USHL Youngstown Phantoms

Sustr Gunning For Spot In World Junior Hockey Championship

Published on December 18, 2009 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Phantoms defensemen Andrej Sustr won't be spending the holidays at home, but he hopes to be representing his home country in one of hockey's premier events.

Sustr, a Czech Republic native, will compete during the next few days for a spot on his nation's entry in the upcoming IIHF World U20 Championship, better known as the World Junior Hockey Championship (WJHC), which will take place Dec. 26 through Jan. 5 in Regina and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Sustr qualified for the Czech Republic's preliminary roster this summer with a strong showing at tryout camp. He will now battle with 27 other prospects to make the final cut of 22 players during a training camp that runs Dec. 19-23. In addition, the Czechs will play exhibition games against both Canada and the United States to help prepare for the cauldron that is the WJHC.

"It should be great," said Sustr prior to departing Thursday. "We'll be playing against dream teams that are full of draft picks."

The 18-year-old Sustr leads all Phantoms with 13 assists through the first 23 games of his USHL career. He played last season with the North American Hockey League's Kenai River (Alaska) Brown Bears, the 6-foot-6 rearguard's first extended time away from his hometown of Plzen, Czech Republic.

The World Junior Hockey Championship pits the planet's best hockey players under the age of 20 in an annual 10-nation tournament. Canada has won the last five in a row, matching its streak from 1993-97, and has claimed by far the most WJHC titles (15) since the competition's inception in 1977; the United States defeated Canada in 2004 for its lone gold medal in the event.

"I've been told by [Czech head coach Jaromir Sindel] that if I just show up and play my game, I'll have a good chance to make [the final roster]," Sustr said.

Should Sustr successfully make the Czech roster, he will join his countrymen in facing fellow Group B members Austria, Finland, Sweden and Russia during the round-robin portion of the tournament. If the Czechs place in the top four in their group, they will advance to the single-elimination quarterfinals. The Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia has participated in the WJHC since the beginning, winning a pair of titles back-to-back in 2000 and 2001.

Check out the Youngstown Phantoms Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



United States Hockey League Stories from December 18, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central