Roby Järventie hopes to return to medal contention at 2022 IIHF World Juniors

Roby Järventie is returning to junior hockey’s most prestigious international stage and the left-shooting forward would like nothing more than to add to his trophy case, which already includes a bronze medal from the 2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

“It is always an honour to represent your country,” said Jarventie, after learning he would represent his country again. “It was nice to get the phone call. I’m very excited to go there, have fun, and try to win the tournament,” Järventie said, who has the speed, size and smarts to be a difference-maker throughout the competition.

The native of Tampere, Finland, has scored nine points (including three goals) over 20 games for the Belleville Senators this season. To Järventie’s credit, working closely with head coach Troy Mann has placed him in an advantageous position for his career and heading into the tournament.

“We need to always remember that Roby is most likely the youngest player in our league,” said the Senators bench boss. “He just turned 19 in August, and it’s hard to make headway as a 19-year-old in the AHL,” Mann continued.” I think he’s progressed, and I hope he goes to the World Juniors with a tremendous amount of confidence. I’m looking forward to seeing what he brings to the table for Finland.”

The Finnish coaching staff will undoubtedly rely on a motivated Järventie as one of ten returning players. After being held scoreless in six appearances, he is looking to improve on last year’s results, especially in the offensive zone, using his additional skill sets learned in the AHL.

Järventie will play in Sunday afternoon’s game against the Bridgeport Islanders before leaving on Wednesday for the tournament, which takes place in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta, from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5.

Mann is also excited to view five of the organization’s top prospects perform on the world stage during the Christmas Holidays.

“We’ve got a few prospects going, including Levi (Meralainen) from Kingston, so we’ll have a couple of guys to watch on Finland. We’re also hoping that Ridly Greig is part of the mix for Canada, and then we’ve got (Tyler) Klevin and (Jake) Sanderson for Team USA.

“We’ve got some quality prospects heading there, and it’s going to be fun to watch.”

Submitted by: Joel Vanderlaan (@Joelvanderlaan)