World Junior A Challenge
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The World Junior A Challenge (WJAC) is an international ice hockey tournament sponsored by Hockey Canada, the Canadian Junior A Hockey League, and the International Ice Hockey Federation. The Championship is to display the best-of-the-best at the Tier II Junior "A" level. The tournament is modeled after the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships which displays the best of Major Junior or Tier I Junior "A" hockey.
This tournament is to showcase players 19-years-old and younger, featuring Canadian born players from teams in the Canadian Junior A Hockey League and representative teams from Russia, Slovakia, Germany, and Belarus.
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[edit] History
The tournament was created in 2006 through a proposal by the Canadian Junior A Hockey League to Hockey Canada. The idea behind the tournament is to showcase all-star players in the CJAHL to Ontario Hockey League, National Collegiate Athletic Association, and National Hockey League scouts while exposing the players to an international level and style of play.
Canada will be represented by two "all-star" teams of Canadian born players. Canada West will be comprised of players from the British Columbia Hockey League, Alberta Junior Hockey League, Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, Manitoba Junior Hockey League, and the Superior International Junior Hockey League (Hockey Northwestern Ontario). Canada East will feature players from the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League, Central Junior A Hockey League (Ottawa District), Ligue de Hockey Junior AAA Quebec, and the Maritime Junior A Hockey League.
The 2006 tournament in Yorkton, Saskatchewan was be the inaugural tournament and included teams from Russia, Slovakia, Germany, Belarus, and Canada.
The second tournament, in 2007, will be in Trail, British Columbia. Hockey Canada announced that at the WJAC 2007, Canada East and West will again have teams, as well as Slovakia, Germany, Belarus. The United States will be the sixth team in the tournament, but for reasons unknown the Russians have not been listed for the 2007 competition. [1]
[edit] Champions
For information on the specific tournament, check "Details".
| Year |  |
 |
 |
Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 Details |
 Canada West |
Canada East |
 Russia |
Yorkton, Saskatchewan |
| 2007 Details |
-- | -- | -- | Trail, British Columbia |
[edit] See also
- International Ice Hockey Federation
- Hockey Canada
- Belarus Ice Hockey Federation
- Deutscher Eishockey-Bund
- Ice Hockey Federation of Russia
- Slovak Ice Hockey Federation
- Canadian Junior A Hockey League
- Royal Bank Cup
