Which Predators Players are Playing in the Semifinals of the IIHF World Championship?
The IIHF World Championship games are on the tail end of their run overseas. The tournament phase of the games began Thursday with the quarterfinal round before the semifinals kickoff Saturday in Switzerland.
With six Nashville Predators players and prospects rostered on teams entering the games, four of the six are on a team that is playing in the semifinals of the tournament. Thursday, Ryan Ufko, Ryker Lee and Team USA were eliminated by Team Canada in a 4-0 shutout.
Here is who from Nashville will be playing in the tournament’s semifinals and tomorrow’s semifinal schedule.
Roman Josi, Team Switzerland
Nashville Predators and Team Switzerland winger Roman Josi will take on Team Norway in the first semifinal games. Josi led Switzerland past Team Sweden in the quarterfinals by contributing on all three of his team’s goals.
Josi scored Switzerland’s first goal before assisting on the other two Swiss goals in the second period. Josi has been the most productive offensive player from the Predators in the IIHF games thus far.
Josi has helped Switzerland win all seven games as the host team, including the quarterfinal win. If Josi is able to continue his play Saturday, he could get his team into Sunday’s championship game.
Justus Annunen, Team Finland
The impact Predators goalie Justus Annunen has had in net for Finland has been nothing short of great.
Annunen has started in all but one game for Team Finland and has a record of 5-1 as the starting goalie. In Finland’s quarterfinal win over the Czech Republic, Annunen saved 25 of 26 shots in a 4-1 win.
The lone loss Annunen has over the past couple weeks was a 4-2 loss in the group play finale against Team Switzerland. But there is a possibility Finland is able to see Switzerland in a rematch if both teams are able to make the championship game.
That can only happen if Annunen puts on another good performance against Team Canada in the semifinals.
Ryan O’Reilly, Team Canada
O’Reilly has been the other productive offensive player for Nashville in the IIHF games. While he has not been as impactful as Josi has been, O’Reilly has been very useful to the depth of Team Canada and has proven to be a valuable piece to the later lines of the lineup.
O’Reilly has seen plenty of action in the faceoff circle as well. In Team Canada’s win over the U.S., O’Reilly won eight of his 16 faceoff attempts.
O’Reilly is going to need to bring his best Saturday, though. Canada takes on a Finland team that has lost just one game since arriving in Switzerland. If O’Reilly is able to be effective on Canada’s offensive attack, the Canadians could advance to Sunday.
Jack Ivankovic, Team Canada
Predators goalie prospect Jack Ivankovic is the final player in the Nashville system to be rostered on a team in the semifinals.
The Canadian goaltender has not seen any game action since the IIHF games began, however. Team Canada has started Jet Greaves in goal for most of the time and Cam Talbot at other times.
Here is the full schedule for Saturday’s semifinal games. Teams involving Predators players will be bolded.
Semifinal Schedule for the IIHF World Championship
Team Switzerland vs. Team Norway, 8:20 a.m. CT
Team Canada vs. Team Finland, 2 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.