© Matt Marton-Imagn ImagesWith the IIHF World Championship on the horizon and a handful of Utah Hockey Club players heading overseas to represent their countries, now is a great time to break down the tournament for fans who may be new to international hockey.
The World Championship features 16 international teams divided into two groups. This year’s participating nations are:
Group A (Stockholm, Sweden):
- Austria
- Canada
- Finland
- France
- Latvia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Sweden
Group B (Herning, Denmark):
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Germany
- Hungary
- Kazakhstan
- Norway
- Switzerland
- United States of America
The tournament will run from May 9 to May 25, ending with one country being crowned gold medalists. After the round robin games are finished eight teams will make the quarterfinals, four from each pool. The other eight teams that don't, don't get a chance at the medal rounds.
Utah Players Competing at the 2024 IIHF World Championship
The Utah Hockey Club will be well represented at the tournament with several players suiting up for their respective national teams:
- Clayton Keller – Team USA
- Logan Cooley – Team USA
- Michael Kesselring – Team USA
- Josh Doan – Team USA
- Barrett Hayton – Team Canada
- Karel Vejmelka – Team Czechia
- Maksymilian Szuber – Team Germany
It’s important to note that national teams usually start by naming 15–18 players to their preliminary rosters. As the first round of the NHL playoffs wraps up, more players from eliminated teams are added to the roster. That’s the case for players like Doan and Hayton, who were officially added late this week after joining from Utah.
If you can't follow along with the entire tournament, don't stress. I'll keep the site up to date on how well the players from Utah do. So be sure to bookmark the page and stay up to date.
