The World Hockey Championships got underway on Friday, with 4 Vancouver Canucks players and prospects representing their nations. The tournament, which is being held in Helsinki, Finland started on May 13th and runs until the 29th.
Cheering you on from Vancouver!
Best of luck to the #Canucks playing at the World Championships š pic.twitter.com/PktscwfxqZ— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) May 12, 2022
Sweden – Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Linus Karlsson
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who joined the Canucks last off-season and provided the team with steady play and leadership throughout the year, will be captaining the Swedish squad.
https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1525128389404729345
Ekman-Larsson will represent the Tre Kronor at the World Championships for the seventh time in his career. He and Team Sweden won Bronze in 2010, silver in 2011, finished fifth in 2015, and won gold in 2017 and 2018. OEL was the captain of Sweden at the 2019 tournament in Slovakia and they finished fifth.
He has also won bronze at the 2010 World Junior Championships, silver at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and bronze at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. He has played for Sweden many times for his career and will be expected to play a large role for them throughout the tournament.
Canucks prospect Linus Karlsson will also play for Sweden at the World Championships.
This will be the first time Karlsson will represent Sweden at the professional level and it will be interesting to see if he can translate his SHL play to the international level.
Finland – Juho Lammikko
Juho Lammikko was acquired by the Canucks back in September from the Florida Panthers along with Noah Juulsen, for Olli Juolevi.
Like the rest of the team, he struggled early in the year but his play completely turned around after Bruce Boudreau took over behind the bench.
Lammikko was a work-horse, scoring seven goals and adding eight assists for 15 points in 75 games in a fourth-line checking role, finding great chemistry with Matthew Highmore and Tyler Motte. The 4th line had stretches of dominance, but slowed down offensively after Motte was traded to the New York Rangers at the deadline.
Lammikko and Team Finland will be going for gold on home soil.
Latvia – Arturs SilovsĀ
The Canucks drafted goaltender Arturs SilovsĀ in the sixth round of the 2019 draft.
Silovs struggled with the AHLās Abbotsford Canucks this past season, eventually being loaned to the ECHL. There have been lots of improvements for Silovs, but he has to continue to work to reach his potential.
Which Canuck are you most excited to watch at the World Hockey Championship this year?