Toronto, ON – The Canadian Hockey League today announced that a total of 55 current CHL players are listed on official International Ice Hockey Federation rosters and are competing in the 2017 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Montreal and Toronto.

The 55 players includes a representative from all 10 participating countries including Canada who leads the way with 20 current CHL players followed by the Czech Republic with eight players and the reigning gold medalists from Finland with six players.

In addition to the 55 current CHL players, six competing players are former CHL players, while 11 non-CHL players from Russia participated in the 2016 CIBC Canada Russia Series.

The Western Hockey League leads the way with 23 players competing in the tournament followed by the Ontario Hockey League with 19 players, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with 13 players.

33 of the CHL’s 60 clubs are represented in the event with seven different teams sending three players to the tournament including the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, Kelowna Rockets and Red Deer Rebels, the OHL’s Erie Otters and London Knights and the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and Saint John Sea Dogs. Eight different teams have two players competing including the WHL’s Everett Silvertips, Portland Winterhawks, Regina Pats and Seattle Thunderbirds and the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads, Oshawa Generals, Saginaw Spirit and Windsor Spitfires.

Last season, 64 CHL players competed in the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship in Helsinki, Finland.

CHL Players Competing at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship:

Canada (20):

Mathew Barzal (Seattle Thunderbirds)

Jake Bean (Calgary Hitmen)

Thomas Chabot (Saint John Sea Dogs)

Anthony Cirelli (Oshawa Generals)

Kale Clague (Brandon Wheat Kings)

Dillon Dube (Kelowna Rockets)

Pierre-Luc Dubois (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles)

Julien Gauthier (Val-d’Or Foreurs)

Carter Hart (Everett Silvertips)

Connor Ingram (Kamloops Blazers)

Mathieu Joseph (Saint John Sea Dogs)

Noah Juulsen (Everett Silvertips)

Jeremy Lauzon (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies)

Michael McLeod (Mississauga Steelheads)

Philippe Myers (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies)

Taylor Raddysh (Erie Otters)

Nicolas Roy (Chicoutimi Sagueneens)

Blake Speers (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds)

Mitchell Stephens (Saginaw Spirit)

Dylan Strome (Erie Otters)

Czech Republic (8):

Filip Chlapik (Charlottetown Islanders)

Filip Hronek (Saginaw Spirit)

Adam Musil (Red Deer Rebels)

Tomas Soustal (Kelowna Rockets)

Michael Spacek (Red Deer Rebels)

Simon Stransky (Prince Albert Raiders)

Ondrej Vala (Kamloops Blazers)

Jakub Zboril (Saint John Sea Dogs)

In addition, Daniel Krenzelok is a former member of the Victoriaville Tigres.



Denmark (4):

Joachim Blichfeld (Portland Winterhawks)

Christian Mathiasen-Wejse (Blainville-Boisbrand Armada)

Lasse Petersen (Red Deer Rebels)

Alexander True (Seattle Thunderbirds)

In addition, Christian Mieritz is a former member of the Guelph Storm.



Finland (6):

Olli Juolevi (London Knights)

Janne Kuokkanen (London Knights)

Julius Nattinen (Windsor Spitfires)

Petrus Palmu (Owen Sound Attack)

Vili Saarijarvi (Mississauga Steelheads)

Juuso Valimaki (Tri-City Americans)

Latvia (4):

Rudolfs Balcers (Kamloops Blazers)

Martins Dzierkals (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies)

Renars Krastenbergs (Oshawa Generals)

Kristians Rubins (Medicine Hat Tigers)

Russia (3):

Mikhail Sergachev (Windsor Spitfires)

Yakov Trenin (Gatineau Olympiques)

Sergey Zborovskiy (Regina Pats)

In addition, Pavel Karnaukhov is a former member of the Calgary Hitmen. 11 players including Karnaukhov, Anton Krasotkin, Kirill Urakov, Danila Kvartalnov, Kirill Belyaev, German Rubtsov, Vladislav Sukhachev, Denis Alexeev, Danil Yurtaikin, Grigori Dronov and Artem Volkov competed for Russia in the entire 2016 CIBC Canada Russia Series.



Slovakia (4):

Radovan Bondra (Vancouver Giants)

Erik Cernak (Erie Otters)

Adam Ruzicka (Sarnia Sting)

Marian Studenic (Hamilton Bulldogs)

In addition, Mario Grman is a former member of the Kootenay Ice.



Sweden (1):

Filip Ahl (Regina Pats)

In addition, Alexander Nylander was the 2016 CHL Rookie of the Year as a member of the Mississauga Steelheads.



Switzerland (2):

Nico Hischier (Halifax Mooseheads)

Calvin Thurkauf (Kelowna Rockets)

In addition, Timo Haussener is a former member of the Guelph Storm.



United States (3):

Jeremy Bracco (Kitchener Rangers)

Caleb Jones (Portland Winterhawks)

Tyler Parsons (London Knights)

For more information on Hockey Canada, Canada’s National Junior Team, and the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship, visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow along via social media on Facebook and Twitter, as well as #WorldJuniors.