Colorado Avalanche Update: IIHF Worlds

Colorado Avalanche players and prospects continue to show their skill at the IIHF World Competition. Seven Avalanche players and two prospects are currently representing their home countries in the Czech Republic at IIHF Worlds.

Switzerland

Avalanche back up goalie Reto Berra has appeared in two if Switzerland’s four games. Unfortunately the Swiss have not been strong in scoring, being 14 out of 16 in scoring efficiency and 15 out of 16 in scoring on the power play. They’re fourth in goal tending, but that doesn’t count for much when a team’s not scoring.

Berra unfortunately backstopped the Swiss during two losses, one in overtime and one in the shootout. The shootout loss came against the Austrians, and the overtime loss against the Latvians. Berra currently has a 2.83 goals against average and 86.96 save percentage.

The Swiss play the Swedes Saturday, May 9, at 12:15 pm MDT.

United States

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Zach Redmond has appeared in two of the four games Team USA has played. He hasn’t been given a lot of playing time, but he’s currently plus-1. He also received a penalty in the game against Russia for holding. The U.S. team is currently second in Group B with 9 points, just one point behind Belorus, which beat them 5-2 in today’s game.

The U.S. team is fifth in penalty killing but only sixth in scoring efficiency and middle of the pack — eighth — for goal keeping. The team isn’t stacked with stars.

The US plays Denmark Friday, May 8, at 12:15 pm MDT.

Czech Republic

Denmark

Avalanche defensive prospect Markus Lauridsen is representing Denmark at IIHF Worlds. The 24-year-old has spent the last couple years with the Avalanche’s former AHL affiliate Lake Erie Monsters, earning 24 points in that time but not recording a great plus/minus rating. Having played all four games with the Danish club, Lauridsen has incurred an impressive 20 minutes in penalties, all in the game against Belarus:

He received a 20 minute misconduct for “throwing the stick or any object.” (Note, in an NHL game, such a play would receive 2 minutes maximum, and only if the referee was cranky.)

Even with that penalty, the Danes are only fourth in the tourney for incurring penalties.

Denmark plays the U.S. Friday, May 8, at 12:15 pm MDT.

Norway

Avalanche defensive prospect Jonas Holøs is playing for Team Norway. He doesn’t have any NHL or even AHL experience, though he’s signed by goalie Semyon Varlamov‘s old club, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. The 27-year-old also represented Norway in both the 2010 and 2014 Olympics. In Norway’s four games, Holøs has earned three assists.

Norway plays Slovakia Friday, May 8, at 8:15 am MDT.

Let’s see, are there any other Avalanche players representing at IIHF Worlds… Oh, yes, just the dominant Avs playing for the dominant Team Canada.

Canada

We’ve been covering the individual Canadian players pretty regularly since they’re the most active. Here’s the current breakdown:

Matt Duchene: two goals and four assists in four games, including a penalty shot goal.
Ryan O’Reilly: five assists in four games, including two assists in the come-from-behind thriller against Team Sweden.
Nathan MacKinnon: one goal and three assists in four games.
Tyson Barrie: two assists in four games.

Not surprisingly, the Canadians are first in Group A and first overall in scoring efficiency. Strangely, they’re only fourth in powerplay efficiency.

Canada plays France Saturday, May 9, at 8:15 am MDT.

Next: Nathan MacKinnon at IIHF Worlds

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