After initially declining an invitation to play at this year’s IIHF World Championship, Zach Werenski had a change of heart and the US team is thankful for that. The Columbus Blue Jackets’ defenseman has four points in four games since joining the team, as the USA got progressively better throughout the group stage. The team finished second in Group B after a come-from-behind 5-2 win over Czechia on Tuesday.

“It was a big win,” Werenski said in the mixed zone after the game, as reported by Dominik Jarka of Hokej.cz. “The Czechs are very good, which is why they won last year in Prague. It was a tough test, and fortunately we passed.”

The Americans had a wide 56-27 edge in shots in the game but trailed 2-1 after 40 minutes, largely due to going 0-for-4 on the power play. The team finally scored twice with the man advantage in the third period.

“The power play suddenly started clicking,” said Werenski. “We controlled the tempo for most of the game. We were the better team and I think we deserved to win. This was our best game of the tournament so far.”

Can This Roster Break USA’s World Championship Semifinal Curse? Can the team that USA Hockey has assembled to represent the country at this year’s IIHF World Championship reach the final? Previous teams have appeared good enough on paper.

Werenski is a big addition to this team. After a season in which he recorded 82 points in 81 NHL games, he was nominated for the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman. He downplayed suggestions that he might win the award, though.

“It sounds nice but I think I know who will win,” he smiled, referring to Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche.

As for his team’s year, he said, “It was a great season. It’s really very unfortunate that it didn’t work out in the end – we were so close to the playoffs – but I guess it wasn’t meant to be. You know, we improved enormously during the year and we’re definitely optimistic going into next season.”

Next season also includes the Olympics, which Werenski would easily be in if the teams were chosen today. He picked up six assists in four games for the USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off this season, proving he can also produce offensively at international hockey’s highest level.

“It’s still a long way off so there’s no point stressing about it,” he said about making the Olympic team. “We all probably have it in the back of our minds, everyone would like to go to Milan, but I expect that how we all play at the beginning of next season will play the biggest role.

“Winning this tournament would certainly help, though,” he smiled.

Adam Fantilli & Kent Johnson Asked About Elvis Merzlikins One of the interesting things about covering the IIHF World Championships as a journalist is the media presence from the different participating countries. As a nation that is crazy about hockey, Latvia always sends a significant number of journalists to cover the tournament and, like a lot of Latvians, were disappointed when Elvis Merzlikins announced that he wouldn’t be representing his country this year.