CHL well represented at 2018 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship
Toronto, ON – The Canadian Hockey League is proud to announce that a total of 58 current CHL players are listed on official International Ice Hockey Federation rosters to open the 2018 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Buffalo, New York.
The 58 players includes a representative from all 10 participating countries including Canada who leads the way with 18 current CHL players followed by the Czech Republic with 10 players as well as Russia and Slovakia with six each.
In addition to the 58 current CHL players, eight competing players are former CHL players, while 13 non-CHL players from Russia participated in the 2017 CIBC Canada Russia Series.
The Western Hockey League leads the way with 26 current players competing in the tournament followed by the Ontario Hockey League with 20 players, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with 12 players.
39 of the CHL’s 60 clubs are represented in the event with the London Knights, Mississauga Steelheads, Portland Winterhawks, Swift Current Broncos and Victoriaville Tigres leading the way with three current players each.
Last season, 55 CHL players competed in the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship in Montreal and Toronto.
CHL Players Competing at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship:
Canada (18):
Drake Batherson (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles)
Jake Bean (Calgary Hitmen)
Kale Clague (Brandon Wheat Kings)
Maxime Comtois (Victoriaville Tigres)
Dillon Dube (Kelowna Rockets)
Cal Foote (Kelowna Rockets)
Alex Formenton (London Knights)
Jonah Gadjovich (Owen Sound Attack)
Carter Hart (Everett Silvertips)
Brett Howden (Moose Jaw Warriors)
Boris Katchouk (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds)
Jordan Kyrou (Sarnia Sting)
Michael McLeod (Mississauga Steelheads)
Taylor Raddysh (Erie Otters)
Sam Steel (Regina Pats)
Tyler Steenbergen (Swift Current Broncos)
Robert Thomas (London Knights)
Conor Timmins (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds)
In addition, Victor Mete is a former member of the London Knights.
Belarus (4):
Igor Martynov (Victoria Royals)
Vladislav Michalchuk (Prince George Cougars)
Maksim Sushko (Owen Sound Attack)
Vladislav Yeryomenko (Calgary Hitmen)
Czech Republic (10):
Vojtech Budik (Prince Albert Raiders)
Libor Hajek (Saskatoon Blades)
Filip Kral (Spokane Chiefs)
Albert Michnac (Mississauga Steelheads)
Kristian Reichel (Red Deer Rebels)
Ostap Safin (Saint John Sea Dogs)
Radim Salda (Saint John Sea Dogs)
Ondrej Vala (Kamloops Blazers)
Marek Zachar (Sherbrooke Phoenix)
Filip Zadina (Halifax Mooseheads)
In addition, Filip Helt is a former member of the Sarnia Sting.
Denmark (1):
Joachim Blichfeld (Portland Winterhawks)
Finland (3):
Aleksi Heponiemi (Swift Current Broncos)
Henri Jokiharju (Portland Winterhawks)
Juuso Valimaki (Tri-City Americans)
In addition, Janne Kuokkanen and Olli Juolevi are former members of the London Knights.
Russia (6):
Vitalii Abramov (Victoriaville Tigres)
Artyom Minulin (Swift Current Broncos)
German Rubtsov (Acadie-Bathurst Titan)
Dmitri Samorukov (Guelph Storm)
Dmitry Sokolov (Sudbury Wolves)
Andrei Svechnikov (Barrie Colts)
In addition, Anatoli Elizarov is a former member of the Edmonton Oil Kings and Nikolay Knyzhov is a former member of the Regina Pats. 13 players including Elizarov and Knyzhov represented Russia in the entire 2017 CIBC Canada Russia Series. That list also includes goaltenders Mikhail Berdin, Alexey Melnichuk, Vladislav Sukhachev, defencemen Nikita Makeyev, Alexander Shepelev, Egor Zaitsev, and forwards Andrey Altybarmakyan, Georgy Ivanov, Mikhail Maltsev, Artyom Manukyan, and Alexey Polodyan.
Slovakia (6):
Martin Bodak (Kootenay ICE)
Michal Ivan (Acadie-Bathurst Titan)
Adam Liska (Kitchener Rangers)
Milos Roman (Vancouver Giants)
Adam Ruzicka (Sarnia Sting)
Marian Studenic (Hamilton Bulldogs)
In addition, Samuel Bucek is a former member of the Shawinigan Cataractes
Sweden (1):
Jacob Moverare (Mississauga Steelheads)
In addition, Alexander Nylander is a former member of the Mississauga Steelheads.
Switzerland (5):
Marco Cavalleri (Victoriaville Tigres)
Nico Gross (Oshawa Generals)
Philipp Kurashev (Quebec Remparts)
Simon Le Coultre (Moncton Wildcats)
Justin Sigrist (Kamloops Blazers)
United States (4):
Kieffer Bellows (Portland Winterhawks)
Logan Brown (Windsor Spitfires)
Max Jones (London Knights)
Kailer Yamamoto (Spokane Chiefs)
For more information on Hockey Canada, Canada’s National Junior Team, and the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship, visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow along via social media on Facebook and Twitter, as well as #WorldJuniors.