Harrison Brunicke will not be competing for Team Canada at the forthcoming World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa later this month.

The Blazers defenseman’s hopes of cracking the squad has ended in disappointment, after the 18 year old reportedly failed his medical.

Brunicke has been out of the Blazers line up since November 12th, and will miss his 8th and 9th games this weekend, after fracturing his wrist during practice.

There had been some expectation he may have been ready to return in time for next week’s Team Canada Selection Camp, which starts on Tuesday.

“It was always going to be an uphill battle for Brunicke to be ready in time for Selection Camp,” noted Blazers Play-by-Play Announcer Jon Keen.

Saginaw Spirit defenseman Zayne Parek has been added to the Selection Camp roster in place of Brunicke.

Brunicke’s absence means goalie coach Dan De Palma will be the only Kamloops Blazer representation on the Canadian national team as a goaltender consultant for the tournament.

Brunicke and De Palma were part of Team Canada at the U-18 World Championships that won gold in Finland in May.

But there will likely be some on-ice connection to Kamloops for Team Canada when the squad takes to the ice on Boxing Day against Finland.

Kamloops native Sawyer Mynio will be competing for one of the defensive positions next week, as will Tanner Molendyk, who started out his hockey career through the Kamloops Minor Hockey system.

Mynio, who co-captains the Seattle Thunderbirds, played for Team Canada at this year’s World Junior Summer Showcase, while Molendyk is one of 7 invitees to the selection camp who competed for Team Canada at the World Junior tournament in Sweden.

Canada was bounced from that tournament in the quarter-finals by a Czech squad, which included Kamloops Blazer Matteo Koci.