Blazers D Ferreira selected to 2026 U17 World Challenge

KAMLOOPS — Kamloops Blazers defenceman Mateo Ferreira has received the first national recognition of his young junior hockey career.

Ferreira has been selected to Team Canada Red for the 2026 Under-17 World Challenge, taking place next month in Oakville, Ontario. He was at development camp in July along with Blazers forwards Teagen Bouchard and Brady Ondrus.

The tournament is set to take place Nov. 1 to 7, meaning Ferreira may miss as many as four regular season games for the Blazers – Oct. 31 in Edmonton, Nov. 1 in Calgary, Nov. 3 in Red Deer and Nov. 6 at home to Seattle.

The Winnipeg-born rearguard, who turned 16 on Oct. 6, leads the Blazers with two goals and eight assists for 10 points in eight games to start the 2026-27 WHL season. He is the top-scoring rookie defender in the league and is tied for second among all players in power-play points with seven.