Team Canada embarks on final preparation before November’s World Cup
There is a little less than two months remaining until the Men’s National Team takes on the World at the 2018 Odisha World Cup and next week, they embark on a valuable competition and training element to their schedule. The team will travel to New Zealand for a two-week training tour featuring test matches against the New Zealand National Team.
The team departs this weekend for New Zealand. They will train and travel around getting some early competition against provincial club teams. They will then face-off against world-number nine New Zealand in four test matches before returning home. Team Canada faced China and Pakistan at home this summer, giving them exposure to the Asian-style of play and now turn their sights on a New Zealand team that plays a more traditionally structured style of game. According to head coach Paul Bundy, this balanced approach to preparation and competition will have them well-prepared to take on their group stage opponents at the World Cup.
Bundy and the MNT coaching staff have selected the below roster for the New Zealand tour. The final World Cup roster will not be decided until the end of October. According to Bundy, this allows the players vying for spots one final month of competition and training to earn a spot.
TOUR ROSTER
| PLAYER NAME | PROVINCE | CLUB | POSITION |
|---|---|---|---|
| BALRAJ PANESAR | BC | UBC HC | DEF |
| BRANDON PEREIRA | BC | United Brothers | DEF |
| GORDON JOHNSTON | BC | Vancouver Hawks | DEF |
| SCOTT TUPPER | BC | West Vancouver HC | DEF |
| KEEGAN PEREIRA | ONT | Muilhium HC | FWD |
| MATTHEW SARMENTO | BC | KHC Leuven | FWD |
| IAIN SMYTHE | BC | Vancouver Hawks | FWD |
| JAMES KIRKPATRICK | BC | West Vancouver HC | FWD |
| OLIVER SCHOLFIELD | BC | Vancouver Hawks | FWD |
| ANTONI KINDLER | BC | West Vancouver HC | GK |
| DAVID CARTER | BC | United Brothers | GK |
| MARK PEARSON | BC | West Vancouver HC | MID |
| SUKHI PANESAR | BC | United Brothers | MID |
| GABE HO-GARCIA | BC | Mannheim HC | MID |
| JOHN SMYTHE | BC | Vancouver Hawks | MID/DEF |
| RICHARD HILDRETH | BC | Vancouver Hawks | MID/FWD |
| BREDNEN BISSETT | BC | NMHC Nijmegen | MID/FWD |
| JAMIE WALLACE | BC | UBC HC | MID/FWD |
TOUR STAFF
Head Coach – Paul Bundy
Assistant Coach – Gregg Clarke
Manager: Kelly Vanry
Physio – Guy Robertson
