For many players, it's a dream to represent their country on the international stage. For some Sharks players, that dream will become a reality for the next few weeks as ten players from the organization will don their nation's colors at the 2022 IIHF World Championship.
The annual tournament, taking place this year from May 13 to 29 in both Tampere and Helsinki, Finland, features 16 nations, split into two groups, playing in a preliminary round-robin. Qualifying teams will earn a spot in an eight-team, best-of-one playoff bracket to crown a champion.
Ten Sharks Players to Skate at IIHF World Championship
The Sharks players participating are:
CANADA
Noah Gregor was named to Canada's roster on May 9, marking his first time being named to a senior roster for Hockey Canada. Gregor had previously appeared at the IIHF U-18 World Championship in 2016, recording a pair of assists in five contests.
CZECHIA
The Sharks' representatives from Czechia are no strangers to this competition, with Tomas Hertl and Radim Simek making their fourth and third appearances, respectively, at the tournament.
Hertl will be representing Czechia at the World Championships for the first time since 2015. He has more than 80 games played for Czechia in all international competitions, including appearances at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament (2010), U-18 World Championship (2011), World Junior Championship (2012 and 2013) and World Championship (2013, 2014 and 2015). The veteran competed for his home nation at the Beijer Hockey Games from May 5 to 8, serving as an alternate captain and helping Czechia win the three-game competition.
Simek returns to the World Championships for the first time since 2017, when he collected a goal and an assist. The defenseman also represented his country at the Beijer Hockey Games this year and was named to the starting lineup in both games he featured in.
This won't be the last time Sharks territory and Czechia cross, as the Sharks are set to open the 2022-23 season with a pair of games against the Nashville Predators in Prague on Oct. 7 and 8 as part of the 2022 NHL Global Series.
DENMARK
Joachim Blichfeld is another player making his debut at the World Championships, although the forward has extensive experience with the Danish national team. He earned 10 points in 11 games across back-to-back trips to the World Junior Championships in 2017 and 2018. He led the way with four points in 2017 as Denmark won two of their games, the most in their history at the highest division.
LATVIA
Rudolfs Balcers, like Simek, will be making his third appearance at the World Championships. Balcers has been a consistent source of offensive production for Latvia, leading the national team in scoring in back-to-back years at the tournament in 2018 (six points in eight games) and 2019 (nine points in seven games).
SWITZERLAND
Timo Meier will look to build on a career year with the Sharks with his third appearance at the World Championships (2018 and 2021). Meier's four goals at last year's tournament ranked second among Swiss players. In 2018, the forward tallied seven points in as many games to help the Swiss to a second-place finish.
UNITED STATES
No NHL club has more representation on Team USA's roster this year than the Sharks, who have four players donning the American colors. Sasha Chmelevski returns for his second consecutive appearance at the tournament, as he helped Team USA to a second-place finish at the 2021 competition. He's joined this year by Thomas Bordeleau, Strauss Mann and Jaycob Megna, who are all playing in the tournament for the first time.
Bordeleau picked up four assists in five games for Team USA at the 2018 World U-17 Hockey Challenge but has not played at an IIHF event yet due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The center finished the 2021-22 season with five assists (and one game-deciding shootout goal) in eight games for the Sharks.
Goaltender Strauss Mann, the newest Shark, capped off an impressive season in Sweden's top flight by signing a one-year contract with the Sharks on April 19. Mann played for Team USA at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, earning a 1-1-0 record and posting an impressive .945 save percentage and 1.85 goals-against-average in a pair of starts.
Megna is making his first ever appearance for Team USA following a career season at both the NHL and AHL level. This season, the defenseman set single-season NHL highs in almost every category, including goals, assists and points.
HOW TO WATCH
On May 13 at 6:20 a.m. PT, the United States (Bordeleau, Chmelevski, Mann and Megna) will face off against Latvia (Balcers) while France and Slovakia also play to open the tournament. At 10:20 a.m., Canada (Gregor) will play Germany, while Finland faces off against Norway. Denmark (Blichfeld), Switzerland (Meier) and Czechia (Hertl and Simek) all begin tournament play on the following day.
Games scheduled to be televised in the United States, including all of the United States' matches and all playoff games, will be available to watch on NHL Network. Additional games will be available on NHL Network and ESPN+. For a full schedule,
click here
.
