Ryan Murray is taking the next step toward the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championships.
The Everett Silvertips’ star defenseman was one of 46 players invited Friday to attend Canada’s summer development camp. The camp, which takes place Aug. 3-7 in Edmonton and Fort McMurray, Alberta, is the first step in Canada’s process for selecting its team for World Juniors.
Murray, one of 16 defensemen invited to the camp, is a strong candidate to make the team when the final roster is selected in December. He was one of the final cuts from the 2011 team, despite being just 17 years old and the youngest player invited to try out. Then he captained and starred for Canada’s team at the U-18 World Championships in April. Despite his wealth of experience with Hockey Canada, Murray was still the second-youngest player invited to this summer’s development camp.
Murray, who hails from White City, Saskatchewan, was Everett’s premier player last season, tallying six goals and 40 assists in 70 games. He filled in as captain when Landon Ferraro was out injured, becoming the youngest captain in franchise history. He’s already been named captain for the 2011-12 season.
One player who was not invited to Canada’s summer development camp was Everett goaltender Kent Simpson. Simpson was one of 10 goalies who attended Canada’s goaltending camp last weekend, but he was not one of the four carried over to the development camp.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at NickHPatterson.
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