Last week I wrote an article detailing the Columbus Blue Jacket’s representation at the IIHF World Championship tournament. The five players that are participating are Elvis Merzlikins (Latvia), Damon Severson (Canada), Gavin Brindley (USA), Johnny Gaudreau (USA), and Zach Werenski (USA). As of Thursday, May 23, only one player from that list is moving on to the next round.
In the quarterfinals, Team USA lost to Czechia 0-1. The one goal happened in the second period when Pavel Zacha (Boston Bruins) deflected a shot from David Špaček (Iowa Wild) into the net. Some other notable players for Czechia are David Pastrňák (Boston Bruins), Ondřej Palát (New Jersey Devils), and Martin Nečas (Carolina Hurricanes). Another player some Blue Jackets fans might remember is Lukáš Sedlák. He was drafted in the sixth round of the 2011 NHL draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets. He played 162 games for the Jackets between 2016 – 2019. Sedlák has the second most points for Czechia with seven (three goals, four assists).
Fun fact: David Špaček was born in Columbus, OH in 2003 when his father Jaroslav Špaček played for the Blue Jackets.
Despite not playing for a medal, Team USA played a great tournament overall. There were some shining moments between the Blue Jacket’s representatives and players like Matt Boldy (Minnesota Wild), Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators), Shane Pinto (Ottawa Senators), and Cole Caufield (Montreal Canadiens).
Johnny Gaudreau broke the USA’s all-time assists (30) and points (43) records surpassing Patrick Kane. Fellow USA teammate Brock Nelson (New York Islanders) scored 19 goals in the tournament to match the 75-year-old record set by Bruce Mather in 1949 (Russell “Buzz” Johnson had 19 goals in 1950 too).
Zach Werenski finished the tournament with seven points (two goals and five assists). He had some great chemistry on the ice with former Blue Jacket defenseman Seth Jones (Chicago Blackhawks). Werenski also teamed up with Gaudreau often to create some scoring chances.
Gavin Brindley tallied one goal for the tournament and showed promise as a future NHL player.
Elvis Merzlikins and Team Latvia were unable to make the quarterfinals. Earlier in the preliminary round, they had been tied with Team USA. The two teams had one final matchup and the USA won 6-3. Merzlikins finished with a record of 2-2-0, a goals-against average of 4.80, and a save percentage of .826. He did not play in their final game.
The one player from the Blue Jackets advancing to the semifinals is Damon Severson with Team Canada. They beat Slovakia 6-3 in the quarterfinals. Rick Nash is also representing the Blue Jackets as Canada’s General Manager. On top of their points leaderboard is Dylan Cozens (Buffalo Sabres) with ten points (eight goals, two assists). John Tavares (Toronto Maple Leafs) is close behind with nine points (1 goal, 8 assists). Tied with seven points each for third is Connor Bedard (Chicago Blackhawks) with five goals and two assists, and former Blue Jacket Pierre-Luc Dubois (Los Angeles Kings) with three goals and four assists. Severson has two assists so far.
Team Canada’s next game is on Saturday, May 25, against Switzerland at 12:20 PM EST.
