Global Gulls Take Flight at 2024 IIHF World Championship
May 9, 2024By Nick Aguilera/SanDiegoGulls.com
The American Hockey League season might be over, but for a few Gulls past and present, the puck keeps moving.
Seven players, Reto Berra, Lukas Dostal, Isac Lundestrom, Ondrej Kase, Pavol Regenda, Trevor Zegras and Olen Zellweger, are set to represent their home countries during the 2024 IIHF World Championship in Czechia beginning May 10.
Regenda and Zellweger both appeared for the Gulls in 2023-24. After each of them saw some time in the NHL with the Anaheim Ducks this season, they’ll now face each other for global glory. Regenda has already had a prolific international career for Slovakia. The 24-year-old forward helped lead Slovakia to a bronze medal during the 2020 Olympics, posting a multi-point performance in the bronze medal game and earning 1-3=4 points in seven games. Regenda has collected 7-3=10 points in 15 World Championship contests over the past two tournaments.
Zellweger will transition from a high-profile junior international career to the senior circuit. He helped Team Canada earn back-to-back gold medals at the World Junior Championships in 2022 and 2023 and ended his junior career ranking second in all-time WJC points by a Canadian defenseman (2-15=17). He’ll have some familiar faces surrounding him in former WJC teammates Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli and Dylan Guenther, who helped the Canadians to Gold at the 2022 WJC.
Dostal will represent Czechia at the World Championship for the second time in his career. He appeared in one game during the 2023 edition of the tournament. The 23-year-old netminder will likely see some increased playing time this go around after he appeared in 44 games for the Ducks this season and posted a .902 save percentage in his first full season in the NHL. He joins Kase, who spent parts of three seasons with the Gulls from 2015-18, and Ducks teammate Radko Gudas on Team Czechia.
For the first time since his historic 2021 World Junior Championship run, Trevor Zegras will don the red, white & blue. Zegras, who posted 10-11=21 points for the Gulls in 2020-21, will make his World Championship debut on a stacked Team USA squad that includes Brady Tkachuk, Cole Caulfield, Johnny Gaudreau and more.
Lundestrom returns to represent Sweden for the second time in as many years. Last tournament, he had a goal and an assist in seven games.
Berra, who went 16-12-2 with a 2.66 GAA, .922 SV% and three shutouts with the Gulls in 2017-18, will make his 10th consecutive World Championship appearance. He leads all active World Championship goaltenders in appearances (39) and wins (20).
Each team will play seven preliminary round games before the top four in each of the two groups advance to the knockout stages. Group A consists of Austria, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Norway and Switzerland. Group B includes France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden and the United States.
Preliminary Round Schedule
May 10
Switzerland (Berra) vs. Noway, 7:20 a.m. PDT
Slovakia (Regenda) vs. Germany, 7:20 a.m. PDT
Sweden (Lundestrom) vs. USA (Zegras), 11:20 a.m. PDT
Czechia (Dostal, Kase) vs. Finland, 11:20 a.m. PDT
May 11
Great Britain vs. Canada (Zellweger), 3:20 a.m. PDT
Norway vs. Czechia (Dostal, Kase), 11:20 a.m. PDT
USA (Zegras) vs. Germany, 11:20 a.m. PDT
May 12
Slovakia (Regenda) vs. Kazakhstan, 3:20 a.m. PDT
Denmark vs. Canada (Zellweger), 7:20 a.m. PDT
Austria vs. Switzerland (Berra), 11:20 a.m. PDT
May 13
USA (Zegras) vs. Slovakia (Regenda), 7:20 a.m. PDT
Switzerland (Berra) vs. Czechia (Dostal, Kase), 11:20 a.m. PDT
Germany vs. Sweden (Lundestrom), 11:20 a.m. PDT
May 14
Canada (Zellweger) vs. Austria, 11:20 a.m. PDT
May 15
Czechia (Dostal, Kase) vs. Denmark, 7:20 a.m. PDT
Switzerland (Berra) vs. Great Britain, 11:20 a.m. PDT
Slovakia (Regenda) vs. Poland, 11:20 a.m. PDT
May 16
Kazakhstan vs. Sweden (Lundestrom), 7:20 a.m. PDT
Canada (Zellweger) vs. Noway, 11:20 a.m. PDT
USA (Zegras) vs. France, 11:20 a.m PDT
May 17
Czechia (Dostal, Kase) vs. Austria, 11:20 a.m. PDT
Poland vs. USA (Zegras), 11:20 a.m. PDT
May 18
Denmark vs. Switzerland (Berra), 3:20 a.m. PDT
Latvia vs. Sweden (Lundestrom), 3:20 a.m. PDT
Canada (Zellweger) vs. Finland, 7:20 a.m. PDT
Czechia (Dostal, Kase) vs. Great Britain, 11:20 a.m. PDT
France vs. Slovakia (Regenda), 11:20 a.m. PDT
May 19
USA (Zegras) vs. Kazakhstan, 7:20 a.m. PDT
Switzerland (Berra) vs. Canada (Zellweger), 11:20 a.m. PDT
Slovakia (Regenda) vs. Latvia, 11:20 a.m. PDT
May 20
Sweden (Lundestrom) vs. France, 7:20 a.m. PDT
May 21
Canada (Zellweger) vs. Czechia (Dostal, Kase), 7:20 a.m. PDT
Latvia vs. USA (Zegras), 7:20 a.m. PDT
Finland vs. Switzerland (Berra), 11:20 a.m. PDT
Sweden vs. Slovakia (Regenda), 11 :20 a.m. PDT