EIGHT CURRENT AND FORMER AMERKS AIMING FOR GOLD AT 2021 IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN LATVIA
May 21, 2021
Eight former or current Rochester Americans from five different countries will begin the quest for gold in hockey’s grandest spectacle at the 84th annual 2021 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship in Riga, Latvia this weekend. The premier international event kicks off on Friday, May 21 as Czech Republic will take on Russia and Belarus faces off against Slovakia in Group A action from the Olympic Sports Centre in Riga. Group B’s opening slate of games will see Germany meet with Italy before Canada battles host Latvia at Arēna Rīga. The three-week, 16-team tournament will conclude with the gold-medal game on Sunday, June 6.
CANADA
With two gold medals and two silver medals since 2015, Team Canada features a powerhouse lineup with ties to 10 different NHL teams as all but five players have played at least one game with an NHL team in 2020-21. Team Canada went 7-1-1-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) at the 2019 IIHF World Championship in Bratislava and Košice, Slovakia, on its way to its second silver medal in three years. Since 1931, Canada has won the world championship 26 times in its 72 appearances and also collected 15 silver medals and nine bronze since 1920.
Joining Canada in its bid for its 27th gold medal is forward Justin Danforth, who has registered 50-plus points for the fourth straight season since turning professional. In his first season with Podolsk Vityaz of the KHL, Danforth led Podolsk in both goals (23) and points (55) while being tied for first with 32 assists in 58 games in 2020-21.
Danforth’s stint in Rochester was short yet effective, as he appeared in 20 games from 2016-2018, recording seven points on four goals and assists. During the 2017-18 season while under contract with Rochester, the Canisius College graduate was named the ECHL Rookie of the Year after leading all first-year players with 59 points (28+31) in 44 games for the Cincinnati Cyclones. He was also named to the ECHL All-Rookie Team and was an All-ECHL Second Team selection.
This will be Danforth’s first appearance at the highest international level after representing Canada twice at World Junior A Challenge in 2011 and 2012.
RUSSIA
Winners of the bronze medal in the 2019 and having earned medals in four of the last five tournaments, Russia enters the event with ties to seven different NHL teams and eight other KHL teams. The Russians have dominated the international competition over the last 18 tournaments, earning a total of 12 medals over that span, including winning four goal medals and three silver medals since 2002 in addition to claiming gold at 2018 Winter Olympic Games in February in PyeongChang, South Korea. Russia also medaled at four straight events between 2014 and 2017, including back-to-back third-place finishes. Russia, which has made the quarterfinals every year since 2004, is in pursuit of its 13th medal in 18 years at the annual event.
Former Amerk Mikhail Grigorenko returns to the international stage for the fourth time in the last four international events. Grigorenko claimed his first gold medal while representing the Olympic Athletes of Russia at the 2018 Winter Olympics and was a member of Russia’s third-place finish in the most recent tournament at the 2019 IIHF World Championship in Slovakia. The medal marked his eighth overall over 10 appearances at the international level, which also includes the 2011 World Junior Under-18 Championship and three consecutive years (2012-2014) competing at the World Junior Championship.
After making his Rochester debut in the spring of 2013, the former first-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres played parts of three seasons with the Amerks, amassing 40 points (14+26) in 52 career games in the red, white and blue. The Khabarovsk, Russia, native notched his best season as an Amerk during the 2014-15 slate, establishing career-highs in all offensive categories, including goals (14), assists (22) and points (36), to finish fourth on the team in scoring.
SWEDEN
Winners of the 2017 and 2018 World Championships, Team Sweden is looking to reach the medal-round after finishing fifth in 2019. Entering this year’s event, the Swedes have earned a total of seven medals in the last 11 years dating back to its bronze medal in 2009.
Former Amerk and current Buffalo Sabres forward Victor Olofsson earned a spot on the Sweden’s World Championship for the first time in his professional career after recording one assist with Sweden at the 2015 World Junior Championship.
After spending his first five seasons in the SweHL between MODO and Frolunda, the former seventh-round selection (181st) in the 2014 NHL Draft took the American Hockey League by storm as he led all Amerks in goals (30), assists (33) and points (63) in 66 games. A seventh-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 2014, Olofsson scored twice in a 4-3 loss at Syracuse on April 13, becoming the first Amerks skater to score 30 goals in a season since Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville both reached the mark during the 2004-05 campaign. Olofsson, who earned CCM/AHL Player of the Month honors for October, finished tied for eighth in the AHL in goals and 14th among the league’s top point-getters in overall scoring. Additionally, he ranked among the league leaders with 15 power-play assists while his nine game-winning goals, three of which have come in his last 14 games, tied for most in the AHL. Olofsson was rewarded with a late-season recall to the Buffalo Sabres, where he added four points on two goals and two assists in six games with the big club.
