Former Victoria Grizzlies forward Jamie Benn has been named to Canada's roster for the 2009 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships, Hockey Canada announced Monday.
The 19-year old was one of 12 forwards named to Team Canada in advance of the tournament, which begins on December 26th in Ottawa, Ont. He will be tasked with a scoring role on a team hoping to win its fifth consecutive gold medal.
Benn starred for the Grizzlies during the 2006/07 season and caught the eye of the Dallas Stars, who selected him with a fifth-round selection at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. The Victoria native has spent the past two seasons with the Western Hockey League's Kelowna Rockets.
Despite missing a half-dozen of the Rockets regular season games to attend Dallas' training camp and the Team Canada selection camp, Benn continues to be at or near the top of the WHL scoring charts in both goals and points.
A pair of BC Hockey League graduates participated in the camp but were not selected for Team Canada. Riley Nash, a first-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers, and Patrick Wiercioch, a second-round pick of the Ottawa Senators, will return to their respective NCAA college teams at Cornell and Denver respectively.
