WEST Vancouver's Sam Reinhart will lead Canada into battle as team captain for the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship tournament running April 18-28 in Sochi, Russia.
Reinhart also played the role of Captain Canada for the national men's summer U18 team at the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament held in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in August, 2012. That team went on to win gold.
Reinhart led the WHL's Kootenay Ice with 35 goals, 50 assists and 85 points this season, following up on a 2011-12 campaign that saw him win WHL rookie of the year honours. He is projected by many to be a top-five pick, potentially even No. 1 overall, in the 2014 NHL draft.
Reinhart, the youngest son of former NHL star Paul Reinhart, is following in the footsteps of his older brothers Max who made his NHL debut with the Flames last week and Griffin who was picked fourth overall in last year's NHL draft and is currently leading the Edmonton Oil Kings on a run through the WHL playoffs.
Sam and the rest of Team Canada will open the U18 worlds against Slovakia April 18 and will also play group games against Germany, Switzerland and Sweden. The gold medal game will be played April 28 at the Bolshoy Ice Dome, the future host site for hockey at the 2014 Winter Olympics. For full schedules and results visit u18worlds2013.iihf.com.
