The 麻豆传媒映画Canucks' four representatives at the 2025 IIHF World Hockey Championship are still going strong.
All four Canucks made it through the preliminary round with their respective countries and are heading into the quarterfinals, which take place on Thursday, May 22. It was a comfortable preliminary round for all four; while none of their countries won their group, they all finished within two points of the leaders.
Conor Garland and Drew O'Connor for Team USA
Conor Garland is playing a significant role for Team USA, as he's skating on the top line with Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley. Garland is fifth in average ice time among USA forwards, playing 16:43 per game, and is tied for third in scoring, with 7 points in 7 games.
His best performance came against Germany. He broke a 3-3 tie in the third period with a power play goal, which stood as the game-winner and was part of a four-point game for Garland, who was justifiably named the Best Player for Team USA after the win.
GWG = Game Winner Garland. 馃毃
— 麻豆传媒映画Canucks (@Canucks)
Garland has a legitimate shot at beating the record for the most points by an active Canuck at a World Championship tournament, though he'll need a strong quarterfinal, semifinal, and medal round. The record is shared by Markus Näslund and Elias Pettersson, who each had 10-point World Championship tournaments, though Näslund's came in 10 games and Pettersson's came in eight.
Drew O'Connor also had a goal against Germany, and has four points through seven games while averaging 14:06 per game. While O'Connor started the tournament on the fourth line, he has recently been promoted to Team USA's second line with Matty Beniers and Tage Thompson.
Team USA lost just one game in the preliminary round, a shutout loss to Group B's surprising winner, Switzerland. The Swiss have been stingy, giving up few shots, and have been getting stellar goaltending from their tandem of Leonardo Genoni and Stephane Charlin, who have combined for three shutouts.
The second-place finish behind Switzerland sets up a quarterfinal game for Team USA against Group A's third-place finisher, Finland, which won't be an easy match-up for the Americans. Juuse Saros has been hard to beat, with a .959 save percentage that is second only to Sweden's Samuel Ersson.
Marcus Pettersson for Sweden
Sweden cruised through the preliminary round with but one hiccup: a 5-3 loss to a powerhouse Team Canada squad that features Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, and Macklin Celebrini. Sweden won their other six games, including a 2-1 win over their Finnish rivals, to finish second in Group A behind Canada.
Marcus Pettersson has been part of a Swedish defence that hasn't given up much, with Sweden allowing just eight goals against in the seven round-robin games, bettered only by Team Canada, who have allowed just seven goals.
While Pettersson is ostensibly on the top pairing with Rasmus Andersson, his minutes lean more towards a second-pairing role for the rangy defender. He's averaging 17:37 per game, which is fifth among Swedish defencemen, though that includes Rasmus Sandin, who has played in just one game.
As he heads into the quarterfinals, Pettersson will be looking to bounce back from his performance in Sweden's loss to Canada, where he was on the ice for three of Canada's five goals. He had his pocket picked by MacKinnon in the defensive zone on Canada's third goal, a play that former Canuck Jacob Markstrom argued should have been a hook or a slash, to no avail.
GWG = Game Winner Garland. 馃毃
— 麻豆传媒映画Canucks (@Canucks)
Pettersson should be fired up for the next game, where he and Sweden will face Czechia, with the winner moving on to the semifinals.
Filip Hronek for Czechia
Filip Hronek is Czechia's number-one defenceman at this tournament, averaging 21:06 per game to lead the team by a wide margin. He's doing everything for Czechia, playing in every situation, and has six points through seven games. He's playing on the top pairing with Jakub Krejcik, a veteran of the Czech league who has never played in the NHL.
Czechia was the only team to beat Switzerland in the preliminary round, though it took overtime to do it. In fact, Czechia was the only team to score more than two goals against Switzerland, winning 5-4.
The team's lone loss came against Team USA in their final game of the preliminary round. The 5-2 defeat knocked Czechia down to third place in Group B, earning them a quarterfinal meeting with Sweden.
Hronek was on the ice for two of USA's goals in that game, though one was a power-play goal and the other was an empty-net goal. He finished the game with 25:26 in ice time, despite spending two minutes in the box for a roughing minor against his Canucks teammate, O'Connor.
Okay, I was able to find it and after re-watching it, I think O’Connor’s smirk there is him knowing that the only reason he isn’t getting shoved is because he’s Hronek’s team mate. Plus Hronek went to the box after. They didn’t almost fight but it was a cute moment.
— princesserica84 馃嚚馃嚘 (@princessrica84)
Overall, it's been a solid, if unspectacular, tournament for Hronek. He's eating up minutes against tough competition, and will now face a stiff test against Sweden trying to shut down the tournament's leading goalscorer: former Canuck Elias Lindholm, who has seven goals and 11 points through seven games.
