Trio of Rockets prepare to compete at 2025 World Juniors
Kelowna Rockets fans will have the chance to cheer on some familiar faces over the course of the 2025 World Junior Hockey Championships which are taking place in Ottawa, Ontario from December 26th to January 5th.
Rockets defenceman Caden Price will be representing Canada for the third time in his career and first time at the World Juniors. Rockets forward Jakub Stancl is representing Czechia for the second time at the tournament while defenceman Marek Rocak has also made the Czech team.
For more information on the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, please visit the official tournament website HERE.
Price becomes the 20th Rocket to represent Canada at the tournament
The Rockets assistant captain joins an elite class of players to have played for Canada at the tournament.
Robb Gordon (1996), Brett McLean (1998), Chuck Kobasew (2002), Josh Gorges (2004), Shea Weber (2005), Blake Comeau (2006), Luke Schenn (2008), Tyler Myers (2009), Jamie Benn (2009), Brandon McMillan (2010), Tyson Barrie (2011), Josh Morrissey (2015), Madison Bowey (2015), Rourke Chartier (2016), Dillon Dube (2017, 2018), Cal Foote (2018), Nolan Foote (2019), Kaedan Korczak (2021) and Colton Dach (2023).
Price scored a goal in one of Canada’s pre-tournament games, a 7-1 victory over Switzerland on December 19th.
Stancl returns to represent Czechia
Jakub Stancl is back for his second World Juniors with Team Czechia as the 19-year-old forward played in seven games with his home country in Sweden last December, helping the Czechs to a bronze medal. Stancl scored four goals and added two assists in those games and will be leaned on to be a key part of this year’s roster.
Rocak makes Team Czechia
Rockets defenceman Marek Rocak has also made Team Czechia, although he will not be in the lineup for Czechia’s opening game against Switzerland. Rocak represented Czechia at the 2022 Hlinka-Gretzky tournament where he played in five games and finished with one assist. This is Rocak’s first appearance for his country at the World Junior level. In 27 games with Kelowna the 19-year-old has 16 points.
Stancl and Rocak becomes the sixth and seventh Rocket to represent Czechia at the World Juniors, joining Vaclav Varada (1995, 1996), Stepan Novotny (2009), Tomas Soustal (2016, 2017), Pavel Novak (2021) and Gabriel Szturc (2022, 2023).
Where and when to watch
Canada will play all of its games at Canadian Tire Centre in Group ‘A’ with Team Czechia playing its games at TD Place Arena in Group ‘B’. All games will be available on TSN.
Thursday, December 26th – Czechia vs Switzerland/Canada vs Finland
Friday, December 27th – Canada vs Latvia
Saturday, December 28th – Czechia vs Kazakhstan
Sunday, December 29th – Czechia vs Slovakia/Canada vs Germany
Tuesday, December 31st – Czechia vs Sweden/Canada vs USA
To view the entire schedule, click HERE.
TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will once again provide extensive coverage of the event, broadcasting all 31 tournament games, as well as all three Team Canada pre-tournament games. TSN Radio will also provide comprehensive tournament coverage.
