Three Tigers invited to Team Canada Program of Excellence Meetings
By JAMES TUBB on July 27, 2023.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb The Medicine Hat Tigers were represented at the Team Canada Program of Excellence Meetings for the U17 Challenge. Three Tigers rookies were invited to the Hockey Canada virtual meetings, as forwards Gavin McKenna, Kadon McCann and Hayden Harsanyi all took part in the three-day program featuring 111 of Canada’s top hockey talent. There were 66 U17 players who will look to don the red and white at the U17 Hockey Challenge this fall and there were 45 U20 players who will look to make up Canada’s world juniors roster. Tigers associate coach Joe Frazer says they are excited for all three of them to be selected for the opportunity. “All three players had great seasons last year and this will be a tremendous learning experience for each of them,” Frazer said. All three saw action at the WHL level last season, with McKenna leading the way with 16 regular season games scoring, four goals and 18 points, while also scoring a goal in the team’s first-round playoff series with the former Winnipeg ICE. Harsanyi made an appearance in four different games with the Tigers this season, while McCann suited up in three regular-season games. The Tigers had two representatives at the U17 Hockey Challenge last season, with forwards Cayden Lindstrom and Tomas Mrsic representing Canada. Lindstrom is getting set to once again don the red and white in less than a week, playing for Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which is hosted in Slovakia and Czechia and gets underway July 31. Canada opens its Hlinka Gretzky Cup against Finland on July 31 at 7:30 a.m. They’ll face Slovakia Aug. 1 at 11 a.m. and round up the preliminaries against Switzerland on Aug. 2 at 7:30 a.m. The semifinals will be Aug. 4 with the medal round the next day. 11-10
