Summerside Western Capitals welcome 2 Ukrainian players, on and off the ice

David Sibilevych hadn't set foot on the ice in more than a month because of the war in Ukraine, but when he arrived on P.E.I. earlier this month, that all changed, and quickly.

"I put him on the ice for about 20 minutes to try to break in his gear and I went to him and said, 'You're going to play tonight,'" said Billy McGuigan, head coach of the Summerside Western Capitals.

"And he just kind of looked at me and smiled and said, 'Sure, I'll play.'"

It took the 19-year-old nearly 30 hours to travel to P.E.I. He was the first Ukrainian player to join the team, but another, Fedor Babenko, 18, joined him this week.

"I'm happy when I arrived. Finally, I'm here, and I can play hockey," Sibilevych said.

His last club was HK Kremenchuk, in the Ukrainian Hockey League. He also played with the U20 Ukrainian national team at the recent world junior championships.

But he left behind his entire family to come to Canada and play hockey with the Western Capitals when they began scouting Ukrainian players.

"It's a pretty eye-opening experience with what he's come from, and how much he loves hockey," said McGuigan.

Usually, European players aren't allowed on Junior A hockey teams in Canada. But this was a special circumstance.

"We had to do an appeal to Hockey Canada that took a couple of weeks... and a lot of paperwork, but we got through that and everything was all approved," said Western Caps general manager Pat McIver. 

"So then we began the process of getting them into Canada."

Since arriving here, Sibilevych has been living in a billet house with two teammates, who are helping him adjust to daily life in Canada.

"He tries not to use a translator too much. He wants to learn English and learn what to be Canadian is," said Brandon