World U-17 Hockey Challenge hits the ice in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John
Three Canadian teams face off against teams from Sweden, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic and the U.S
The hotels are filling up, and the players have arrived — the northern B.C. communities of Dawson Creek and Fort St. John are lacing up for the 2015 U-17 Hockey Challenge, an annual tournament held each year in Canada.
Representing Canada are 66 players, making up three different squads, and they'll be facing off against visiting teams from Sweden, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic and the U.S. during the week-long competition that starts Sunday, Nov. 1.
"It's one of the biggest — if not the biggest — hockey tournaments to come to Fort St. John and Dawson Creek," said Chase Charney, who will be calling the play for the tournament on Moose FM.
The tournament kicks off with a match-up between Team Canada Black and Team Canada White.
Each year the tournament includes three Canadian teams and five international entries.
The Russian team won the tournament last year, which was held in Sarnia and Lambton Shores in Ontario.
Charney said the amount of people showing up just to watch the practices has been "impressive".
"A number of hotels in the community are booked up, not just with people from nearby communities but also from people traveling from Russia, from Finland, so there's actually people coming from overseas to check out this tournament."
The tournament is used to identify players moving on to the under-18 and National Junior Team.
To hear the full interview listen to the audio labelled: World U-17 Hockey Challenge hits the ice in northern B.C.