Hockey Canada began paring its roster for the 2010 World Junior Championship, sending home four players from its final tryout camp.

Forwards Tyler Seguin and John McFarland and defensemen Nicolas Deslauriers and Brandon Gormley were returned to their junior teams Tuesday.

Seguin, McFarland and Gormley are considered locks to be first-round picks for the 2010 Entry Draft.

Seguin, a center with the OHL's Plymouth Whalers, is third in the league with 51 points in 29 games. He also has 26 goals and was NHL Central Scouting's top-rated skater when it released its OHL preliminary rankings last month.

Seguin told reporters he felt he worried too much about playing a two-way game, rather than attacking offensive style that got him a camp invitation in the first place.

"I don't think I played to my potential here," he said. "I tried to focus on little things too much instead of just relaxing and playing my game and I think that's the reason I got cut."

Gormley, who plays for the QMJHL's Moncton Wildcats, was Central Scouting's top-rated in its preliminary rankings for that league. He has 22 points in 32 games this season.

"It's a tough situation in Canada," he said. "There are a lot of great defensemen and to be 17 coming in, it's tough to make. I just have to come back next year and hope for the best."

It was the first WJC tryout camp for Seguin, Gormley and McFarland, who has 24 points in 29 games for the OHL's Sudbury Wolves. He was ranked No. 6 by Central Scouting in its preliminary ranking of OHL skaters.

Deslauriers, who plays for the QMJHL's Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, was a 2009 third-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings. He has 25 points in 35 games this season.

Canada will go for an unprecedented sixth straight WJC gold medal when the tournament is held Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Saskatoon and Regina, Sask. The roster currently stands at 31 players, and must be down to 22 for the tournament. The team will play an exhibition game Tuesday against a team of Saskatchewan-based college all-stars, with final cuts expected Wednesday.

Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]