20 WHL Alumni to represent international countries at 2018 Winter Olympic Games
With the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games set to open this weekend, the men’s hockey tournament will once again be a must-watch tournament for the entirety of its running. While six Western Hockey League Alumni will be representing Canada at the tournament, another 20 will be representing various international squads at the tournament.
Leading the way in this year’s rosters is the Czech Republic, who have five WHL Alumni on their roster, including captain Martin Erat, who played 114 WHL regular season games with the Saskatoon Blades and Red Deer Rebels, registering 135 points (50G-85A). Germany is next with four players and Slovakia has three.
Overall, 13 different WHL clubs are represented by the 20 international players with the Red Deer Rebels topping the list with five international players. Four played for the Vancouver Giants and Calgary Hitmen while a pair represented the Chilliwack Bruins, Tri-City Americans, and Medicine Hat Tigers.
The 20 international players have also won numerous team and individual award during their time in the WHL. The list features three Mastercard Memorial Cup champions, including Michal Repik and Jonathon Blum, who won their title with the Vancouver Giants in 2007 while Erat won his with the Rebels in 2001.
All three also won the Ed Chynoweth Cup, with Cody Almond and Yannic Seidenberg also winning the title with the Kelowna Rockets and Tigers respectively.
Blum was named the recipient of the Bill Hunter Trophy as the WHL’s Top Defenceman and CHL Defenceman of the Year in the 2008-09 season while Patrick Bartosak was named the recipient of the Del Wilson Trophy as the WHL’s Top Goaltender and also captured the CHL Goaltender of the Year in the 2012-13 season.
The men’s hockey tournament at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games will begin Wednesday, February 14 and run to Sunday, February 25.
CZECH REPUBLIC (5): Patrick Bartosak (G) – Red Deer Rebels; Martin Erat (F) – Saskatoon Blades/Red Deer Rebels; Roman Horak (F) – Chilliwack Bruins; Tomas Kundratek (D) – Medicine Hat Tigers; Michal Repik (F) – Vancouver Giants
FINLAND (2): Juha Metsola (G) – Lethbridge Hurricanes; Tommi Kivisto (D) – Red Deer Rebels
GERMANY (4): Daryl Boyle (D) – Brandon Wheat Kings; Brooks Macek (F) – Tri City Americans/Calgary Hitmen; Marcel Noebels (F) – Seattle Thunderbirds/Portland Winterhawks; Yannic Seidenberg (LW) – Medicine Hat Tigers
SLOVAKIA (3): Ivan Baranka (D) – Everett Silvertips; Andrej Kudrna (F) – Vancouver Giants/Red Deer Rebels; Juraj Valach (D) – Tri-City Americans/Red Deer Rebels/Vancouver Giants
SLOVENIA (1): Bostjan Golicic (F) – Calgary Hitmen
SOUTH KOREA (1): Alex Plante (D) – Calgary Hitmen
SWEDEN (2): Oscar Moller (F) – Chilliwack Bruins; Fredrik Pettersson (F) – Calgary Hitmen
SWITZERLAND (1): Cody Almond (F) – Kelowna Rockets
UNITED STATES (1): Jonathon Blum (D) – Vancouver Giants