Finland is IIHF World Champion 2022 and takes gold, silver goes to Canada, bronze to the Czech Republic. The facts were out on Sunday, but NHL.com took advantage of Monday’s column to look back at the best stories from this World Cup.
NHL players upgrade the quality at the World Cup
Many nations received prominent support from the NHL. These same NHL exports also enhanced the quality of the tournament. Here are three of the top four scorers in the NHL under contract: Drake Batherson (Ottawa Senators / Kanada, 3-11-14), Dylan Cozens (Buffalo Sabers / Canada, 7-6-13) and Pierre-Luc Dubois (Winnipeg Jets/Canada, 7-6-13).
Among the 25 best scorers were even 16 players who have currently signed a working paper in the NHL. 19 of the top 25 scorers play or have played in the NHL. There were also goalkeepers such as Jeremy Swayman (Boston Bruins / USA), Karel Vejmelka (Arizona Coyotes / Czech Republic) or Phillip Grubauer (Seattle Kraken / Germany), who played a key role in their teams.
Germany and Switzerland also experienced a clear revaluation thanks to the NHL stars: Philipp Grubauer (Seattle Kraken), Moritz Seider (Detroit Red Wings), Tim Stützle (Ottawa Senators) and Lukas Reichel (Chicago Blackhawks / Rockford IceHogs). Top scorer in a shared third place was defender Seider (2-5-7, as well as Marc Michaelis and Kai Wissmann). In the national team were with Nico Hischier (New Jersey Devils), Pius Suter (Detroit Red Wings), Timo Meier (San Jose Sharks), Dean Kukan (Columbus Blue Jackets), Jonas Siegenthaler (New Jersey Devils), Philip Kurashev (Chicago Blackhawks) und JJ Moser (Arizona Coyotes) seven NHL players.
Finland is the team of the year
Finland crowned an intoxicating ice hockey year with World Cup gold! In February, Suomi won the gold medal at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing. Now the Finns confirmed their enormous quality, became world champions and deservedly received the unofficial title “Team of the Year”. In the world rankings, Suomi is still number 1 ahead of Canada (2nd), Russia (3rd), USA (4th), Sweden (5th), Czech Republic (6th), Switzerland (7th), Slovakia (8th ) and Germany (9th). Austria is listed at number 15.
Filppula im Triple Gold Club
Valtteri Filppula wrote history twice: With the World Cup victory, the 38-year-old striker is now the first Finn in the Triple Gold Club. Filppula won the Stanley Cup in 2008 with the Detroit Red Wings, won Olympic gold in 2022 and now World Cup gold in 2022. The center played a total of 16 years in the NHL between 2005/06 and 2020/21 and completed it in the jersey of Detroit Red Wings, Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders totaled 1056 games (197-333-530).
Canada can comeback
Team Canada showed incredible comeback qualities at the 2022 World Cup. The maple leaves “only” finished the group phase in 3rd place. In the quarterfinals against Sweden, Canada were 3-0 down in the third period, but two goals in the last two minutes saved the hockey motherland into overtime, where Drake Batherson (Ottawa Senators) secured a ticket to the next round. In the final, too, Canada was hard to beat and managed to catch up again: three minutes before the end, the Canadians were 1:3 behind, but they were Zach Whitecloud (Vegas Golden Knights) and Max Comtois (Anaheim Ducks) equalized to 3:3. There was no happy ending this time, however, as Sakari Manninen scored the golden goal for Finland on the power play.
Gatorade shower and a reunion
The Czech Republic secured bronze with an 8-4 win over the USA in the small final. Czech coach Kari Jalonen then received a Gatorade shower in the dressing room. The fairy tale for Team Czech Republic was the reunion of two longtime NHL players: wingers To David Pastr (Boston Bruins) and center David Krejci (now HC Olomouc) played in a row like they used to in Boston. There was also World Cup top scorer Roman Cervenka (SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers). Cervenka (5-12-17), Krejci (3-9-12) and Pastrnak (7-3-10) were probably the most dangerous attacking line at this World Cup. In particular, Pastrnak and Krejci understood each other blindly and also scored diligently on the power play.
Nielsen hangs up the skates
With Frans Nielsen, a Danish national player hung up his skates after the World Cup. Nielsen played 925 NHL games in 15 years (167-306-473) for the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings. Most recently, the 38-year-old center forward was German champion again with the Eisbären Berlin 2022. At the World Cup, he was within reach of the quarter-finals with Denmark, but a 1:7 swatter against Slovakia caused the World Cup and the end of his career Nielsen.
Germany and Switzerland as favorites
Germany and Switzerland presented themselves outstandingly in the group phase: Germany ended up historically strong in 2nd place, Switzerland in 1st place. Nevertheless, it was over for both teams in the quarter-finals: The DEB team lost against the Czech Republic (1: 4), the national team against the USA (0:3).
Successor Austria holds the class
Who would have thought? Due to the exclusion of Russia and Belarus, France and Austria moved up – and both teams managed to stay up! France finished sixth in Group A (relegated: Italy), Austria surprised in Group B with sixth place (relegated: Great Britain).
Back to Finland: Hammer Group in 2023
The 2023 World Cup will also take place in Finland again, but Latvia will be the co-host. It will be played in Tampere and Riga. The provisional grouping is already set: Germany and Austria will play in Hammer Group A (Tampere) against Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France and promoted Hungary. Switzerland is in Season B (Riga) with Canada, USA, Slovakia, Latvia, Norway, Kazakhstan and promoted Slovenia.