starts Dec. 11 at the Centre for Hockey Excellence in Toronto.

The roster of 29 players must be cut to 22 by Dec. 25 in time for the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship, which starts Dec. 26 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infonews.ca or call 250-491-0331. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.