U17 World Hockey Challenge Comes to Oakville November 1 to 7
Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Macklin Celebrini all played in this tournament before most people knew their names. The U17 World Challenge runs at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex from November 1 to 7, and Oakville has the whole event, group games through to the gold medal game on Saturday, November 7.
Canada enters two teams, Red and White, and they play Czechia, Finland, Sweden and the United States. Three pre-tournament games go on October 30 before the tournament opens Sunday.
The event has run since 1986 as the first step in Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence, which is why the stands fill with scouts building their lists for the under 18 and world junior teams. Players who came through it account for more than 2,200 NHL draft picks, including 21 taken first overall, among them Auston Matthews, Alexander Ovechkin, John Tavares, Mats Sundin and Patrick Kane.
Tickets
Pre-tournament, preliminary round and playoff games start at $25. Medal round games start at $35. A full event package covering all 13 games is $200, which comes to about $16 a game.
Game times and matchups are on the tournament schedule, and tickets are on sale now. Two Canadian teams means two chances to pick a side.
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