Eagles at world juniors

European players to suit up at world juniors in Edmonton

SYDNEY — The Cape Breton Eagles will be well represented at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship over the next week and a half in Edmonton.

European players Ivan Ivan and Jiri Kulich as well as Peter Repcik will each suit up at the tournament for their respective countries. Ivan and Kulich will play for the Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, while Repcik will be wearing Slovakian colours.

Repcik, 18, joined the Eagles in January after being claimed off waivers from the Western Hockey League's Lethbridge Hurricanes. The forward appeared in 30 games, posting six goals and 10 points.

Slovakia opened the tournament on Tuesday against Czechia. The score was not available at publication time.

The team will continue the event on Thursday when they face Canada at 7 p.m. They will also play Latvia on Friday at 7 p.m. before wrapping up the round robin on Sunday at 3 p.m. against Finland. All start times are Atlantic time.

Ivan, 20, was a member of the Czech Republic squad when the tournament first began in Alberta last December prior to its cancellation due to the pandemic. The forward played in 65 games with the Eagles last season, posting 31 goals and 65 points.

Meanwhile, Kulich was the third overall pick by Cape Breton at the 2022 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft. He was later taken 28th overall by the Buffalo Sabres at the NHL Entry Draft earlier this month and signed a threeyear entry-level contract.

In 49 games with HC Energie Karlovy Vary of the Czechia League, Kulich had nine goals and 14 points.

Czechia will play Finland on Thursday at 3 p.m., Canada on Saturday at 7 p.m., and Latvia on Sunday at 7 p.m. All start times are Atlantic time.

The tournament quarterfinals will be on Aug. 17 at 1 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 8 p.m., and 11:30 p.m., the semifinals on Aug. 19 at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., and the medal games on Aug. 20 at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. All game times Atlantic time.

Ivan, Kulich and Repcik could not be reached by the Cape Breton Post prior to the start of the tournament.

The 2022 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship will be hosted at Rogers Place and will be broadcast live on TSN and RDS.