The World U-17 Hockey Challenge, originally known as the Quebec Esso Cup, is an international ice hockey tournament held annually in Canada. Prior to 2011, the tournament did not operate during years in which the Canada Winter Games were held. As such, the World Under-17 Challenge was held three out of every four years. It is organized by Hockey Canada and is the first major international competition for male hockey players under the age of 17. The tournament is the first step in Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence and is used to identify players moving on to the U18 and National Junior Team.

Origins The inaugural World Under-17 Hockey Challenge took place in Quebec as the 1986 Quebec Esso Cup. At the time, it was considered the unofficial world championship of midget hockey. It was also used as a development tool for the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association to identify players for further development as well as expose them to their first taste of international competition. The tournament was among ten teams, five regional teams from Canada, Finland, Czechoslovakia, the United States, Sweden, and the Soviet Union. Team Quebec, led by future NHL first overall pick Pierre Turgeon captured gold by defeating the Soviets, who featured the likes of Sergei Fedorov and Alexander Mogilny.

Prior to November 2014, the tournament was held from late December through to early January. Originally, Canada would field five teams, selected on a regional basis.

Current tournament

The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge has continued to grow over the years to the point where it is perhaps the largest annual event administered under Hockey Canada's own auspices. Although the tournament is not sanctioned by the IIHF, it attracts U17 teams from the United States, Sweden, and Russia on an annual basis and Czechia, Finland, and Slovakia on a semi-annual basis.

The tournament is currently held in November of each year.

Participating teams

Canada enters three teams each year. Prior to November 2014, Canada entered five regional teams

Other participating nations have included:

(now defunct) (now defunct)

Results Year Gold Silver Bronze Host city (cities) 1986 Quebec Pacific Quebec City 1988 Quebec Quebec City 1990 Quebec Quebec City 1991The ice hockey tournament at the 1991 Canada Games was held in place of a 1991 tournament. 1992 Ontario Quebec Sudbury 1994 Quebec Pacific Amos 1995 Ontario Quebec Moncton 1997 Ontario Quebec Red Deer 1998 I Ontario Quebec Kitchener 1998 II West Swift Current 1999The ice hockey tournament at the 1999 Canada Games was held in place of a 1999 tournament. 2000 Ontario Pacific Timmins / Chapleau / Cochrane / Haileybury / Hearst / Kapuskasing / Kirkland Lake / New Liskeard / Smooth Rock Falls / Rouyn-Noranda 2001 Pacific Ontario New Glasgow / Truro 2002 Pacific Ontario Selkirk / Stonewall 2003The ice hockey tournament at the 2003 Canada Games was held in place of a 2003 tournament. 2004 Ontario Pacific Quebec St. John's 2005 West Pacific Atlantic Lethbridge 2006 Quebec Balgonie / Fort Qu'Appelle / Indian Head / Milestone / Moose Jaw / Regina / Southey / Weyburn 2007The ice hockey tournament at the 2007 Canada Winter Games was held in place of a 2007 tournament. 2008 Ontario West London / Lucan / St. Thomas / Stratford / Strathroy / Woodstock 2009 Ontario Pacific Campbell River / Courtenay / Duncan / Nanaimo / Parksville / Port Alberni 2010 Ontario Timmins / Iroquois Falls / Cochrane / Kapuskasing / Kirkland Lake / New Liskeard 2011 Ontario Pacific Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie 2012 Ontario Windsor 2013 Drummondville and Victoriaville 2014 (Jan.) Pacific (Sydney/North Sydney/Port Hawkesbury) 2014 (Nov.) Sarnia and Lambton Shores 2015 White Dawson Creek and Fort St. John 2016 Black Sault Ste. Marie 2017 Red Dawson Creek and Fort St. John 2018 Saint John and Quispamsis 2019 Medicine Hat and Swift Current 2020 Tournament cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic. Charlottetown and Summerside 2021 Tournament cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic. Charlottetown and Summerside 2022 Red Langley and Delta 2023 White Charlottetown and Summerside 2024 White Red Sarnia 2025 Red White Truro 2026 Oakville

Medal table Country Gold Silver BronzeMedals Ontario8231369318  Quebec32510 White310422610 West20131225 Pacific06410 Red1304  Black0101 Atlantic0011

Medals by Nations (1986–2025)

Notable participants In bold, players selected first overall in the NHL entry draft

Pierre Turgeon, Team Quebec, 1986 Sergei Fedorov, Team USSR, 1986 Alexander Mogilny, Team USSR, 1986 Joe Sakic, Team Pacific, 1986 Jeremy Roenick, Team USA, 1986 Pavel Bure, Team Soviet Union, 1988 Mats Sundin, Team Sweden, 1988 Jere Lehtinen, Team Finland, 1990 Sami Kapanen, Team Finland, 1990 Martin Lapointe, Team Quebec, 1990 Nikolai Khabibulin, Team USSR, 1990 Chris Gratton, Team Ontario, 1992 Ethan Moreau, Team Ontario, 1992 Todd Harvey, Team Ontario, 1992 Jamie Storr, Team Ontario, 1992 Alexandre Daigle, Team Quebec, 1992 Éric Dazé, Team Quebec, 1992 Jocelyn Thibault, Team Quebec, 1992 Radek Bonk, Team Czechoslovakia, 1992

Viktor Kozlov, Team USSR, 1992 Adam Deadmarsh, Team Pacific, 1992 Darcy Tucker, Team Pacific, 1992 Niklas Sundström, Team Sweden, 1992 Daniel Brière, Team Quebec, 1994 Jean-Sébastien Giguère, Team Quebec, 1994 Jarome Iginla, Team Pacific, 1994 Brad Larsen, Team Pacific, 1994 Bryan Berard, Team USA, 1994 Joe Thornton, Team Ontario, 1995 Roberto Luongo, Team Quebec, 1995 Patrick Marleau, Team West, 1995 Brian Gionta, Team USA, 1995 Scott Gomez, Team USA, 1995 Martin Hyun, Team Germany, 1995 Sascha Goc, Team Germany, 1995 Mika Noronen, Team Finland, 1995 Vincent Lecavalier, Team Quebec, 1996 David Legwand, Team USA, 1996

Duncan Keith, Team Pacific, 2000 Ilya Kovalchuk, Team Russia, 2000 Joni Pitkänen, Team Finland, 2000 Ryan Kesler, Team USA, 2001 Alexander Ovechkin, Team Russia, 2002 Jack Johnson, Team USA, 2004 Phil Kessel, Team USA, 2004 Jonathan Toews, Team West, 2005 Erik Johnson, Team USA, 2005 Patrick Kane, Team USA, 2005 Taylor Hall, Team Ontario, 2008 Aaron Ekblad, Team Ontario, 2012 Bo Horvat, Team Ontario, 2012 Auston Matthews, Team USA, 2014 Mitch Marner, Team Ontario, 2014 Matthew Tkachuk, Team USA, 2014 Andrei Svechnikov, Team Russia, 2015 Brady Tkachuk, Team USA, 2015 Jack Hughes, Team USA, 2017 Macklin Celebrini, Team Canada Black, 2022

See also World Junior A Challenge IIHF World U20 Championship IIHF World U18 Championship

Notes

References

External links World U-17 Hockey Challenge