Moose Jaw’s Chantz Petruic will have a shot at wearing the maple leaf coming up next weekend.

The Yorkton Terriers forward was invited to the Canada West selection camp with a chance to play for his country at the 2017 World Junior A Hockey Challenge.

“Getting a call and having a chance to represent Canada at any level is pretty exciting, especially with it being my first time. It’s exciting and cool and it was great to get that call,” said Petruic over the phone from Yorkton on Tuesday.

Petruic will head to Calgary from Dec. 2-5 and hit the ice for practices and scrimmages over the four days as he battles 59 other players to crack this year’s team. 

Fellow Moose Javians Regan Seiferling and Rhett Gardner have represented Canada West at the tournament in recent years.

Heading into the camp, Petruic said he’s focused on laying it all on the line to crack the squad.

“You’ve got to go in and play your game,” he said.  “Just play the game that you’re comfortable playing and things will work out.”

Petruic has put together a strong start to his first season with the Terriers in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.  He leads the team with 19 points — five goals and 14 assists — in 17 games.

He said he’s been able to get his confidence up, which has translated to on-ice success.

“The coaches has a lot of confidence in me and that carries over to myself,” said Petruic. “Being able to play a little more minutes than obviously last year and getting a lot of different opportunities on the power play and stuff carries over throughout the game and lets me play how I usually play.”

Petruic played last season with the Moose Jaw Warriors, posting four assists in 55 games during his rookie season in the Western Hockey League.

After failing to crack the team’s lineup this season, Petruic said he took it as a challenge and went to work with Yorkton.

“I was obviously a little disappointed with being there last year and was looking for a bigger role this year, but things don’t always work out like that all the time,” said Petruic. “Getting the opportunity with Yorkton could open up other opportunities, so you’ve just got to take it as a positive, play your game and not worry about what league you’re in.”

Petruic added that this opportunity with Hockey Canada is a nice reward for the work that he’s put in, “It’s good to see your hard work pay off and hopefully I can crack the team there,” he said.

The camp runs Dec. 2-5 in Calgary.  The 2017 World Junior A Hockey Challenge is being hosting in Truro, Nova Scotia from Dec. 10-16.

Petruic is back in action with the Terriers coming up on Wednesday night when they host the Melfort Mustangs.