Calgary Flames at World Championships: Schedules, what to watch for
By Ramina Shlah
The 2018 IIHF World Championship starts today! Let’s check out the schedules for what Calgary Flames members will be there.
The World Championship is finally here! Finally, we’ll have some Calgary Flames hockey again. The Flames have four members at this year’s tournament: Mikael Backlund for Team Sweden, Johnny Gaudreau for Team USA, David Rittich for Team Czech Republic, and the newest addition to the squad, head coach Bill Peters for Team Canada. There were a few others who were invited, but like, everyone was having a baby at this time for some reason, and others were injured.
Let’s check out each member’s schedule and what to watch out for from them.
Bill Peters – Team Canada
Schedule for Team Canada (all times in MT):
Calgary Flames
May 4th, 8:15 AM vs. Team USA
May 6th, 4:15 AM vs. Team South Korea
May 7th, 12:15 PM vs. Team Denmark
May 10th, 12:15 PM vs. Team Norway
May 12th, 12:15 PM vs. Team Finland
May 14th, 12:15 PM vs. Team Latvia
May 15th, 8:15 AM vs. Team Germany
That’ll conclude their scheduling for the preliminary round.
For Bill Peters, he has quite a bit of international hockey experience. He was the head coach of Team Canada at the 2008 U18 Hlinka Memorial Tournament where they won the gold medal. He was the assistant coach for Team Canada at the 2015 World Championship, then head coach for the same team at the 2016 World Championship, both times winning the gold medal. Peters also served as the assistant coach for the Canadian squad at the World Cup of Hockey in 2016, where they also won.
What to look out for him is his style of play. He puts lots of emphasis on winning the faceoffs and on puck-possession. He also thinks it’s crucial for offensive contribution from the defencemen. During a press conference when he was named head coach of the Calgary Flames, he said his motto is “being demanding without being demeaning”.
Mikael Backlund – Team Sweden
Schedule for Team Sweden (all times in MT):
May 4th, 12:15 PM vs. Team Belarus
May 6th, 8:15 AM vs. Team Czech Republic
May 9th, 12:15 PM vs. Team Austria
May 12th, 4:15 AM vs. Team Slovakia
May 13th, 12:15 PM vs. Team Switzerland
May 15th, 12:15 PM vs. Team Russia
That’ll conclude their scheduling for the preliminary round.
Mikael Backlund has been named the captain of Team Sweden (!!!!!). This will be his first time at captaincy for an international competition, however, he was an alternate for Team Sweden at the World Championship in 2014 and 2016. Backlund has lots of international experience. I remember in 2014 when he was left off Sweden’s final Olympic roster, and Calgary Flames head coach at the time, Bob Hartley, mentioned how Sweden better win the gold medal if they think their squad is that good that they don’t need Backlund.
Moving on.
Backlund has played for Sweden’s U16, U17, U18 and U20 teams. In 2007, he won the Bronze Medal while part of the U17 team and had the most goals in the tournament with six. In 2008, he won a silver medal while part of the U20 team at the World Juniors. He won another silver medal at the World Juniors the following year and was voted as one of the top three players for Team Sweden.
Backlund has played in four World Championships and once at the World Cup of Hockey. He has three medals at the World Championship: two bronze medals and one silver.
At this year’s tournament, Backlund will be on Sweden’s top line centring Elias Pettersson and Gustav Nyquist. He has also been put on Sweden’s second PP unit along with Pettersson and Nyquist. Nyquist had supposedly said in an interview to just get the puck to Pettersson and he will “make things happen”. We know how good Backlund is at puck possession, along with Pettersson’s offensive contributions, this will be a fun line to watch.
Johnny Gaudreau – Team USA
Schedule for Team USA (all times in MT):
May 4th, 8:15 AM vs. Team Canada
May 5th, 12:15 PM vs. Team Denmark
May 7th, 8:15 AM vs. Team Germany
May 110th, 8:15 AM vs. Team Latvia
May 11th, 12:15 PM vs. Team South Korea
May 13th, 8:15 AM vs. Team Norway
May 15th, 4:15 AM vs. Team Finland
That’ll conclude their scheduling for the preliminary round.
At just 24 years old and only being in the league for four years, the lead scorer for the Calgary Flames has still had his fair share of international competitions. He was part of Team USA’s world juniors squad in 2013 where they won the gold medal. Johnny Gaudreau had the most goals in the competition with seven and was voted as a top three player for Team USA.
Related Story: Johnny Gaudreau's journey at the World Championship 2017
Gaudreau has played in two World Championships, but not medaling in either. Last year, with 11 points in eight games, he was voted as a top three player for Team USA at the tournament. Gaudreau also played for Team North America at the World Cup of Hockey in 2016 where he had four points in three games.
I haven’t seen much about the lineups for Team USA, but seeing how he’s a LW, he’ll most likely be on the second line.
David Rittich – Team Czech Republic
Schedule for Team Czech Republic (all times in MT):
May 5th, 12:15 PM vs. Team Slovakia
May 6th, 8:15 AM vs. Team Sweden
May 8th, 12:15 PM vs. Team Switzerland
May 10th, 12:15 PM vs. Team Russia
May 11th, 12:15 PM vs. Team Belarus
May 13th, 8:15 AM vs. Team France
May 14th, 12:15 PM vs. Team Austria
That’ll conclude their scheduling for the preliminary round.
This will be David Rittich’s first time at the World Championship. He did make the Czech Team at the Euro Hockey Tour in 2016, but he never played a game. Rittich has been named one of three goaltenders, however, he’ll most likely serve as a backup to Pavel Francouz, who has much more international hockey experience than Rittich does and is only two years older.
Francouz most recently played for Czech’s Olympic team this past February and has played in four other World Championships for Team Czech. Rittich will most likely get about two games at this tournament, maybe three.
Next: The good and the bad of Glen Gulutzan
Who are you all rooting for? As a Canadian, it’s hard not to cheer for Johnny Gaudreau on Team USA.