NEWSLETTER
They had to sweat it out, but after 12 days of Group Stage action, all nine Chicago Blackhawks players and prospects at the IIHF World Championships have qualified for the elimination round. Needing a regulation win from Germany over host nation Latvia, Canada made it out of Group B after losing their first three games of the tournament. Along with Germany and Canada, Group B’s top four teams included Finland and the United States. Coming out of Group A, Russia topped the standings with Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia behind them.
The playoff round is set to begin on Thursday. Here are the matchups:
With the finals games of the #IIHFWorlds Preliminary Round over, we've got your quarter-finals matchups!@russiahockey vs @HockeyCanada@usahockey vs Slovakia@SwissIceHockey vs @deb_teams@leijonatfi vs @narodnitym pic.twitter.com/1SDMijRrWq
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) June 1, 2021
Switzerland and Germany square-off in the first of two morning contests with an 8:15 a.m. CT puck drop, with the United States taking on Slovakia in the other morning game on Thursday. The afternoon games, both set for 12:15 p.m. CT puck drops, will see Russia take on Canada and Finland faces the Czech Republic.
Here’s how the Blackhawks players and prospects have fared through the group stage at the IIHF World Championships.
• Dominik Kubalík: 6 Games played – 3 Goals, 3 Assists
• Lukas Reichel: 6 Games played – 2 Goals, 4 Assists
• Philipp Kurashev: 7 Games played – 1 Goal, 3 Assists
• Nikita Zadorov: 7 Games played – 0 Goals, 3 Assists
• Brandon Pirri: 7 Games played – 2 Goals, 0 Assists
• Maxim Shalunov: 6 Games played – 1 Goal, 0 Assists
• Nicolas Beaudin: 7 Games played – 0 Goals, 1 Assist
• Brandon Hagel: 7 Games played – 0 Goals, 0 Assists
• Drew Commesso: 0 Games played
For the Blackhawks taking each other on in the next round, prospect Lukas Reichel will take on Swiss rookie Philipp Kurashev in the opening round. Five Blackhawks players and prospects will be in action in the Russia-Canada game as Russian Nikita Zadorov and Maxim Shalunov matchup against the Canadian trio of Brandon Pirri, Brandon Hagel, and Nicolas Beaudin. Finally, Dominik Kubalík will look to lead the Czech Republic over Finland in their quarter-final matchup. In the United States-Slovakia game, Blackhawks goalie prospect Drew Commesso will likely be a healthy-scratch.
All games can be found on NHL Network and TSN in North America.
