New Jersey Devils
Devils at the World Championship: Devil Wins Gold; Three Others Medal
Ondrej Palat takes home gold as Czechia wins the 2024 IIHF Men’s World Tournament.
This year’s World Championship in Czechia has wrapped up and Devils forward Ondrej Palat and Czechia have taken home the gold. Palat took down his captain Nico Hischier, as well as Jonas Siegenthaler and Akira Schmid to capture gold. It was a fun tournament that saw plenty of New Jersey Devils players play major roles for their country.
In case you weren’t following, most of the top stars on the Devils who went played big minutes and produced offensively. However, with the World Championship wrapped up, all eyes turn to the offseason and the start of the Sheldon Keefe era.
Team Switzerland
The Swiss went on a remarkable run to the gold medal game. They began by taking down Team Germany 3-1 in the quarterfinals before pulling off the upset against a stacked Team Canada, 3-2 in the shootout.
Goal🚨: Hischier goes top 🧀 to put the Swiss up 2-0 in the first period against the Germans #MensWorlds pic.twitter.com/6WSYAtuFYc
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 23, 2024
However, their quest for their first gold medal fell short in the finals at the hands of Czechia. Devils captain Nico Hischier and Jonas Siegenthaler both played massive roles and ate up big minutes for this Swiss this tournament, helping them secure a silver medal. Hischier finished with six goals and five assists and was awarded one of the players of the tournament for the Swiss, while Siegenthaler ended with four assists. Goalie Akira Schmid played in three games, going 3-0 with a 0.86 GAA and a 0.946 SV%.
Team U.S.A
Team U.S.A’s World Championship gold medal drought has now moved to year 92 as the Americans bowed out early once again. After taking down Latvia 6-3 in their final game of group play, Luke Hughes and the U.S took on Ondrej Palat and the Czechs in the first quarterfinal game. It was a tight-checking, low-event game that saw the home nation squeak out a 1-0 win. Hughes comes home empty-handed, but having scored two goals and three assists in eight games, while playing a top-four role as a 20-year-old.
Team Canada
Dawson Mercer, Nico Daws, and Team Canada steamrolled through most of the tournament, going undefeated in group play. They finished strong by taking down Palat and Czechia, 4-3 in OT. Mercer scored Canada’s third goal of the game on a beautiful backhander.
Goal🚨: UNREAL pass from Severson to Dawson Mercer who puts Canada in the lead once more! 👀🔥
Less than 10 minutes remain in the game and Canada leads 2-1. #MensWorlds pic.twitter.com/2AvzlzoKtz
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 21, 2024
Canada continued their winning in their quarterfinal game against Simon Nemec and Team Slovakia. Mercer added an assist to his name as they punched their ticket to the semifinals. However, their luck ran out there as Nico Hischier and co came out victorious in the shootout. Mercer ends the tournament with three goals and one assist, while Daws leaves after just won appearance, a win against Norway.
Team Slovakia
Simon Nemec and Team Slovakia skidded out of the tournament having lost their final three games. Their final group play game was a 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Team Sweden. They then followed it up with that 6-3 defeat to the Canadians in the quarterfinals. However, Nemec finished that game with an assist and 21:06 of ice time, second most on the team. Nemec finishes up his World Championship with one goal and six assists, while also playing a major role on the backend for Team Slovakia.
Team Czechia
Ondrej Palat and host nation Czechia pulled it off and won the gold on home soil. A 1-0 win over Team U.S.A. and a shocking 7-3 win over Sweden helped propel them to the finals. In the end, the Czechs came out victorious in a fast-paced and closely contested gold medal game against the Swiss.
This Ondřej Palát hit was so hard it broke the glass😬#MensWorlds pic.twitter.com/o9OLW1sYJH
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 26, 2024
The veteran presence of Palat was felt, as he helped man the top line with David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha. In the end, Palat finished the tournament with three goals, three assists, and a gold medal around his neck.
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