Four Winnipeg Jets Advance to Quarters at Worlds; Group Stage Recap
The preliminary stage at the 2022 IIHF World Championship came to a close this afternoon and all but one member of the Winnipeg Jets who is competing at the prestigious tournament has moved onto the quarterfinals.
After a seven-game round-robin format for the preliminary round, the top-four teams in each group consisting of eight teams advanced to the elimination round. From here on out the games are single-elimination until a champion is crowned.
The lone player who missed out on the quarterfinals is Nikolaj Ehlers who represented Denmark. All Denmark needed was a point in their final game against Slovakia while Slovakia needed a regulation win to leapfrog Denmark who was in fourth place in Group A. Unfortunately for Ehlers and Denmark, they had a rough game and ultimately lost 7-1 to miss out on the elimination stages.
Four of the five members of the Winnipeg Jets franchise playing at the World Championship have advanced to the quarterfinals
Before previewing the quarterfinals, we will recap how each Jets/Manitoba Moose player did during the first round of the tournament.
Nate Schmidt (USA)
The oldest member of the United States’ roster, Nate Schmidt, was among the top leaders in ice time for the whole tournament. The thirty-year-old averaged over 24 minutes of ice time per game which ranked him second among all skaters during the group stage.
Schmidt skated in all seven of the U.S.A.’s games and had one goal, four assists, four penalty minutes, and an even plus/minus.
Pierre-Luc Dubois and Adam Lowry (Canada)
The two Winnipeg Jets representing Canada had a great first round individually as they were among the top leading scorers for their country.
Pierre-Luc Dubois is having an MVP-Esque tournament in his third appearance at the Worlds. Dubois leads Canada in points with ten. He has six goals, four assists, and a plus-8 plus/minus.
Dubois is currently third among all players in the tournament in points scored, he is tied for the tournament lead in goals, has the best faceoff percentage (68.24%), and has the second-best plus/minus.
In his first time representing Canada on the international stage, Adam Lowry had a great first round. In seven games, the forward amassed three goals, five assists, and a plus-4 rating.
Leon Gawanke (Germany)
The twenty-two-year-old, Leon Gawanke joined Germany with only three games left in the first round because he was added after the Moose were eliminated from the Calder Cup Playoffs, which happened after the Worlds commenced.
Gawanke played in three preliminary games and has yet to register a goal, but has one assist and a minus-two plus/minus.
Nikolaj Ehlers (Demark)
As mentioned above, Denmark suffered heartbreak on the last day of round-robin play as they lost 7-1 to Slovakia and finished even with Slovakia for fourth place in their group. Therefore, Denmark missed the quarterfinals due to the head-to-head tiebreaker that propelled Slovakia through.
On an individual note, Ehlers played well in his seven preliminary games for his country. He averaged a point per game with one goal and six assists. Ehlers finished second on his team in points and had an even plus/minus.
The Quarterfinals Schedule
All four quarterfinal games will take place on Thursday, May 26. The first two games will begin at 8:20 a.m. central time while the final two games are scheduled to start at 12:20 p.m. CST.
If the games require overtime to decide a winner, the teams will play a ten-minute sudden death period of three-on-three action. If neither team scores during this overtime period then there will be a shutout.
The schedule for the quarterfinals is listed below. All matchups are listed in central time.
Germany vs. Czechia (8:20 a.m.)
Sweden vs. Canada (8:20 a.m.)
Switzerland vs. United States (12:20 p.m.)
Finland v Slovakia (12:20 p.m.)
Where to Watch the Games
For people looking to watch these games that are located in Canada, the games can be seen on two TSN channels. TSN3 will show the Germany/Czechia and the Switzerland/United States games. While TSN1 will cover the Sweden/Canada and Finland/Slovakia games.
For those viewing from the United States, the NHL Network will show two of the four games. First, they will show Sweden versus Canada game in the morning and will then show the United States versus Switzerland in the afternoon. You can watch the other two games not shown on NHLN on ESPN+.
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