Blackhawks defenseman prospect Alec Regula was among the final cuts to the United States’ roster for the 2020 World Junior Championship on Monday.
Regula has 11 goals and 26 points in 27 games with the London Knights in the OHL. The right-handed blue liner saw time on the top defensive pairing, but was a healthy scratch in the USA’s pre-tournament game Monday against Germany.
The Blackhawks acquired Regula in October from the Red WIngs in exchange for forward Brendan Perlini then signed Regula the next month to an entry-level contract.
Team USA will go with seven NCAA defensemen: Ty Emberson (Wisconsin), Jordan Harris (Northeastern), Zac Jones (UMass), K’Andre Miller (Wisconsin), Mattias Samuelsson (Western Michigan), Spencer Stastney (Notre Dame) and Cam York (Michigan).
With Regula out, the Blackhawks have two prospects set to compete in the tournament with forward Antti Saarela (Finland) and left wing Michal Teply (Czech Republic). The tournament runs from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Ostrava and Trinec, Czech Republic.
Regula and London will play five games while the World Juniors tournament is happening.
Illinois represented
Illinois natives Jack Drury of Winnetka, Jacob Pivonka of Naperville and Alex Turcotte of Island Lake all made Team USA’s roster for the tournament.
The 2020 U.S. National Junior Team has been announced! #USAWJC 🇺🇸
Details → https://t.co/iG76eESDz1 pic.twitter.com/TxPjNIoq0e
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) December 23, 2019