The Canada Winter Games U-16 men's hockey development team was pared down from roughly 32 players to 23 after a selection camp was held from Sept. 24-26.

Wade Klippenstein, director of player personnel and assistant GM for the Prince George Cougars, also attended the camp to help Team Yukon staffers pare down the squad.

The Yukon coaches conducted their own evaluation separate from Klippenstein's and later matched the results.

"They were very similar and yet there were a couple of surprises either way, so it was interesting and it was probably about as fair of an evaluation as it could have been,” head coach Jay Glass said.

"Obviously, we were looking for the best 20 hockey players we could find, incorporating skill, speed, strength and attitude.”

Players born in 1995 or later were eligible for the team.

Aside from the usual tryout nerves, the players focused on making an impression.

Besides, Glass said, most of the players compete in or around the Mustangs program and are familiar with one another.

That takes the edge off, he added.

"The games were high paced, lots of skating, and some good body contact.

I think the kids were also excited about having someone evaluate them rather than

just the local guys all the time.”

The 23 players selected include 12 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders.

The final roster of 20 players has to be named by Jan. 10.

Forwards Tyson Glass and Jared Steinbach and defenseman Mitch Read were each absent from the camp but made the development roster.

Tyson is playing in the Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy in Kelowna, B.C., Steinbach is playing bantam AAA in Fort Saskatchewan and Read is playing midget hockey in Ontario.

The three players will have to make it to one of the tournaments tentatively scheduled for the development team later this year.

One of those tournaments would be in the Okanagan Valley late October, when the Yukoners would play a series of exhibition games against midget teams from the area.

The other group of road games is tentatively set for Phoenix, Arizona, just after Christmas. If the trip to Arizona falls through, the team will look to gain game experience during a tournament in Richmond, B.C.

"The main focus for us is to get out of town here and play some higher end midget teams and see where we're at,” Glass said.

"We want to see them in game situations before we make our final choices.”

The team will play one game and hold two off-ice training sessions each week, with an optional on-ice session with Jirousek each Saturday.

Glass said he doesn't want overwhelm the players, who are split between playing with the bantam and midget Mustangs.

He also said that no decisions are final, and that players have to maintain the training schedule and keep a good academic standing to be eligible to play.

"It's not necessarily the end of the road for them if their name isn't on this list,” Glass said. "We just had to pare it down so that it was a little more manageable.”

The development squad is as follows:

Forwards

Mike Arnold

Devaughn Davies

Wyatt Gale

Tyson Glass

Tyrell Hope

Kyle Lowes

Matt McCarthy

Cole Morris

Braeden Paun-Burnett

Riley Pettitt

Jared Steinbach

Trevor Whynot

Defence

Chris Anderson

Craig Berube

Graeme Close

Charles Dagostin

Chase Hobbis

Dominic Korn

Liam Janke

Mitch Read

Goaltenders

Yougie Blackburn

Nigel Sinclair-Eckert

Breyin Wiens