University of Connecticut Athletics
Matthew Wood Named to Canada's World Junior Championship Roster
12/13/2023 8:09:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
STORRS, Conn. - UConn sophomore Matthew Wood (Nanaimo, British Columbia) has earned a spot on the final roster for Team Canada for the 2024 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championship.
Wood is the sixth Husky in the program under head coach Mike Cavanaugh to compete at the World Juniors tournament, and the first Husky to make the final roster for Team Canada. Wood is no stranger to the international stage, having won bronze with Team Canada at the 2023 IIHF world Under-18 Championship. Wood finished the U-18 championship with seven goals and six assists including one hat trick for 13 total points.
This year's tournament is scheduled to take placed Dec. 26, 2023- Jan. 5, 2024, in Gothenburg, Sweden. Team Canada will begin its pre-tournament scheduled against a U25 team from Denmark on Dec.19 before facing Switzerland on Dec.22 and to wrap up the pre-tournament slate, they will take on the United States on December 23.
Team Canada will open the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship when they take on Finland at 8:30am on Dec.26.
Wood, the youngest player in all of college hockey last year became the highest draft pick in program history after being selected 15 overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2023 NHL Draft after enjoying a strong rookie season. Wood currently leads the Huskies this season with seven goals and five assists for 12 total points.
Wood joins five other Huskies who have played in the prestigious international tournament. Former Huskies Vladislav Firstov and Yan Kuznetsov played for Team Russia at the 2020 event. Former Husky and current NHL All-Star Tage Thompson played for Team USA at the 2017 event, helping the team capture the gold medal. Former goaltender Adam Huska played for Team Slovakia at the 2016 and 2017 tournaments and Jachym Kondelik played for Team Czech Republic in 2019.
