Seven of the 20-strong squad are locals — Liam Rasmussen and Blake Campbell (defence), Jake Hutchins, Ben Dixon, Oliver Carian and Tristan Walker (forwards) and Noah Reid (goaltender).
Liam, Blake and Jake also played at the U18 worlds in Mexico City last year, and Ben was a reserve — the NZ team finished fifth to remain in Division 3 Group A after moving up from Group B the year before.
The large local contingent’s not surprising as the Queenstown team won the NZ U18 ice hockey league last year, finishing undefeated.
‘‘We’ve got a great crop of kids coming through the club,’’ says Queenstowner Steve Reid, who’s assistant coach of the NZ team.
‘‘There’s definitely some boys in the [senior] Stampede starting to look over their shoulders, because these kids, they’re good.’’
The team flew from Queens-town to Auckland on Monday for a four and a-half day training camp before heading to Hong Kong.
They play Turkey this coming Monday, Uzbekistan on Tuesday, Bulgaria on Thursday and Israel on Friday.
Meanwhile, with Noah Reid’s selection, three generations of Queenstown Reids have now been involved with NZ teams.
Steve, Noah’s father, is a former Ice Blacks goaltender, as well as assistant coach of this team, and Steve’s dad Charlie had a stint managing the Ice Blacks.
