There will be eight Blackhawks players and three prospects competing in the quarterfinal round Thursday at the World Championship in Slovakia.
The winners will advance to Saturday’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.
The day opens with the Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane (United States) taking on Artem Anisimov (Russia). The other early quarterfinal matchup will see Dylan Strome (Canada) face off against forward prospect Philipp Kurashev (Switzerland).
The second slate of games will have the battle of the Dominiks as Dominik Kahun (Germany) squares off against forward prospect Dominik Kubalik (Czech Republic). That game will be overshadowed by two big rivals going head-to-head when Finland and Sweden meet. The Finns have defenseman Henri Jokiharju and goalie prospect Kevin Lankinen, while the Swedes have two Chicago players in defenseman Erik Gustafsson and forward Marcus Kruger.
Thursday’s 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)