Sherwood Park, AB: Team Canada West has announced their final roster for the World Junior A Challenge in Dawson Creek, BC.
Three of the 22 players named to the roster were Michael Benning (University of Denver), Carter Gylander (Colgate University), and Carter Savoie (University of Denver).
“As an organization, we congratulate Carter, Mike and Carter on making the World Junior A Challenge team,” said General Manager Kyle Chase. “We look to forward to them having a great tournament, and hopefully they can bring back a gold medal. The Crusaders organization is so proud of each of them and look forward to paying close attention to their successes.I can’t say enough about how important these guys are to our locker room and to our organization. It’s feather in our cap and we’re really proud of them.”
Michael Benning has got off to a great start to begin the season. The St Albert, Alberta, native has 40 points (7 goals, 33 assists) in 27 games this season and looks well on his way to beating his career-high of 61 points. Benning is committed to the University of Denver for the 2021-22 season and, earlier this season was ranked as a “C” prospect for the 2020 NHL Entry draft.
Much like his teammate Benning, Carter Savoie is also committed to the University of Denver but for the 2020-21 season. Savoie is only one-goal away to surpassing his tally from last season with 30 goals so far this year in 27 games which leads the AJHL. He was ranked as a “B” prospect on the latest NHL watch list.
Both Benning and Savoie are assistant captains for the Sherwood Park Crusaders.
Between the pipes, Carter Gylander has been rock solid in his 17 games this season. He holds a 16-1-0 record and has a 2.04 GAA along with a 0.923 SV%. This past summer, Gylander was draft 191st overall by the Detroit Red Wings at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. He is also committed to Colgate University for the 2020-21 season.
The World Junior A Challenge gets underway on December 7th in Dawson Creek, British Colombia.