Montreal Canadiens At The World Championship: Round Robin Recap

The Montreal Canadiens representatives were successful at the Men's World Hockey Championship. Four of the five players will be in the playoff round, beginning on Thursday, with Vinzenz Rohrer being the only player on the outside looking in. Austria needed a win in their final game on Tuesday to put Oliver Kapanen and Team Finland in danger but suffered an upset loss to relegated Great Britain.

Times are to be announced for Thursday's playoff games, but the matchups are as follows:

• Canada (Kaiden Guhle) vs. Slovakia (Juraj Slafkovsky)

• Switzerland vs. Germany

• United States (Cole Caufield) vs. Czechia

• Sweden vs. Finland (Oliver Kapanen)

The marquee matchup for Habs fans is Canada vs. Slovakia, with Kaiden Guhle going up against Juraj Slafkovsky. However, the United States and Cole Caufield facing a revamped Czechia squad will also be a must-see matchup. Czechia bolstered their lineup after the second round of the NHL Playoffs with David Pastrnak, Pavel Zacha, and Martin Necas. We also see Oliver Kapanen play in one of the best international rivalries when Sweden takes on Finland.

Let's look at how each player performed during the round-robin and some links to our site's stories about them throughout the tournament's first two weeks if you missed them. 

Vinzenz Rohrer

Vinzenz Rohrer had a so-so tournament for Pool A's fifth-place team. Rohrer spent most of his time on the fourth line, and after recording two assists in the team's first two games, he went pointless in the last five. Austria had an opportunity to make the playoffs with a win on the final day and a Finland loss but was upset by last-place Great Britain.

Rohrer's start to the tournament earned some talk that it may be time for him to return to North America, but his final five games show that it may have been an overreaction by myself and others. Another season with ZSC will get Rohrer more comfortable with the pro game, and a good showing by Austria in this tournament will get Rohrer back in the World Championships next year.

Juraj Slafkovsky

Slafkovsky averaged a point-per-game in the round-robin, tallying a goal and six assists in seven games. He didn't live up to the hype of his past International experiences, but he did enough to get Slovakia to the playoff round.

It won't get any easier for Slafkovsky and Slovakia, as they get the unfortunate draw of taking on Team Canada. Slovakia has pulled off some upsets in the past few years in International tournaments, and they could get one more against Kaiden Guhle and Canada.

Kaiden Guhle

As the tournament went on, Kaiden Guhle's role with Canada grew. He started on the third defense pairing but was part of a 1A/1B situation by the team's final game. Guhle was the leading point-getter on the blueline with a goal and four assists.

Guhle's best game came in Canada's thrilling 7-6 overtime win over Austria. Guhle recorded a goal and an assist in the game, leading to him being named Team Canada's Player of the Game.

Cole Caufield

Cole Caufield had a slow start to the tournament, tallying just two goals and two assists in the team's first six games. His performance hit an all-time low when he was a -1 in USA's 10-1 win over Kazakhstan.

Caufield needed some good fortune going into the playoff round, and he succeeded, recording two goals and two assists against Poland on the tournament's final day. It could be the jump Caufield needs to play his best hockey in the playoff round, but first USA will have to get past the host Czechia team.