Named in the New Zealand under-20 men’s team to compete in the IIHF U20 Division 2, Group B world champs, being held in Belgrade, Serbia, in January, are locals Lachlan Boniface, Ollie Ruski-Jones, Jesse Hutchins, Joel Paterson, Will Speakman, Jake Thompson and Liam Rasmussen — all six have also been named in the Ice Hockey NZ U20 men’s high-performance squad.
Heading off to compete in the IIHF U18 women’s Division 2, Group A champs in Istanbul, Turkey, being played during the same week, are Queenstowners Isla Lawrence, Tayla Potter and Polly Bennetts — those three, along with Zoe Thurston, have also been named in the Ice Hockey NZ U18 women’s high-performance squad.
Named in the NZ senior men’s high-performance squad are SkyCity Stampede players Colin McIntosh, Connor Harrison, Dylan Devlin, Joel Gerard, Joel Hasselman and Stefan Amston, along with former Queenstowner Jackson Flight, who’s expected to suit up for Stampede again next year having most recently played for Dunedin’s Phoenix Thunder while at uni.
Wakatipu Wild players Aoife Orr, Caitlin Heale, Caitlin Hollyer, Gabby Mills, Gracie Hellmrich, Jordan Wichman, Kellye Nelson, Lucy Boniface and Manuella Sanches Pedrosa, along with former Queenstowner Hope Gregory, have all been named in the NZ senior women’s high-performance squad, while Blake Campbell, Liam Rasmussen, Maddon Smith, Noah Reid, Oliver Carian, Phoenix Pecko, Ben Dixon, Jake Hutchins and Tristan Walker have been selected for the U18 men’s high-performance squad.
All the athletes will take part in structured training programmes, designed to extend their skills, challenge them in a high-performance environment, and support their development — travelling teams for each national side will be chosen from the respective squads.
Meantime, the U18 Junior Stampede head to Dunedin this weekend for the final round of the NZ U18 Ice Hockey League this weekend.
The top-of-the-table Junior Stampede will face off against their closest rivals, Auckland, currently 10 points behind, at 3.45pm on Saturday, then play Canterbury, currently in third, at 9.45am on Sunday, and then play Auckland again at 6.30pm on Sunday night.
The results of those games will determine the standings for the finals series, being played on Sunday and Monday.
