NEWSLETTER
It’s been quite the ride for Lukas Reichel the last couple of weeks. After finishing up his third stint with the Blackhawks, the team’s talented young prospect returned to Rockford and helped the IceHogs sweep the Texas Stars in the play-in round of the Calder Cup Playoffs before the Chicago Wolves returned the favor in the next round.
With the Chicago and Rockford season now over, Reichel – who celebrated his 20th birthday yesterday – has been added to Germany’s roster for the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.
Verteidiger Leon Gawanke (22, Manitoba Moose) und Stürmer Lukas Reichel (20, Rockford IceHogs) werden das deutsche Nationalteam bei der #EishockeyWM in Finnland kurzfristig verstärken. Beide Spieler werden am Donnerstag in Helsinki erwartet. #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/OMXvHZNjz9
— Deutscher Eishockey-Bund (@deb_teams) May 18, 2022
In a translated tweet, the head coach of the German National Team, Toni Söderholm, had this to say about Reichel joining the team later this week:
“Lukas [Reichel] is a player who has already proven his maturity on an international level. His creativity is a trump card for us.”
Reichel joins fellow Blackhawks Seth Jones (USA), Sam Lafferty (USA), Philipp Kurashev (SUI), and Erik Gustafsson (SWE), who are all currently playing in the competition. Caleb Jones was also named to Team USA but was sent home last week with an injury.
This season, Reichel recorded one assist in 11 games with the Blackhawks and led the IceHogs with 57 points (21 goals, 36 assists) in 56 AHL games. Germany owns a 2-1 record that ranks fourth in Group A with six points during IIHF Worlds group play.
