Flyers to Watch at the 2019 IIHF World Championship

What’s the one thing NHL players want after a long grinding season of playing hockey? More hockey, of course. The IIHF World Championship offers players who weren’t fortunate enough to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, or were eliminated early, the opportunity to satisfy their thirst for more competition, while also representing their home country.

The Philadelphia Flyers have a handful of players representing the team at this year’s iteration of the World Championships, which began on May 10 and runs through May 26 in Slovakia. Eight players to be exact will be competing for five different countries at the tournament, as well as a couple of coaches.

At the conclusion of the tournament we’ll take a look at how each of these players fared, but for now let’s outline who will be taking the stage from the Flyers, and how they’ve performed so far.

Team Canada

Coaches

Let’s start with the biggest fish first. New Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault will be the bench boss for the Canadians, and will be joined by goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh.

This will be Vigneault’s first time representing Canada as a head coach, although he also served as an assistant coach twice (1989, 1991), winning a gold medal in 1991. Vigneault will get his first close-up look at two of his new roster players.

Sean Couturier

Flyers’ center Sean Couturier is one of the veterans for Team Canada this year. Couturier is part of the leadership core for this chapter of the team, and will don an ‘A’ on his chest, he also figures to play a big role at 5-on-5 and on both special teams units.

Couturier has won a medal on two separate occasions while representing Canada’s big club (gold in 2015, silver in 2017). He also won a silver medal with the junior team at the 2011 World Junior Championship.

In three games so far Couturier has gotten off to a slow start with just one goal. Over the past year he’s played the best hockey of his career, so expect him to get on track quickly and help lead Canada on a deep run.

Carter Hart

Carter Hart is used to the bright lights of the international stage, guiding Canada to silver and gold medals at the 2017 and 2018 World Junior Championships, respectively. Did I mention that he never lost a game in regulation or overtime across both of those tournaments, posting an 8-0-2 record? Yeah, don’t expect Hart to crumble under the pressure any time soon.

Unfortunately, thanks to seniority, Matt Murray figures to lead the way in net for the majority of the tournament. Vigneault will want to get an early look at Hart so he’ll get a few games here and there — he posted a 12 save shutout against Great Britain in his only game so far — but unless Murray falters in a big way, Hart will be patiently waiting for his time to shine.

World Championship Worth the Watch

Although it will never be as satisfying as watching Flyers players in meaningful Stanley Cup Playoff action, it’s still worth checking in on how they perform at these kinds of tournaments. With Flyers playing on teams with high hopes such as the USA, Canada, and Sweden, there will be no shortage of action to watch.

Even if the Flyers aren’t your main concern, there’s plenty of high-end hockey to marvel at, and even a few youngsters to keep an eye on such as Jack Hughes and Kappo Kakko.Every game from the 2019 IIHF World Championship can be seen on the NHL Network.