BLOG: Trio Advance to World Championships Semifinals

There are just four teams remaining in the 2024 IIHF World Championships as the tournament moves on to the semifinal round, with three Blackhawks participants advancing with their respective countries and three headed home after the quarterfinal round.

Connor Bedard (Canada), Philipp Kurashev (Switzerland) and Petr Mrazek (Czechia) will all play on Saturday to determine placements in the gold medal and bronze medal games on Sunday. Bedard notched an assist for Canada in a 6-3 victory over Slovakia on Thursday in the quarterfinal round. Mrazek served as backup for Czechia in a 1-0 win over the U.S. and Kurashev was a scratch for Switzerland after apprearing in all seven preliminary round games.

Catch the final slate of games on NHL Network.

Seth Jones (USA), Lukas Reichel (Germany) and Alex Vlasic (USA) were all eliminated from play on Thursday as the U.S. fell to Czechia and Germany dropped their meeting against Switzerland, 3-1.

CONNOR BEDARD - CANADA

No player had a better start to the tournament than Connor Bedard, who notched a pair of goals in each of the opening two games for Canada against Great Britain and Denmark.

The Calder Trophy finalist's point total cooled down over the final five games of the preliminary round as Canada faced stiffer competition in Group A, but Bedard still finished third on the Canadian roster with six points (5G, 1A) in seven games. His five goals finished tied for fifth-most in the competition.

"He just reads the play so well,” Buffalo’s Dylan Cozens, who led Canada in points with 10, told reporters of Bedard early in the tournament. “He’s confident and poised with the puck. He has the ability to see the whole ice and be a threat at all times. It's spectacular."

Canada finished first in Group A with an undefeated 5-0-2-0 record in the preliminary round.

LUKAS REICHEL - GERMANY

A late addition to the German roster after the Rockford IceHogs were eliminated from the AHL's Calder Cup playoffs, Lukas Reichel made an immediate impact.

He finished the preliminary round with seven points (3G, 4A) in just five games -- with the forward's points coming over Germany's final four games, all wins, to finish third in Group B and earn a spot in the knockout round following a 1-2 start. Reichel was the team's third-leading scorer down the stretch and his four assists tied for the lead over the final four games.

SETH JONES & ALEX VLASIC - USA

A duo of Blackhawks blueliners -- Seth Jones and Alex Vlasic -- played in all seven games for the U.S. squad in Ostrava. Jones, who served as an alternate captain for the Americans, finished second on the U.S. roster with an average of 21:09 in ice time per game and added five assists as well, tied for the most among defenseman. Vlasic skated 14:11 of ice time per game and added two assists in his first World Championships appearance.

The Americans finished with a 5-1-0-1 record and placed second in Group B.

PETR MRAZEK - CZECHIA

Petr Mrazek played two games for the host nation in the preliminary round, including a shutout victory in a 4-0 win over Austria on May 17. The veteran also backstopped Czechia to a 6-3 win over Norway on May 11.

Czechia finished third in Group A.

PHILIPP KURASHEV - SWITZERLAND

Forward Philipp Kurashev played in all seven games for Switzerland in the tournament, posting two assists and an average of 13:34 of ice time. The Swiss finished second in Group A during the preliminary round.