Three Blue Jackets players fared well at the annual IIHF World Championships, but unfortunately, all three are returning home without a medal.
Canada, with CBJ players Jet Greaves and Denton Mateychuk on the roster, lost the bronze medal game Sunday vs. Norway. Playing for Team USA, Mathieu Olivier made an impact but the Americans' bid to repeat was ended by Canada in the quarterfinals.
All three were making their first appearances with their senior national teams at the event.
READ MORE: Greaves embracing his opportunity | Mateychuk builds on excellent season
This year’s tournament ran from May 15-31 in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland. The seven-game round robin portion of the event ran through Tuesday, with semifinals Saturday and the gold and bronze medal games on Sunday.
Follow along here throughout the tournament as we’ll post scores, schedules and stats for the CBJ players taking part in this year’s World Championships.
CBJ Player Stats
Olivier (United States): 8 GP, 2-3-5, 21 SOG, 14:56 TOI
Greaves (Canada): 8 GP, 6-2-0, 1.88 GAA, .920 SV%
Mateychuk (Canada): 10 GP, 2-3-5, 9 SOG, +7, 11:24 TOI
Schedule and Results
Thursday, May 28 (quarterfinal)
Canada 4, United States 0
Saturday, May 30 (semifinal)
Finland 4, Canada 2
Sunday, May 30 (bronze medal game)
Norway 3, Canada 2 (OT)
CBJ Player Updates
Sunday, May 31
Canada battled back in the final minutes to force overtime vs. Norway, but the Norwegians scored on an odd-man rush 3:32 into the extra frame to take a 3-2 victory.
CBJ goalie Jet Greaves got his eighth start of the tournament and made 21 saves, but Norway took a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes and won it on Noah Steen's goal on a 2-on-1 in OT. Canada rallied from the 2-0 deficit with a pair of goals by Robert Thomas in the last 1:16, but it wasn't enough.
Denton Mateychuk played 13:11 and had a pair of shots on goal.
Saturday, May 30
Canada's run for gold fell short in a semifinal, as Finland rallied with a three-goal second period to take a 4-2 victory.
CBJ goalie Jet Greaves suffered his first loss of the event, as the Finns got a trio of goals in the middle frame and Canada couldn't rally in the third despite a 14-2 edge in shots on goal. Greaves finished with 17 saves on 21 shots against and was named one of Canada's top three players at the tournament after the game.
Denton Mateychuk notched an assist vs. Finland, getting the second helper on Robert Thomas' goal that made it 1-1 in the first period. He 12:33 in the contest and was plus-1.
Canada now takes on Norway for bronze on Sunday.
Thursday, May 28
Jet Greaves posted perhaps his most impressive performance yet, stopping 34 shots to send Canada past the U.S. with a 4-0 quarterfinal win. Afterward, Greaves was named Canada's player of the game.
The CBJ netminder improved to 6-0-0 at the tournament with a standout showing, including an excellent glove save on Oliver Moore in the first period and multiple impressive denials of Matt Coronato in the third.
Denton Mateychuk also stepped up after an early injury to defenseman Evan Bouchard, playing a tournament-best 16:06 including power-play time. He cashed in to help give Canada a 1-0 lead, as his zone entry led to Macklin Celebrini's opening goal on the power play in the first period. Canada later added a goal from Dylan Holloway in the second and empty-net tallies from Connor Brown and Sidney Crosby in the third.
Olivier skated 15:20 for the United States, which had won the tournament a season ago before capturing Olympic gold this winter.
Tuesday, May 26
The United States finished the round robin with a flourish, punching its ticket to the quarterfinals with a 4-1 win over Austria.
Team USA jumped into fourth in Group A and advanced to the quarterfinals, where it will take on Group B winner Canada on Thursday.
Olivier played 16:02 and assisted on Paul Cotter's third goal, tipping a puck at the netfront for the New Jersey forward to put home. Matthew Tkachuk, Connor Clifton and Ryan Ufko also scored for the U.S., which outshot Austria by a 29-13 margin in the first two periods while building a 4-0 lead.
The Canadians and Greaves each stayed unbeaten in the tournament Tuesday afternoon, downing Czechia by a 3-2 score in a comeback effort. The Czechs took a 2-0 lead in the second period, but a pair of Macklin Celebrini goals tied things before John Tavares notched the winner midway through the third.
Greaves made 19 saves on 21 shots against to earn his fifth win in as many tries in the tournament, while Mateychuk played 9:28 with a shot on goal.
Next up comes a quarterfinal matchup between the CBJ entrants on Thursday morning.
Monday, May 25
Team USA kept its hopes of advancing to the knockout stages alive, posting a 7-3 victory vs. Hungary. The Americans gained three key points in Group A, and they can move into the top four with a win Tuesday vs. Austria.
The U.S. had a 46-17 edge in shots on goal and built a 4-0 lead in the opening half of the game before cruising home. Olivier played 12:39 and finished minus-2.
Ryan Leonard, Matthew Tkachuk and Justin Faulk each had two goals while Tommy Novak finished with five assists.
Sunday, May 24
Canada clinched first place in its group as it pulled away to a 5-1 victory vs. Slovakia, scoring four goals in the third period.
Jet Greaves earned his fourth start of the tournament and won for the fourth time, turning aside 31 shots in a game that was closer than the score would indicate. Denton Mateychuk didn't have any points, skating 12:34.
Gabriel Vilardi, John Tavares, Ryan O'Reilly and Macklin Celebrini scored the deciding goals in the third period.
Saturday, May 23
Mathieu Olivier scores his second goal of the Worlds, but it was too little, too late as Team USA's comeback effort fell short in a 4-2 loss to Latvia. The setback dropped the U.S. to fifth in its group with two games to go, and the Americans now must finish strong to reach the quarterfinals.
Olivier's tally came in the final minute and cut the Latvia lead to 3-2, as he took a pass from Matthew Tkachuk in the slot and fired past Kristers Gudlevskis. The veteran Latvian goalie was the star of the show, though, stopping 45 shots to earn the win.
Olivier had five shots on goal and six penalty minutes in 16:31.
Friday, May 22
Denton Mateychuk notched his second goal of the tournament and Greaves turned in another solid outing as Canada stayed atop Group B with a 3-1 win over Slovenia.
Mateychuk started the scoring for Canada at the 11:07 mark, taking Fraser Minten's pass, coming into the left circle and wiring a wrist shot past goalie Zan Us.
