Which Nashville Predators Players are in the IIHF World Championship Playoffs?
The IIHF World Championship games in Switzerland have reached the conclusion of group play and will move onto the tournament rounds.
The playoffs feature eight teams in a single elimination tournament that runs Thursday through Sunday, May 31.
With the quarterfinal matchups being set Tuesday night, all six Predators players will participate in this year’s playoffs. All six Nashville players are rostered between four countries: Team USA, Team Canada, Team Finland and Team Switzerland. All four countries qualified for the quarterfinal round.
Here are the Predators players that are rostered on teams in the IIHF World Championship Playoffs.
Team USA
The Predators have two players in the organization that are on Team USA. Defenseman Ryan Ufko has seen plenty of playing time for the Americans as he helped Team USA sneak into the IIHF Tournament.
Ufko was a major contributor in the USA’s 4-1 win over Team Austria as he scored a goal on his two shots on goal in his 12 minutes of ice time. The win helped put Team USA above Team Germany for the final playoff spot among teams in Group A.
The other Predators player that will be rostered and experience the IIHF playoffs is prospect Ryker Lee. Though Lee has not appeared in any of the games for the U.S thus far in the IIHF World Championship, Lee is on the roster.
Team Switzerland
There is only one Nashville Predators player that is on Team Switzerland, but he is the most notable of all Preds participating in the games overseas.
Predators star Roman Josi has been a big piece of the success Switzerland has had as the host team. In Switzerland’s 9-0 win over Hungary Saturday, Josi scored a hat trick and assisted on a fourth Swiss goal for a four point game.
In the game, Josi helped Switzerland stay undefeated before it took down Team Finland 4-2 in the final game of group play to take the top spot in Group A.
Team Canada
There are two Predators players that are on the Team Canada roster. Predators center Ryan O’Reilly is the more notable player of the two.
O’Reilly has had his moments during the IIHF games so far to help Canada get to the quarterfinal round. O’Reilly has also been one of the more reliable players for Team Canada in faceoffs.
The other Nashville Predators player that is on Canada’s roster is goalie prospect Jack Ivankovic. However, Ivankovic has not made an appearance in the net so far in Switzerland. It seems that in an emergency situation, Ivankovic could get an opportunity for team Canada.
Team Finland
The lone Nashville player on Team Finland is goalie Justus Annunen. Annunen has played lights out for the majority of the games for the Finnish.
Through the first six games, Annunen started in goal for five of the games and helped Finland win all five. His lone loss came against Team Switzerland Tuesday. Annunen allowed three goals on 23 shots faced.
Annunen’s performance has been stellar enough for Finland to make a run and maybe see Switzerland in a rematch en route to a IIHF World Championship title.
Here is the full first round schedule. Teams featuring Predators players will be in bold.
Quarterfinal Matchups of the IIHF World Championship, May 28
Team Canada vs. Team USA, 9:20 a.m. CT
Team Finland vs. Team Czech Republic, 9:20 a.m. CT
Team Norway vs. Team Latvia, 1:20 p.m. CT
Team Switzerland vs. Team Sweden, 1:20 p.m. CT
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Graham Baakko is a lead writer for both Nashville Predators On SI and Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham graduated from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as an intern for GamecockCentral.