JOHNSTOWN – The Johnstown Tomahawks announced today that forward Filips Buncis has been chosen to represent Latvia at the 2016 U20 World Championships in Vienna, Austria.
Buncis, a native of Jelgava, Latvia, has earned six goals and six assists (12 points) in 24 games with the Tomahawks this season. He also attended New York Islanders rookie camp during the summer of 2015.
"Filips came back to our team a new player this season I feel," Tomahawks head coach Mike Letizia said. "He always possessed good skills and size, but in my opinion he has taken it to a new level. He plays 200 feet, and he plays the game the right way every shift with skill, jam and smarts."
Letizia commented that Buncis always tries to get better every day not only as a player but a teammate.
"I could not be happier for him on being selected to play for his country at this event, he is truly deserving and we wish him nothing but success during his participation," Letizia said.
The U20 World Championships is hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation, a worldwide governing body for ice hockey, based in Zurich, Switzerland.
The tournament will start Dec. 13 and end on Dec 19. Latvia will play in the Division I, Group-A portion of the tournament along with Austria, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan and Norway.
Johnstown returns to the CambriaCounty War memorial Arena Thursday, Dec. 31 for the traditional New Year's Eve game at 6:00 p.m. against the Kenai River Brown Bears. For more information, visit JohnstownTomahawks.com or call 814-536-GOAL.