The Blackhawks will be represented across the podium at the World Championship tournament in Slovakia after 11 players, including three prospects, advanced to Thursday’s quarterfinals.
All four quarterfinal games will have Blackhawks players going against each other or a prospect. The winners will advance to Friday’s semifinals, when the matchups will be determined by seeds instead of a traditional bracket. The top-seeded semifinalist will play the lowest-seeded one, and the other two teams will face off for a spot in the gold-medal game.
Seedings
1. Russia (Group B, 21 points)
Forward Artem Anisimov: 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists)
2. Canada (Group A, 18 points)
- Forward Dylan Strome: 4 points (1G, 3A)/
3. Czech Republic (Group B, 18 points)
Forward prospect Dominik Kubalik: 10 points (4G, 6A)
4. Finland (Group A, 16 points)
- Defenseman Henri Jokiharju: 2 assists/
Goalie prospect Kevin Lankinen: 4-1, 1.40 goals-against average, .938 save percentage
5. Sweden (Group B, 15 points)
- Defenseman Erik Gustafsson: 3 points (1G, 2A)/
Forward Marcus Kruger: 3 points (2G, 1A)
6. Germany (Group B, 15 points)
Winger Dominik Kahun: 4 points (1G, 3A)
7. United States (Group A, 14 points)
- Winger Alex DeBrincat: 8 points (6G, 2A)/
Winger Patrick Kane: 10 points (2G, 8A)
8. Switzerland (Group B, 12 points)
- Forward prospect Philipp Kurashev: 2 points (1G, 1A)/
Quarterfinal schedule
Russia (Anisimov) vs. United States (DeBrincat/Kane), 9:15 a.m. (NHLN)
Canada (Strome) vs. Switzerland (Kurashev), 9:15 a.m.
Czech Republic (Kubalik) vs. Germany (Kahun), 1:15 p.m.
Finland (Jokiharju/Lankinen) vs. Sweden (Gustafsson/Kruger), 1:15 p.m. (NHLN)
Eliminated
Blackhawks winger Andreas Martinsen and forward prospect Mathias From played at Worlds, but both of their teams did not advance to the quarterfinals.
Martinsen, who played in the NHL and with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, nearly averaged a point per game with six assists in seven outings for Norway. He’s set to become a restricted free agent and unlikely to re-sign.
After not playing in Denmark’s first three games, From skated in the next four games and did not record a point. The 2016 fifth-round draft pick joined the IceHogs in 2018 on a tryout contract, but returned to Sweden to play for AIK in Sweden’s second division this past season. He’s expected to suit up for AIK once again for the 2019-20 season.
9. Slovakia (Group A, 11 points)
10. Latvia (Group B, 9 points)
11. Denmark (Group A, 6 points)
12. Norway (Group B, 6 points
13. Great Britain (Group A, 2 points)
14. Italy (Group B, 2 points)
15. France (Group A, 2 points)
16. Austria (Group B, 1 point)
France and Austria were relegated to Division I as the two bottom teams in each group and will be replaced by Belarus and Kazakhstan at next year’s World Championship in Switzerland.