Joining Olofsson is former Amerk defenseman in Lawrence Pilut, who, too, made an immediate impact in North American debut as was named to the AHL All-Star Classic each of his first two seasons with the club. In his first year with Rochester, the undrafted blueliner posted 26 points (4+22) in 30 games before adding six goals and 17 assists for 23 points in 37 during the 2019-20 campaign. Pilut finished his Amerks career with 49 points (10+39) in 37 games from 2018-20.
This year’s event marks the first World Championship appearance for both Olofsson and Pilut, but both have represented Sweden in the U-18, U-20 tournaments. Pilut also appeared in six games with the U-17 team in 2011-12.
FINLAND
As winners as the most recent tournament in 2019 after last year’s was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Finland is hoping to duplicate its performance this year in Latvia. The Finns have not earned back-to-back gold medals since its first appearance back in 1939. With only two players who appeared in an NHL contest in 2020-21 and seven others in the KHL, the Finns have finished seventh or better every year since 2005.
Forward Arttu Ruotsalainen finished his first season in North America by totaling 10 goals and nine assists for 19 points in 30 games between Rochester and Buffalo in 2020-21. In 13 games with the Amerks this season, Ruotsalainen averaged a point per game with 13 points (5+8). He began the campaign recording one point in his first four games and finished with nine points (4+5) over his last seven outings. The undrafted forward earned his first NHL recall on April 5 and scored his first NHL goal on April 11 just two days after making his NHL debut. He finished the 2020-21 season with six points, including five goals, in 17 appearances with the Sabres.
UNITED STATES
Team USA returns to the international stage this year looking for a better performance following a seventh-place finish at the 2019 event, which was the first time in six years they finished outside the top six. The United States are looking to medal for the fourth time since 2013. The Americans, however, haven’t won gold at the annual event since 1960 and has medaled just five times – all bronze – in the last 24 years.
Three former Amerks will don the red, white, and blue at the 2021 World Championships in forwards Colin Blackwell and Tage Thompson as well as defenseman Matt Tennyson.
In career-high 61 games with Rochester during the 2017-18 season, Blackwell enjoyed a breakout-year as he established personal-highs in every offensive category: goals (17), assists (28) and points (45). Additionally, the Lawrence, Mass., native notched a goal and two assists in three Calder Cup Playoff games that season. Since leaving Rochester, Blackwell, who was recently named the New York Rangers’ (NHL) nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, has plotted 32 points (15+17) in 80 career NHL games between the Rangers and Nashville Predators.
After spending his first full season in the NHL, Thompson spent parts of two seasons with Amerks from 2018-20, making an immediate impact. After appearing in 65 games with the Buffalo Sabres in 2018-19, Thompson was assigned to Rochester at the end of March and his addition to the Amerks lineup was certainly a welcomed one. In eight games with the Amerks, Thompson erupted for nine points on six goals and three assists, including a career-high three-point outing in his Amerks debut in a 4-2 win over Laval on March 29. Thompson, the son of Bridgeport head coach Brent Thompson, then found the back of the net again the very next night in Binghamton, helping Rochester clinch its second straight playoff spot with a 6-4 win at Binghamton.
The former first-round (26th overall) selection booked 21 points (12+9) and added two goals in the Calder Cup Playoffs with Rochester. In 145 NHL games with the St. Louis Blues and Sabres, Thompson has amassed 18 goals, 17 assists for 35 points.
Tennyson manned the Amerks blueline for the 2017-18 and the 2018-19 seasons. The 6-foot-2, 205 defenseman produced 32 points on seven goals and 25 assists in 97 contests while also skating in six postseason contests. Tennyson has spent the last two seasons with the New Jersey Devils organization and has recorded 26 points (4+22) in 165 career NHL games with the Devils, San Jose Sharks, Carolina Hurricanes and Sabres.
This year’s event will be the first international appearance for both Blackwell and Tennyson. Thompson, meanwhile, previously represented the United States at the World Championship in 2018, tallying three points (1+2) in 10 contests and earning a bronze medal. He also won gold medals at the U-18 World Championship in 2015 and at the World Junior Championship in 2017.
Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams is also serving on the advisory group for the Americans. Adams has made two other appearances on the international stage as he skated in seven games during the 1993-94 U-20 World Junior Championship as well as one game in the 2005 World Championship.