A former Vancouver Giant forward won the Canadian Hockey League’s Memorial eCup.
Lukas Svejkovsky represented his current team, Medicine Hat Tigers, during the 64-team video game tournament.
On Thursday (Dec. 17), Svejkovsky was “dominant from start to finish” as he finished the tournament undefeated in eight games. He knocked off the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Saint John Sea Dogs and Riley Bezeau in two consecutive games to claim the best-of-three championship series.
“What a performance!,” the WHL tweeted.
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Svejkovsky, a product of Point Roberts, Wash., previously played at Delta Hockey Academy, where his father, Jaroslav, or Yogi, continues to coach.
The CHL’s eSports tournament featured all 60 CHL clubs, plus four “distinguished hockey personalities” as guest participants. The “NHL 21” event ran from Nov. 28 to Dec. 17 on the Sony PlayStation 4 system.
• RELATED STORY, from Nov. 20: ‘Memorial eCup’ games to keep junior players plugged in, including Surrey’s Burzan.
As part of the Kia-presented event, the CHL will make a donation of $1,000 to a charity of Svejkovsky’s choice. Kia Canada also provided a gift card of $1,000 for the tournament winner, which Svejkovsky has chosen to donate back to a second charity. The two charities Svejkovsky has chosen to support are Medicine Hat Santa Claus Fund and the Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter Society.
During the tourney, Svejkovsky knocked off WHL Alumni guest Zach Hodder, Rhett Rhinehart and the Saskatoon Blades, Zachary Roy and the Hamilton Bulldogs, Danny Katic and the Saginaw Spirit, and Ty Collins and the Mississauga Steelheads, before Thursday’s championship win over Saint John.
Through eight games, Svejkovsky scored 43 goals for while only allowing 11 goals against.
• RELATED STORY: Vancouver Giants post shutout in virtual hockey competition.
Selected by Pittsburgh Penguins in the fourth round (108th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft, Svejkovsky has split his time in the WHL between the Vancouver Giants and Medicine Hat Tigers. In 119 career WHL regular season contests, he has collected 64 points (27G-37A), adding another 13 points (4G-9A) in 22 WHL playoff games.
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