Milos Roman and Andrej Kukuca lead WHL contingent in group B

The 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship begins December 26th with Group B action taking place in Victoria, British Columbia at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena. The Group B bracket includes Finland, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Sweden and the United States.

If you are looking at current Western Hockey League players on the international rosters in Group B, there are only two to keep an eye on:

Team Slovakia- F Milos Roman (Vancouver Giants)  

Roman will be playing for Slovakia for the third time, after recording two goals in five games in last year’s tournament. Arguably the best player for the Giants this season, Roman has always been solid in all situations.  To date this season, he is on path for his best season with the Vancouver and has 29 points (16g, 13a) in 30 games. Playing on a line with wingers Justin Sourdif and Brayden Watts, Roman usually lines up against the opposition’s top lines. Roman was drafted in the 4th round by the Calgary Flames in last summer’s NHL draft after putting up 32 points (10 g, 22a) in 39 regular season games as a WHL rookie.

Andrej Kukuca (Brian Liesse)

Team Slovakia- F Andrej Kukuca, (Seattle Thunderbirds)

Kucuca was selected by Seattle in the first round, 29th overall, in the 2018 CHL Import Draft. So far this season, he has 24 points (7g, 17a) in 29 games for the Thunderbirds. Kukuca had 43 goals and 27 assists in 44 games for Trencin in the Slovakian U20 Junior League last season.

Other notable players with recent WHL experience include a trio of players on team Finland:

  • Aleksi Heponiemi -spent the previous two seasons with the Swift Current Broncos. Heponiemi now plays for the Finnish pro team Karpan Oulu.
  • Sami Moilanen of Tappara Tampere, who played the past two seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds.
  • Defenceman Henri Jokiharju of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks, who played the previous two seasons with Portland Winterhawks.