CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – As the Corpus Christi IceRays continue their regular season schedule they will be without one of the hottest players as of late, Maurin Bouvet, who has been chosen by his country of France to play for the National Team at the IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship in Great Britain.
France will be a part of Group B in Division I for the World Championship taking the ice with countries such as Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. The tournament kicks off on Monday, December 9th as France goes up against Japan at 10:30AM CST.
“As much as we are sad to see Maurin leave us for 7 games,” said general manager Pat Dunn. “We are proud of him for being selected on the team. It's always a great honor to defend the colors of your country. We will miss Maurin as he was one of our top offensive players lately. We wish him all the best.”
For the IceRays this year, Bouvet has recorded five goals and seven assists in 24 games played. This week, he was named 2nd Star of the Week for the South Division by the North American Hockey League.
Following the game against Japan to open the tournament, France will face Ukraine on Tuesday, December 10th at 10:30AM CST. Then after a day off, France battles the tournament host Great Britain at 2:00PM CST. It will be a quick turnaround following that game as Italy and France face one another at 7:00AM CST. The final preliminary round game for France features a contest with Kazakhstan at 7:00AM CST.
“To represent France at the World Junior Championships is an incredible honor for Maurin,” said head coach John Becanic. “Although we will miss him here with the IceRays, we are all excited for him to participate with the best players under 20 in the world.”
This isn’t the first appearance for Bouvet with the National Team. In 2010-2011 he played in five games with the France U18’s and scored a goal while adding an assist. Then, in 2012-2013 he played for France on both the U18 and U20 team’s. He tallied two assists for the U18’s but played in ten combined games.
Another IceRays forward, Malo Ville, was also slated to play for France in the tournament but a knee injury will keep him off the ice for the event.
Fans can follow the IIHF Championship by clicking the following links..
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Ice-Hockey-Federation-IIHF/294239820899
Twitter – https://twitter.com/IIHFHockey
iPhone APP – https://itunes.apple.com/app/2013-iihf/id588991016?mt=8
Android APP – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iihf.androidguide
BlackBerry APP – http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/17843599/?countrycode=US&lang=en
Windows APP – http://www.windowsphone.com/en-gb/store/app/2013-iihf/7bd45bef-28c0-46f1-924e-f8578bfc355c
The IceRays are on the road this weekend as they take on the Wichita Falls Wildcats. Puck drops at 7:05PM, coverage begins at 6:50PM with the IceRays Pregame Show on 91.1FM KSGR, ksgr.org, ustream.com, and fasthockey.com. Click “LISTEN LIVE” on the IceRays website for more broadcast information.
Stay current with the latest team news by visiting www.goicerays.com. In addition stay connected with the IceRays on Facebook (/corpuschristiicerays), Twitter (@goicerays), and the team’s Youtube channel ICERAYS TV (@goicerays)
