Photo credits: Darren Francis (Fust), Jack Murray (Bottini)
Penticton Vees forward Stefano Bottini and Chilliwack Chiefs forward Ray Fust have both made Team Switzerland’s final roster for the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.
The team announced their final cuts today.
Both players have experience representing Switzerland at international tournaments, but this will be their first opportunity to compete at the U20 level.
Bottini joined the Vees this season after moving up the ranks in the Lugano program in Switzerland. The 18-year-old had a goal and four assists in 10 games of Okanagan Cup play during the BCHL exhibition season. Bottini also registered a primary assist in Switzerland’s 3-2 win over Austria in their pre-tournament game yesterday.
Fust played last season at Northwood School in New York before joining the Chiefs for the 2020-21 campaign. Prior to his stint at Northwood, he played in the Lausanne program in Switzerland. Fust had a goal and an assist in six exhibition games for Chilliwack this season.
The Swiss are in Group A along with Canada, Finland, Germany and Slovakia. They begin preliminary round play at 11 a.m. on Christmas Day against Slovakia.
Bottini and Fust join Canada’s Alex Newhook as players representing the BCHL in this year’s tournament.
This is the third year in a row there will be a BCHL representative on the Swiss team at the World Juniors after former Salmon Arm Silverbacks forward and current Colgate University sophomore Matthew Verboon was on the roster the last two tournaments.
