Brennan Othmann, Brian Zanetti and Tommy Purdeller were Peterborough Petes named for Team Canada, Switzerland and Italy respectively for the upcoming World Junior Championship selection camps while Peterborough’s Owen Beck was also selected for Canada.
Team Canada’s roster selection camp is at Moncton, NB from Dec. 9 - 12.
This is Othmann’s second opportunity to represent Canada at the World Juniors, playing in six games for Canada at the 2022 World Juniors. He scored twice and added four assists on his way to a gold medal. Othmann has also represented Canada at the U18 and U17 levels.
“You can't take anything for granted, he explained. "There's a lot of good players on this selection camp roster and on the team, there are a lot of good players; a lot of good players that are signed. It's all about how hard you compete and how hard you work.”
Beck was also selected for the same camp as Othmann. The Mississauga Steelheads and Montréal Canadiens prospect will be in his first World Junior tournament if selected.
“He's a really good player and he's a great shot,” said Othmann. "I believe he's in my agency as well so it's good to see guys like that going and (I’m) happy that he's able to get out there and play with some of the top guys.”
Zanetti is competing in his second World Junior Championship with the Swiss U20 team. In the 2022 World Junior Championship, he played in four games nabbing two assists. Zanetti is one of two NHL-drafted players on the Swiss team.
Purdeller is representing Italy for the second time at the U20 level, after winning gold and securing promotion for Italy in last year’s World Junior Championship Div 2A. The NHL Draft-eligible forward played five games in the 2022 tournament, scoring twice and adding three assists.