TRURO, N.S. – Jared McIsaac is wearing the maple leaf once again for the Canadian under-18 men’s hockey team.
McIsaac, a Truro native who now lives in Dartmouth, is playing for Canada at the IIHF U18 world championship in Chelyabinsk and Magnitogorsk, Russia.
Canada opened the tournament Thursday against the United States.
McIsaac, six-foot-one, 195-pounds, picked up two assists in five games with Canada at last spring’s world championship in Slovakia. The Canadians were eliminated by Sweden in the quarter-finals.
McIsaac, who plays in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for the Halifax Mooseheads, has previous international experience on the U18 team, and last summer was a member of the Canadian team that won the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.
“I think I’ll be a leader going over there and hopefully we can win another championship with the Team Canada jersey on. It’s going to be a fun experience for sure,” McIsaac said this week.
Mooseheads forward Raphael Lavoie joins McIsaac for the tournament, which runs until April 29. Benoit-Olivier Groulx of the Mooseheads also received an invitation but was forced to decline due to injury.
The Mooseheads’ duo gives the Canadian team seven QMJHLers on the squad. Rimouski teammates Alexis Lafreniere and Colton Ellis are there along with Drummondville teammates Olivier Rodriguez and Joe Veleno, Cape Breton goalie Kevin Mandolese. The team is coached by Don Hay of the Kamloops Blazers.
Canada is in Group A along with the U.S., Sweden, Switzerland and Belarus. They will play all of their preliminary round games at the Arena Metallurg in Magnitogorsk. All of Canada’s games will be shown live on TSN.
Canada has won seven medals at the U18 world championship, including three gold (2003, 2008, 2013), one silver (2005), and three bronze (2012, 2014, 2015).
