With the ending of their 2018-19 campaign, the next step for the Dallas Stars is the offseason. But before it gets in full swing, the World Championships are still a primary focus point. And, as it happens every year, there are a few Stars players that will take part in the tournament.
The Dallas Stars hosted exit interviews on Thursday morning and officially put the final bow on their 2018-19 campaign. And though their next step is now the 2019 summer, there are a few things that still must happen.
For one, the NHL still needs to wrap up. A Stanley Cup champion needs to be crowned between the Carolina Hurricanes, Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks, and St. Louis Blues, and that will come within the next month.
On top of that, preparations for the 2019 NHL Draft and the free agency period must also be made by all 31 organizations.
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But aside from all of those is the 2019 World Championships currently taking place in Slovakia. The tournament began on May 10 and will run through May 26 when the medal games are played.
For the new hockey fans or those in need of a refresher, the IIHF World Championship is an annual tournament between 16 different countries. The tournament spans across two weeks and is a yearly chance to pit some of the world’s best hockey-producing countries against each other with gold, silver, and bronze medals on the line.
The 16 teams are broken up into two groups, being Group A (Canada, United States, Finland, Germany, Slovakia, Denmark, France, Great Britain) and Group B (Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Norway, Latvia, Austria, Italy). The two groups begin with a pool play session where they take on each country in their group and come out with a final record.
Following that, the top four countries (by record) from each group advance to the quarterfinals and begin playing out an eight-team bracket. In the end, the two losers in the semifinals play for the bronze medal, while the two winners play for gold and silver.
Daily DDT
It’s a chance for the best hockey talent in the world to come together for two weeks at a different location each year and compete with their home country for some more hardware. And for a lot of them (especially those that missed out on the Stanley Cup Playoffs or those that have already been eliminated), that’s important.
This year, the Dallas Stars will once again send a contingent to the Championship.
When the Stars missed the postseason last year, their World Championship group was both diverse and extensive. John Klingberg, Mattias Janmark, Radek Faksa, Miro Heiskanen, and Julius Honka all traveled to Denmark to compete with their home countries. Klingberg and Janmark both ended up winning gold medals as Team Sweden won the tournament.
In 2019, the Stars’ list is a little less extensive. This time around, John Klingberg (Team Sweden) and Radek Faksa (Team Czech Republic) will head to the tournament to keep playing.
That’s due to a few different reasons. For one, the Dallas Stars played 13 more games of hockey this season than they did last season. The playoffs can be a grueling animal at times, especially on the body of a hockey player. As a result, some Stars players may decide to take a break from hockey action instead of continuing to play.
But for Klingberg and Faksa, they will keep their playing streak rolling for just a little while longer.
The tournament has been underway since Friday, so the two Stars will join their home countries a little late. Team Czech Republic is already 2-0-0, while Team Sweden is 1-1-0 (with their lone defeat coming against the Czechs).
Both players had impressive runs in the 2018 World Championship and capped off their 2018-19 campaigns in impressive fashion. Klingberg finished the regular season with 10 goals and 45 points in 64 games played and topped it off with two goals and nine points in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Faksa finished with 15 goals and 30 points in 81 regular season games and one assist in the postseason.
Now, we’ll get a chance to see if they can end their season of hockey action on a strong note. Stay tuned.