The Canadian Junior Hockey League announced Tuesday that Martin Dagenais of the Ottawa Jr. Senators (CCHL) and Rick Swan of the Bonnyville Pontiacs (AJHL) have been named the head coaches of Team East and Team West respectively for the upcoming CJHL Prospects Game, which goes Wednesday, January 25, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. ET in Cornwall, Ont., at Ed Lumley Arena within the confines of the Cornwall Civic Complex.
The CJHL also announced that CJHL alumnus and former Cornwall Colts (CCHL) players Chad Kilger and Jesse Winchester will serve as special guest coaches of Team East and Team West respectively.
The contest will feature 40 of the top NHL Draft eligible players from across the entire 10-league CJHL taking part.
The names of the assistant coaches and training staffs for each of the teams for the CJHL Prospects Game will be announced in the coming days.
TEAM WEST HEAD COACH – RICK SWAN: Set to lead Team West, Swan, 55, is the reigning Alberta Junior Hockey League coach of the year for his efforts with the Bonnyville Pontiacs. He has been both head coach and GM of Bonnyville for the past four campaigns. This season his club sits just two points out of first place in the AJHL’s Viterra North Division with a 25-9-4 record. He was also on the staff of Team Canada West at this year's WJAC. Previously Swan was a guest coach evaluator ahead of the 2015 WJAC and was involved with the Hockey Alberta Program of Excellence for several years, including a stint an assistant coach with Alberta’s under-16 team back in 2011.
TEAM WEST GUEST COACH – JESSE WINCHESTER: A three-year member of the Colts from 2001 to 2004, Winchester was captain of Cornwall in his final season where he amassed 82 points on 23 goals and 53 assists. Following a successful four-year NCAA career at Colgate University, where he also served as captain in his senior year, Winchester went on to play five full seasons in the NHL, which included four with the Ottawa Senators.
Tickets for the CJHL Prospects Game are now on sale and are available via the Cornwall Colts (CCHL) office by contacting them at (613) 930-9300.
The cost for tickets is $10 each; $9 per-person for groups of 20 or more, while children 12 and under are $5.
The CJHL Prospects Game will get underway at 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Jan. 25 and will also be streamed online at HockeyTV.com.
ABOUT THE CJHL PROSPECTS GAME
The CJHL Prospects Game is one of the premier Junior A hockey events in the country and provides tremendous exposure for CJHL players to play in front of scouts from all over the hockey world – including the NHL, NCAA, Major Junior and Canadian universities and colleges.
The President's Cup is awarded to the winning team in the CJHL Prospects Game.
From 2005 until 2008, the event ran as a single game, but starting in 2009 the President's Cup was played as a two-game series where the combined score of the games determined the winner of the title.
The contest has now gone back to a single-game format along with on-ice player testing having been introduced.
Since its inception, Team West has won six times while Team East has come away victorious on five occasions.