Seb Lloyd has been there before.
It's all new to Jesse Jenks.
The challenge has been issued. Now it's up to them to prove they belong.
Lloyd, a 19-year-old Prince George minor hockey product and a forward for the West Kelowna Warriors of the BCHL, and Jenks, an 18-year-old Prince George Spruce Kings goalie, have been invited to try out for Canada West at the World Junior A Hockey Challenge in Nova Scotia.
Lloyd played for Canada West last year and helped the team to a silver medal at the six-team tournament. He scored a goal and added an assist in the final, a 6-3 loss to the United States and had four points in four tournament games.
"That was a great experience, I met a lot of real good players and got an opportunity to play with some guys I spent my year playing against and I learned some things from them," said Lloyd. "Obviously, playing for your country is exciting."
Lloyd's linemate, David Pope, was also invited to the tryouts along with Warriors defenceman Adam Plant. This season with the Warriors, the five-foot-11, 190-pound Lloyd is on a point-per-game pace with five goals and nine assists in 14 games. This is Lloyd's third season with the Warriors after two seasons of major midget hockey with the Cariboo Cougars. The Prince George secondary school graduate still owns the Cougars' team record for most assists in a season with 37, set in 2010-11.
Last December, while on his way to a 66-point season, Lloyd signed a letter of commitment to attend Harvard University. He and Plant both expect to play for Harvard on scholarships next season. Both left Sunday on fly-in visits to the Harvard campus in Cambridge, Mass.
Heading into the weekend games, Jenks was sporting a 2.20 goals-against average with a .930 save percentage in five games for the Spruce Kings. The six-foot-two, 180-pound BCHL rookie is from Crofton, near Victoria.
"I haven't had the opportunity to play against him but I heard he's been doing well," said Lloyd. "He's a big kid in the net and I wish him all the best there."
Six goaltenders, 24 defencemen and 36 forwards have been invited to the Canada West camp, to be held Oct. 26-30 in Calgary. The tournament will be played Nov. 4-10 in Digby and Barrington, N.S.
Jason McKee is the Canada West head coach and the assistant coaches are Trent Cassan and Ryan Smith. McKee and Smith were both assistants for the team at last year's World Junior A Challenge in Yarmouth, N.S.
Canada West will be pooled with the Czech Republic and Switzerland. The other pool includes Canada East, USA and Russia.
n Warriors rookie forward Liam Blackburn, 17, who also grew up in Prince George, suffered a wrist injury last week in the Warriors' 3-2 loss to the Spruce Kings in West Kelowna. Blackburn has six goals and four assists for 10 points in 13 games this season.
