Canadian roster set for world juniors

Canada has finalized its 22-man roster for the upcoming world junior hockey championship, releasing nine players on Wednesday in Regina.

Forwards released were Philippe Cornet of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, Cody Eakin of the Swift Current Broncos, Scott Glennie of the Brandon Wheat Kings and Louis Leblanc of Harvard University.

"I can't say I've ever been cut before, but I'll take something from it and focus on the next one," Eakin said as he left the team hotel with his bags. "Being cut's being cut.

"It doesn't matter what position you're in. You want to be making the team and having success with the team. It's disappointing and I'll take a while to think about it."

Defencemen cut were Tyler Cuma of the Ottawa 67s, Shawn Lalonde of the Belleville Bulls and Dylan Olsen of the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

Goalies released were Matt Hackett of the Plymouth Whalers and Olivier Roy of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.

That meant that players on the bubble like centres Luke Adam of Cape Breton and Nazem Kadri of the London Knights and goalie Martin Jones of the Calgary Hitmen made the team.

Big names were dumped on Tuesday, including forwards Tyler Seguin of the Plymouth Whalers and John McFarland of the Sudbury Wolves, defencemen Brandon Gormley of the Moncton Wildcats and Nicolas Deslauriers of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

Spitfires well represented

The Ontario Hockey League's Windsor Spitfires are well represented with returning defenceman Ryan Ellis and the forward trio of centre Adam Henrique, Taylor Hall and Greg Nemisz, as are the Rimouski Oceanic with centre Patrice Cormier and right-winger Jordan Caron.

The centres are Henrique, Kadri, Cormier, Adam and Brayden Schenn of the Western Hockey League's Brandon Wheat Kings.

Left-wingers are Hall, Gabriel Bourque of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, Brandon McMillan of the Kelowna Rockets and Stefan Della Rovere of the Barrie Colts.

Right-wingers are Jordan Caron of Rimouski, Nemisz, Jordan Eberle of the Regina Pats and Brandon Kozun of the Calgary Hitmen.

Leblanc, the Montreal Canadiens first-round draft pick who plays at Harvard, said a slow start at camp probably hurt his chances.

Glennie was not so much a cut, but lost his chance to make the squad when he suffered a concussion in the second of two intrasquad games after a hit from Cuma

Cuma was a late addition to the camp. He was called in when defenceman Patrick Wiercioch was unable to skate because of a knee injury.

"They were pleased with my effort, but it wasn't enough," sad Cuma, who missed out on last year's world juniors in Ottawa when he was injured in camp and knew he was a longshot this time around.

The tournament is set for Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Regina and Saskatoon. Canada won its fifth consecutive gold medal last January, downing Sweden 5-1 in the final.

Team Canada 2010 roster