FOUR AMERKS ALUMNI EARN MEDALS AT 2022 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Jun 1, 2022Four former Rochester Americans earned their first medals in hockey’s grandest spectacle as the 85th annual 2022 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship came to a close Sunday in Helsinki, Finland. Amerks alums Joel Armia was a member of Team Finland’s gold-winning squad while Eric O’Dell helped Canada capture Silver. Current Buffalo Sabres head coach Don Granato served as an assistant coach for the United States’ fourth-place finish in the annual event while Rasmus Asplund and Linus Ullmark both represented Sweden.
FINLAND
Winners of the two of the last three tournaments, Finland captured its second gold medal with a 4-3 overtime victory over Canada Sunday. The Finns, who suffered a 2-1 overtime defeat in last year’s event versus the Canadians, have finished seventh or better every year since 2005 and earned three silver medals and two golds since 2016.
Armia appeared in all 10 games for host Finland and registered five goals and three assists for eight points. The former Amerk led all Finns with an ice-rating of plus-9 and finished tied for second on the team with five goals.
CANADA
The Canadians, who have now earned three gold medals and three silver medals since 2015, erased a 3-1 deficit late in the third period as they tallied a pair of goals to force overtime in the championship game against Finland. Current Sabre Dylan Cozens opened the scoring in the first period for Canada, which won its first four games of the tournament, however, the Finns prevailed 4-3 with the game-winner 6:42 in the overtime.
Since 1931, Canada has won the world championship 27 times in its 74 appearances and collected 16 silver medals and nine bronze since 1920.
O’Dell has now twice represented Canada at the senior international level this year having also done so at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in February. He also earned a gold medal with Canada at the 2008 World Junior U18. The former Amerk notched one goal in three games for the Canadians.
UNITED STATES
Team USA just missed medaling for the fourth time since 2013 as they dropped an 8-4 contest in the bronze medal game against Czechia. The Americans built a 3-1 lead going into the first intermission, but the Czechs produced a six-goal third-period to earn the win.
Granato accompanied the United States as they showed a 3-2-0-0 record (wins, overtime wins, overtime losses, losses) and finished tied for fourth in both goals per game (2.40) and penalty kill percentage (82.3).
SWEDEN
Despite winning the 2017 and 2018 World Championships, Team Sweden failed to reach the medal-round after finishing sixth in this year’s event and fifth in 2019. Prior to this year’s event, the Swedes have earned a total of seven medals in the last 12 years dating back to its bronze medal in 2009.
Former Amerk and current Buffalo Sabres forward Rasmus Asplund finished his first appearance at the World Championship with a team-leading six goals and tied for second among all Swedish forwards in points (6) in eight games. The former 2018-19 Amerks Rookie of the Year finished tied for fourth among all tournament skaters with his six goals. Following the tournament, Asplund was named as one of the three best players amongst all Swedes as selected by coaches.
Linus Ullmark, meanwhile, appeared in three games for the Swedes, posting a 1-2 record to go with his 2.26 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage. The former AHL All-Star goaltender and two-time Amerks team MVP posted a 1-0 shutout to knockout Latvia on May 24 to earn Player of the Game honors.
Looking ahead to 2023
The 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship is scheduled to take place in Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia from May 12 to 28, 2023. Tampere’s Nokia Arena will host Group A that includes defending champion Finland, Sweden, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, France, Austria, and Hungary. Riga will play Latvia, Canada, United States, Switzerland, Norway, Kazakhstan, and Slovenia in Group B in Arena Riga.