Dallas Stars News: Wrapping Up The 2019 IIHF World Championship
The 2019 IIHF World Championship wrapped up on Sunday afternoon in Slovakia. And while they didn’t get a chance to play through the entire tournament, both Dallas Stars players that joined their home teams performed admirably.
With the end of every campaign for the Dallas Stars comes the opportunity for certain players to extend their seasons a little while longer. While many players get through exit interviews and either head home or take a vacation following the end of the regular season, a select handful have the drive to keep playing.
And if they are skilled enough and have the resume, they just might get the chance to join their home country at the IIHF World Championship. Depending on when their NHL season ends and how healthy and energized they are, this can sometimes be a tricky endeavor.
But when everything aligns, it can be a great and beneficial experience for the players that take advantage of the opportunity.
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The hope is that both Radek Faksa and John Klingberg gained some sort of benefit from the 2019 IIHF World Championship.
As the only two Dallas Stars that made the trek to Slovakia to meet up and compete with their home countries, Faksa (Czech Republic) and Klingberg (Sweden) joined their clubs midway through the preliminary round. So while they didn’t get the full tournament experience, they did get an extended chance to help contribute to the success of their respective countries.
The World Championship is broken down into two separate parts: preliminary play and the playoff bracket. In the preliminary round, the 16 countries are broken up into two groups of eight and compete in a seven-game pool play setup. Once the teams in each group have played each other once, the teams with the top four records from each group advance to the playoff bracket.
And thanks in part to the efforts of both Stars players, their home countries made the cut for the quarterfinals.
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The Czechs posted a record of 6-1-0 in the preliminary round, and Faksa helped lead the charge on offense. In four preliminary games, Faksa score one goal and tallied four points along with a +1 rating, with his lone goal serving as a game-winner against Austria.
In the playoffs, the Czechs downed Germany by a score of 5-1 in the opening round and advanced to the final four to play Canada. But after falling to Canada by a similar 5-1 mark, they were pitted in the bronze medal game against Russia. They built a 2-1 lead early in the game, they couldn’t pull out a win in the shootout as Russian goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 4/4 Czech shots to help his team secure the bronze.
And though Faksa didn’t post a point in the game, he registered five shots on goal and a -1 rating.
Faksa finished the tournament with one goal, four points, and a -1 rating as well as a face-off win percentage of 60.7 percent.
On the other hand, Sweden posted a mark of 5-2-0 in preliminary action and finished third in the Group B standings. Klingberg started the tournament with a pointless effort in a 9-1 win over Austria, but bounced back with a point in each of the final three games of the opening round. His performance included a goal and two assists as well as a +2 rating.
Sweden eventually drew Finland as their opponent in the quarterfinals. And though they created an early lead (thanks in part to a power play goal scored by Klingberg), the Finns clawed back and won 5-4 to advance and halt Sweden’s chances of securing a third consecutive gold medal.
As a result, Klingberg finished the 2019 World Championship with two goals (both on the power play), four points, and a -1 rating in five games played. He also finished with an average ice time of 23:14.
When it was all said and done, Finland defeated Canada 3-1 to win their first gold medal since the 2011 Championship. Canada finished with the silver medal and Russia claimed bronze.
Though neither Dallas Stars player finished with a medal, the tournament provided them with an opportunity to compete with their home country and further polish their skills on a new stage.
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And with the team’s season already over and the preparations for next season getting underway, a little extra action doesn’t hurt.