Good news from the Caps’ PR staff today:
Three Capitals Draft Picks Invited to Canadian National Junior Team Selection Camp
WASHINGTON– Defensemen Karl Alzner and Josh Godfrey and center Mathieu Perreault have been invited to attend the 2008 Canadian National Junior Team Selection Camp, Hockey Canada announced today. Alzner, Godfrey and Perreault are three of the 37 players who will attend the camp that runs from Dec. 10-14, 2007, at the Father David Bauer Olympic Arena in Calgary.
Washington is one of four NHL teams with three prospects invited to the camp, joined by Boston, Detroit and Los Angeles. The camp will help determine the team to represent Canada at the 2008 World Junior Championship to be held in the Czech Republic Dec. 26, 2007, to Jan. 5, 2007.
Alzner and Perreault both attended the camp last year, while Alzner is one of three players in camp who was a member of the 2007 Canadian National Junior Team. Alzner and Godfrey are two of the 22 camp participants who were members of the Canadian team at this fall’s Canada/Russia Super Series.
Alzner, 19, was the Capitals’ first choice, fifth overall, in the 2007 Entry Draft. The Burnaby, British Columbia, native is the captain of the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League. Alzner leads Hitmen defensemen with 19 points (four goals, 15 assists) and a +10 rating in 31 games.
Godfrey, 19, was Washington’s second-round choice, 34th overall, in the 2007 Entry Draft. A native of Collingwood, Ontario, he is the top defensive scorer for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with 22 points (nine goals, 13 assists) in 29 games. Godfrey ranks third among OHL defensemen in goals after leading league blueliners in goals last season (24).
Perreault, 19, was the Capitals’ sixth-round choice, 177th overall, in the 2006 Entry Draft. The Drummondville, Quebec, native is in his third season with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and ranks tied for fourth among QMJHL scorers with 44 points (19 goals, 25 assists) in 26 games. The league’s offensive player of the week in the first week of November, he is tied for third in the QMJHL with a +18 rating. Perreault was the QMJHL player of the year and a first-team all-star in 2006-07.
I had a quick email exchange with the Caps’ 2007 2nd round draft pick Josh Godfrey today. I asked him how the season was going; he said he’s off to a good start with 7 goals and 7 assists in the first 10 games. Um… “a good start” is a bit of an understatement.
