Chicago Blackhawks teammates will face each other in Hockey World Championships Quarterfinals

There are several Chicago Blackhawks competing in the IIHF Hockey World Championship this year. At the beginning of the competition, Connor Bedard was the standout. Over the last four games, he has not been the standout performer.

In the last pool play match for Canada, Bedard skated the fewest minutes. Fans of the Blackhawks need not worry—it is an international competition where national pride is at stake. Playing hard in these games is vital, but the fact that he hasn’t scored in Canada’s final pool games isn’t catastrophic.

When Canada plays Slovakia on Thursday, he will have the opportunity to regain his status as the tournament’s superstar.

There are other Chicago Blackhawks players participating in the quarterfinals besides him.
From assisting Petr Mrazek in blocking the puck, Seth Jones and Alex Vlasic will now be shooting at him. If Mrazek plays, that is. Petr has only made two appearances in goal in this competition. In one of those games, he shut out Austria and was brilliant.

Vlasic has two assists in the tournament, compared to five for Jones. In the last pool match, Jones provided the secondary assist for Team USA.

Lukas Reichel, who has performed admirably for Germany, will take on Philipp Kurashev, a teammate. Kurashev has given Switzerland two assists. Kurashev’s lack of goals or assists shouldn’t raise too much red flags. Once more, the love of nation is what drives this, not the Stanley Cup. It is amazing to witness Reichel perform brilliantly.

It at least demonstrates that he is still capable of playing hockey well. For the Hawks to be able to justify giving him two more seasonlong extensions, he must perform well in the upcoming year. Reichel must score goals and dole out assists if the offense is to transition from being sluggish to deadly.

This is almost like an exhibition, even though it’s an international tournament. Even so, the fact that Bedard or Kurashev are not causing offense is not catastrophic. Even yet, Reichel’s strong performance is encouraging given how much he has struggled this season.