J-Roc has made it big.
Bomber equipment manager and athletic therapist Jason Savill will soon head to Nova Scotia for the World Junior A Hockey Challenge. Savill has been named the team's equipment manager for the tournament.
Hockey Canada announced the staff and rosters for two Canadian squads for the tournament. While no Bomber players made the cut for the tournament's Team Canada West, Savill was named as the team's equipment manager.
Originally from Leduc, Alta., Savill attended the Univ. of Regina and worked with the university's Cougars hockey teams before joining the Bombers in 2018. Savill also had the opportunity to work with the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes during an exhibition game in Saskatoon in 2017.
This year's edition of the World Junior A Hockey Challenge, an annual showcase event showing the best under-19 players in junior A or similar tier leagues around the world, will take place in Truro, N.S. from Dec. 10-17. Team Canada West and Team Canada East will join teams from the U.S., Sweden and Slovakia in a five-team round-robin tournament before a gold medal game Dec. 17.
Team Canada West's roster, which was announced Dec. 1, includes a pair of SJHL players - Nipawin defenceman Ronan Buckberger and Humboldt Broncos forward Matthew Van Blaricom. Former Weyburn Red Wing Ty Mason, now a member of the AJHL's Brooks Bandits, also made the cut, along with a roster made mainly of AJHL players - only three of the team's 22 players, the two SJHLers and MJHL star Nathan Brown, don't play in the league.
Broncos head coach Scott Barney will coach the team, which was coached by Bombers head coach and general manager Mike Reagan in the 2016 and 2017 tournaments.
Five Bombers have played in the tournament in past years - Cole Wilson did so in 2008, followed by Brandon Lesko and Cory Thomas in 2016, Chrystopher Collin in 2017 and former Bomber call-up Owen Ozar in 2019.
