Mark Scheifele and Ville Heinola have standout performances as IIHF World Championship round robin continues
The Winnipeg Jets are just over a month away from stepping up to the podium to select 8th overall at the NHL Draft in Buffalo. In the meantime, five Jets players continue their tournament at the IIHF World Championship in Switzerland. The Jets Nation “year in review” series will begin in June, but for today, it’s time to check in with the five players playing in Switzerland, after I gave an initial update after the 2nd day of the tournament.
All of the five Jets at the tournament had May 17th off, before they all got back in action on May 18th. I made a mistake in my last update when I thought Jets prospect Sascha Boumedienne was left out of the lineup for Sweden’s first game. Although the Jets 1st rounder from 2025 did get a chance to skate with the team, he didn’t end up making the “final cut”, meaning he won’t be playing at this tournament.
This week the round robin continued, with Mark Scheifele, Gabriel Vilardi, Dylan DeMelo, Ville Heinola and Nino Niederreiter helping their teams to victories on Monday. Heinola didn’t add to his point total, but Finland won big over USA 6-2. Vilardi scored a goal and Scheifele was again left off the scoresheet as Canada defeated Denmark 5-1. Niederreiter picked up two assists in a 6-1 Switzerland win over Germany to remain undefeated as the host country continued to impress.
After another day off for all the Jets (three teams) on Tuesday, Niederreiter and Switzerland were back in action on Wednesday. The host Swiss team was up against a surprise 3-0 Austria team, but they proved to be no problem for Switzerland, as Niederreiter had 1 assist in a dominating 9-0 win for Switzerland.
Yesterday Finland, Canada and Switzerland again picked up wins in three different ways. Heinola didn’t register a point, but played well again, getting some good scoring chances in a 7-1 Finland win over Latvia. Mark Scheifele finally had his “moment” in a very surprisingly close 6-5 win in overtime for Canada over Norway. Vilardi had 1 goal and 1 assist, and Scheifele was the player of the game for Canada, scoring 3 goals (including the OT winner) and 1 assist for 4 points. Nino Niederreiter also had his best game of the tournament later that night in Switzerland, as he scored 2 goals to lead the Swiss to a 4-1 win over Great Britain.
Today, four of the five Jets players were in action. Canada controlled play for most of the game, but only narrowly beat Slovenia 3-1, as all three Jets players did not register a point. Later that night in Switzerland, Ville Heinola had his moment “in the spotlight” with his best performance against Great Britain. Heinola scored Finland’s 1st and 2nd goal in a 4-0 win. After 5 games, Heinola has 3 goals and 1 assist for 4 points, and leads all defenceman (by 8) with 20 shots on goal, the third most of any player at the tournament.
After five games, Switerzland and Finland are #1 and #2 in Group A with a perfect 5-0-0-0 record. The two teams will meet on the final day of round robin play, as this game will likely decides who wins the group. Canada is 4-1-0-0 (one overtime win) and sits pretty comfortably in 1st place in Group B. Canada will still need to win two of their last three games to lock up that important top position.
Up Next
Mark Scheifele, Dylan DeMelo and Gabriel Vilardi have Saturday off, before Team Canada takes on a team battling for that top spot in Group B, Slovakia, on Sunday afternoon at 1:20 pm CDT. Ville Heinola and Finland also have a day off on Saturday, before what should be a fairly good game against Team Austria Sunday afternoon at 1:20 pm CDT. Nino Niederreiter and Team Switzerland’s next game will be Saturday morning at 9:20 am CDT as the hosts take on Hungary, who have one win so far this tournament.
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